The Evaluative Gaze in Education: Teacher Evaluation, Disciplinary Power, Visibility, and Performativity in the Greek Educational Context

Nikoula Floka
Primary School Teacher, Experimental Primary School
University of Patras, Greece (nifloka@sch.gr)

Abstract

Teacher evaluation has become a central yet highly contested component of educational reform worldwide, situated between the goals of professional development and institutional accountability. This article critically explores the implementation of teacher evaluation in Greece through Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework of disciplinary power. It argues that evaluation functions not only as a mechanism for assessing teaching quality but also as a technology of governance through which visibility, normalization, and self-regulation shape teachers’ professional identities and practices.
Focusing on classroom observation, evaluator expertise, subjectivity in evaluative judgment, and the formation of an evaluative culture, the article examines the tensions between developmental purposes and disciplinary effects. While evaluation may encourage reflection and professional learning, it may also generate performative practices, strategic compliance, and conflicts between externally imposed standards and teachers’ perceptions of authentic pedagogy. The analysis suggests that the legitimacy and effectiveness of evaluation systems depend on qualified evaluators, contextualized judgment, and a culture based on trust and collaboration. The Greek experience illustrates that sustainable evaluation reform requires more than legislative change; it requires the transformation of professional relationships and shared understandings of evaluation as a tool for improvement.

Keywords: Teacher evaluation, disciplinary power, classroom observation, Greece

Article Type: Open Access

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