Losing the presumption of authority: Romanian school leaders’ perceptions of the post-communist transformation of teacher–student relationships

More than three decades after the fall of communism, the sources and exercise of teacher authority in Romanian schools remain profoundly contested. This study examines how Romanian school leaders—practicing teachers who hold both the professional memory of the former system and a role in the governance of the present one—perceive the transformation of teacher–student relationships since 1989. A multiphase mixed-methods design was employed with participants attending a regional in-service school management training programme: a questionnaire ( n = 83), written structured interviews ( n = 37), and in-depth semi-structured interviews ( n = 12), collected between May and July 2026. Exploratory factor analysis identified two empirically unrelated dimensions [rho = –.05, 95% CI (–.28,.18)]: perceived erosion of traditional authority ( α = .70) and endorsement of the current relational model ( α = .70). The interval excludes a moderate-to-strong association and therefore rules out a bipolar structure, indicating that mourning statutory authority does not entail rejecting the new pedagogical paradigm. Mid-career school leaders evaluated the current model more critically ( p = .042, ε 2 = .08)—a small, exploratory difference that did not survive correction for multiple testing; interviewees, who were shown the pattern, proposed professional socialisation during the volatile transition years as a possible explanation. Thematic analysis showed that the widely voiced ‘void of instruments’ is situational: pedagogical tools are described as abundant within the teacher–student dyad yet inoperative in conflicts with adults, for which they demand absent institutional infrastructure. Metaphor analysis indicated a symbolic transition from ‘commander’ to ‘guide’, while revealing its ambivalence. Teachers, participants suggest, have not lost authority—they have lost the presumption of it.