Freedom to Control: Parents’ Rights in Early Childhood Policy and Ideological Compliance

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Imagining Histories and Futures of Children and Families

Abstract

This study uses discourse analysis to examine how freedom is constructed in U.S. early childhood and K–12 education policies (2022–2024) emphasizing parental authority. It investigates how freedom is framed, its effects on students, educators, and knowledge production, and its role within conservative, authoritarian governance. Analyzing ten policies, the study reveals a shift from freedom as autonomy and critical inquiry toward exclusion and control. Findings show policy language legitimizes authority and marginalizes diverse identities, using power to discipline norms. Ultimately, freedom becomes a tool to consolidate state control and enforce ideological conformity, restricting democratic engagement and pluralism in education.

Author

• Sara Michael-Luna, University of Central Florida