Chapter 5: Unpacking Educational Policy and Practice in Jamaica Through Critical Discourse Analysis: A Theoretical Framework and Methodology

What drew me to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was the way in which it provided a lens through which to view and critique how those in authority frame education policy. There are key moments in history when it is important to reflect upon that which is often taken for granted, or on policy changes which appear insignificant and benign but bear significant impact on teaching and learning. Put another way, there are times when “things are changing or going wrong. What is significant about these moments is that they provide opportunities to deconstruct the various ways aspects of practices, particularly language practices … are often naturalized and therefore difficult to notice” (Woodside-Jiron, 2011, p. 157). I am of the view that CDA offers both a theoretical framework and a methodology through which to examine the sometimes taken-for-granted intersections between language, power, and social practices, especially in the realm of education policy and practice. Such research is valuable in postcolonial nations steeped in a history of power imbalance, as inequities still haunt social institutions such as education.