Literacy as discourse: Technologies of discipline

Abstract

In this article I examine the teaching of reading utilising Foucault's notion of discourse. This examination consists of the analysis of statements to identify distinct structures of thought, to identify the 'set of rules' by which it is possible know something, to know about what can be said, stated, thought and the conditions that constrain or enable what can be said. Such an approach was developed by Foucault and is known as his 'archeological method'. In my analysis I have utilised Foucault's archeological method to explore the discourses that construct reading. To do this I have examined the past and present official syllabi, documents that are 'official' teachers handbooks, children's classroom texts, and teaching and in-service teacher guides. I also draw from my twenty years of primary teaching and eight years of pre-service teacher education in the subject