Discourse is the mechanism through which societies establish and sustain their social
structures and social relations. It is synonymous with social systems and ideologies that include: ‘social identities, social relations and systems of knowledge and belief’
(Fairclough, 1995, p.131). Critical Discourse Analysis reveals how texts are produced, distributed and consumed in a particular socio-cultural context (Fairclough, 1995, p.2).
Fairclough (1992 and 1995) advocates a method of Critical Discourse Analysis involving the analysis of textual language, the process of textual production and socio-historical events that led to the texts production (language, process and event). In adopting this tri- dimensional approach to the further education policy texts, firstly, I start with the National Curriculum Statement textual language, examining each word, the phrase and their meaning. See section 4.4.1. Secondly, I consider the processes leading to the production of the National Curriculum Statement by reflecting on my exploration in chapter three. Thirdly, I reflect on the events that led to the production of the National Curriculum Statement. Then, I interpret all three dimensions to see how they articulate socially in the discursive process, relating all to social conditions and their affect on institutional situations and the society (Fairclough, 1992, p.56).
Fairclough recommends that Critical Discourse Analysis should be done in conjunction with other types of analysis so as to provide a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the discourse (Fairclough, 1995). This means combining CDA and Total Discourse Analysis (TDA). The difference between Critical Discourse Analysis and Total Discourse Analysis is that whereas the former looks critically at the language used in constructing the text to reveal the meaning of every single word in order to understand the psychology behind each sentence, the later focuses on textual texture, that is, text formation and how it is shaped by the discourse. The combined application of both Critical Discourse Analysis and Total Discourse Analysis to all texts selected for analysis helps to uncover hidden facts and the ideas behind them. I am analysing principles and values which are ideologies selected for social construction and Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis approach proves useful for the critical look at the principles and values.
Fairclough argues that Critical Discourse Analysis is not merely a description of discourse practices shaped by power relations and ideologies but is an analysis of the constructive effect that discourse has upon social identities, social relations, systems
knowledge, and belief. His point is that in the discourse practice, neither description of ideology nor the power relation should be apparent to the analyst; rather, what should be apparent are the text construction processes and the meaning they reveal in the discourse (Fairclough, 1992, p.12). Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis reveal instances of textual forms and shape, through language analysis, and which in turn reveal the processes of the NCS production i.e. the socio-historical events that provoked the production of discourse in the texts including the language used.
In order to bring my argument on the FET curriculum policy analysis closer to the context of study, I supplement Fairlough’s Critical Discourse Analysis method with Jansen and Reddy’s approach to curriculum policy analysis. Jansen and Reddy (1994) developed a method of analysing curriculum, which they divide into three categories:
external micro level, internal and external macro-level (Jansen and Reddy, 1994, p.6).
These three approaches developed by Jansen and Reddy fit into Fairclough’s three analytical approaches and which are in line with the three critical questions I set for this study. Jansen and Reddy refer to the external micro as impact analysis which analysis the effectiveness of a curriculum. I adopt the external micro level to Fairclough’s dimension three and use it in my analysis of the ‘event’ in moment three. The internal level analysis deals with the analysis of the curriculum design in relation to theories, principles, methods, standards and assumptions, which underpin the curriculum. These levels of analysis involve unpacking the curriculum into components parts of learners and learning, teachers and teaching, knowledge and society. I apply the internal level analysis to Fairclough’s dimension one and use it for my analysis of the textual ‘language’ in moment one. They refer to the external macro level analysis as ‘curriculum policy analysis’ (Jansen and Reddy, 1994, pp.4- 13). In the policy analysis level which is the external macro level, Jansen and Reddy contend that the policy analyst should investigate the relevance of a curriculum in relation to other sets of educational policies. I apply the macro external level procedure to Fairclough’s dimension two and use it for my analysis of the ‘process’ in moment two of my analysis of the policy texts. Section 4.4 - 4.4.3 explains in detail how Fairclough’s, Jansen and Reddy’s method is brought together and applied to the texts. The combination of Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Jansen and Reddy’s approaches help to focus my analysis in the direction of textual
production process so as to gain a better understanding and interpretation of the National Curriculum Statement to see how it articulates socially and institutionally. Texts for analysis were selected based on criteria useful for this study.