Critical Discourse Analysis and the Language of Social Justice in Elite High Schools

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the discursive practices of elite high schools and the ways these practices create and preclude opportunities for social justice education. To conduct this critical discourse analysis I drew on the theoretical work of Khan (2011) and Howard (2008) to understand the role of language in the production and maintenance of power and privilege in elite private schools. Furthermore, the literature review on the discourse of social justice informed the selection of initial typologies, which shaped the primary reading of the data. Methodologically, I used Norman Fairclough and James Gee’s tools of critical discourse analyses for the data synthesis and analysis. One overarching questions was considered in this dissertation: As revealed through institutional documents, what are the discursive challenges and opportunities for enacting socially just education within elite high schools? A detailed Systemic Functional Linguistic analysis revealed three major findings. First, students are centered in the text samples and over time students become a larger focus of the discourse. Second, the discourse presents ethical values and knowledge as innate within students. Finally, the language among sample texts conforms over time, becoming less linguistically complex in both topic and construction and thus shifts from a traditionally academic tone to a more familiar tone. Using these findings as a focusing lens, a broader reading and analysis of the complete data set revealed that as discourse associated with discussions of diversity becomes more rigid, formalized, and prevalent in the text samples, institutional questioning and direct calls for social action become less frequent. Furthermore, over time, the discourse is less likely to engage in reflexive questioning and is more likely to engage in self-congratulation. Combined, the detailed linguistic analysis and the broader reading of the collected documents, suggest that the “discourse of social justice” is intertwined with counter discourses of privilege, entitlement, and individualism. Although institutions may currently talk more about issues of diversity and justice, this language functions as yet another measure of student privilege.