Summary.In this paper we present some preliminary research into a relatively unexplored area of social development, children's acquisition of beliefs about institutional roles. We argue that the school is an important source of experience in this area, providing most children with their first close‐up view of organisational roles. A total of 185 children, aged between 7 and 11 years, from Scotland and France, were questioned about aspects of the teacher's role including assessment of performances, distribution of assistance in the classroom, and enforcement of institutional regulations. The findings suggest that children have grasped, albeit often only intuitively, many of the characteristics of this organisational role at an earlier age than has been indicated by previous research. Before 12 years they have some appreciation of the formal constraints on teachers' freedom of action, of the hierarchical character of institutional authority, and of the separation of official duties from personal inclinations. There were, however, class and national differences in beliefs which suggest that these are “social representations” (cf. Moscovici, 1984) and not simply products of individual cognitive develo