Hegel’s Lord-Bondsman: recognition, resistance and reorientation in England’s education system
FORUM - Print ISSN 1474-7685 - Online ISSN 2047-7171
Volume 68 Number 3 (2026)
Hegel’s Lord-Bondsman: recognition, resistance and reorientation in England’s education system
David Lewis Thomas pages 135‑150
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2026.68.3.13
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between state-school teachers in England and the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Drawing on Hegel’s Lord-Bondsman dialectic,1 it explores the dynamics of recognition, misrecognition and non-recognition that structure contemporary educational accountability. I argue that Ofsted’s inspection regime, together with its associated taxonomies and evaluative frameworks, functions as a mechanism of control that shapes teacher subjectivity through processes extending beyond formal accountability.
The paper demonstrates how power operates within and beyond relations of recognition, contributing to the subjectivation of teachers throughout their careers. Moving beyond early professional expectations, teachers encounter forms of personal and professional conflict generated by the demands of inspection and bureaucratic governance. These experiences reveal the ways in which accountability structures participate in the reformation and reorientation of personal and professional identities.
The analysis combines empirical evidence with examination of the legal and regulatory frameworks governing teachers’ work, including the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD) and successive Ofsted inspection frameworks. By bringing together critical theory, policy analysis and practitioner insight, the paper offers a critique of teacher subjectivation within an increasingly contested yet deeply embedded system of mutual (non)recognition.
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To cite this article
David Lewis Thomas (2026) Hegel’s Lord-Bondsman: recognition, resistance and reorientation in England’s education system, FORUM, 68(3), 135-150 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2026.68.3.13