Power discourse and the curriculum: silences in the high school geography curriculum of South Africa

South Africa is currently undergoing a process of political change. Educational renewal inevitably will be an important part of the restructuring of that society. This study examines the use of school textbooks as instruments of domination. It explores the proposition that the dominant ideology in a society is perpetuated by the discourse in school textbooks, while at the same time the voices of subordinated people are silenced within textbooks. To investigate these notions, the study analyzes the discourse in a South African high school geography curriculum and textbook, to search for discursive strategies which perpetuate the dominant ideology of apartheid. Apartheid ideology is dedicated to maintaining white supremacy. In practice, apartheid means the spatial separation of the population along racial/ethnic lines. Therefore apartheid shaped South Africa's space and environment. The study is informed by theoretical perspectives of power relations which explore the nexus among power, knowledge, and discourse. Discursive strategies used in the text to silence the voices of subordinated people are identified. This provides geographers, and others involved with textbooks, with a tool to analyze textbooks. Measures are proposed which could be implemented to give voice in curricula and textbooks to marginalized people.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geography

Department dc:contributor.department

Geography

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1993

Author dc:creator

• Peters, Emilene

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-08042009-040509

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/44174