“They’re Taught To Hate America”: Trumpism, Fear, And Framing Educators As Enemies Of The State

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Participation and Power: Global Perspectives on Voice and Rights in Education Governance

Abstract

This paper examines how nationalist discourse embedded in President Donald Trump’s 2020 Executive Order and White House speech delegitimizes critical pedagogy and redefines teacher identity. Using van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model of Critical Discourse Analysis, alongside theoretical insights from Foucault and Bourdieu, this study analyzes how discursive strategies construct educators as ideological threats and reframe curriculum as patriotic duty. Findings reveal how discourse functions as a mechanism of political socialization, shaping public mistrust in teachers and promoting policies of surveillance and compliance within the American classroom. This work contributes to a greater understanding of how educational governance operates through language to constrain teacher agency and reproduce dominant ideologies within policy and law.

Author

• Caryn M. Calisi, University of Texas at San Antonio