Within his conception of sovereign and disciplinary authority, Foucault sees schools as disciplinary institutions, while other scholar argue that the model of power represented in schools is equally recognisable as sovereign.  This paper will examine the functionality of school discipline through the leadership of Principals Flutie, Snyder and Wood. We will consider their perceptions and constructions of power relationships, via Foucault’s characterisations of authority.

We will explore a variety of possible responses to such models of authority via Sunnydale students, from Willow as compliant productive body, to Buffy, Xander and others as models for active resistance.

We suggest that the development arc of the character of Giles moves him from a sovereign authoritarian /disciplinarian position, to a more experiential conception of the teacher/learner relationship, within both his formal roles as Librarian and Watcher, and his less formal role of authority figure for the Scooby gang.

McDonough [1993] states, ‘Foucault’s conception of education helps us to understand both the systematic oppression of disciplinary institutions and the ways in which individuals can actively resist such oppression’; we suggest that Joss Whedon’s conception of High School in Buffy the Vampire Slayer dramatises such oppression and resistance.