Erasure, expert/ise, and educational “choice”: A poststructuralist perspective of Kansas educational bills in 2023

Abstract

This paper utilizes a conceptual framework uniting neoliberalism, neoconservatism, and poststructuralism to examine four education bills from the Kansas state legislature proposed in 2023. Utilizing critical discourse analysis to frame policy documents as forms of text and discourse, this paper unpacks language-in-use, structures of power, and hegemony to investigate the overarching educational policy d/Discourses and how these position teachers, teaching, and public education. The proposed Kansas bills highlight hegemonic d/Discourses of teacher erasure, skepticism of expertise, and value-free language masking value-laden policy outcomes to illustrate policymakers’ attempts to politically redefine Kansas educational conditions to reflect neoliberal and neoconservative orientations. This paper highlights the critical task for teacher educators and educational researchers to engage with practitioner-inclusive methodologies and policy analysis opportunities to position critical discourse analysis as a fruitful methodological vehicle through which to reclaim educational narratives.