A Conceptual Model for the Study of the Communication of Authority in a Bureaucratic Education System

A bureaucratically structured education system employs formal communication to a high degree, since incumbents of the various hierarchical authority levels authorize actions to be undertaken by their subordinates. The process of authorization is here subjected to an analysis in terms of message structure and communication flow. A comparison of the ways in which authorizations are communicated at the various levels of the bureaucratic system leads to a number of hypotheses. It was hypothesized (1) that the mode of communication used by the superordinate Department of Education to authorize the actions of intermediate headteachers will be used in turn by these intermediates to authorize the actions of their subordinate teachers, (2) the prevailing mode of communication employed by the superordinate Education Department to authorize the actions of intermediate headtcachers will be used by intermediates to authorize the actions of their subordinates teachers even in specific cases where exceptions to the prevailing superordinate communication mode are present, and (3) inconsistency or asymmetry between Phase I and Phase II communication modes is a function of the personality of the intermediate role‐incumbent. These hypotheses were tested in a recent study of the communication of authority by headteachers of Queensland State primary schools. The first two hypotheses were supported; because of lack of data the last hypothesis could not be tested.