Freedom and Control: A Critical Discourse Analysis of American Public Schools as Ideological Battlegrounds

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  In Roundtable Session: Fractured Narratives, Contested Policies: Critical Analyses of Power in Education

Abstract

This paper explores the efforts of education advocacy groups, and how discourse surrounding school “culture wars” constructs an ideology about the purpose of public schooling. Data was collected in two phases, content analysis (n=17), and semi-structured interviews (n=6), and analyzed through a critical discourse lens. Findings reveal discursive trends such as the use of war terminology, differing connotations of “freedom,” the claim that words related to school “culture wars” have become meaningless, and different conceptions of “reality.” These patterns show how connotative differences in discourse can construct a closed “totalitarian universe,” and ultimately, fractured realities. Findings suggest the importance of historical perspectives in disrupting closed ideological realities and addresses the role of public schools in today’s divided political landscape.

Author

• Grace Katzmar, Teachers College, Columbia University