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Corrupt language, corrupt thought: the White Paper The importance of teaching
Author(s) -
Lumby Jacky,
Muijs Daniel
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1002/berj.3093
Subject(s) - persuasion , bureaucracy , rhetoric , government (linguistics) , poverty , sociology , white paper , white (mutation) , epistemology , political science , pedagogy , psychology , law , social psychology , linguistics , politics , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
This article deconstructs the language of the 2010 UK Coalition Government's White Paper, The Importance of Teaching . It uses analytical frameworks related to rhetoric established by Aristotle and Cicero. It explores the mechanisms of language using both critical discourse analysis and content analysis, offering quantitative data on the content of the paper and qualitative data on the literary strategies employed. It is concerned not only with how what is communicated persuades but also the ethics of persuasion; what is suggested and to what end. The article suggests a mutually reinforcing relationship between poverty of language and poverty of thought. The Coalition Government asserts an heroic stance to act radically to free victimised teachers from the burdens of bureaucracy imposed by the previous government. However, rather than radical action to make change, the findings suggest that the White Paper presents an illusory carapace of change that conceals fundamental continuity. It reassures all of the commitment of government and audiences to change while sustaining education as fundamentally unchanged.