Applying Critical Discourse Analysis in the Classroom A Guide for Educators

Abstract

In this conceptual article, we provide a guide for educators to use Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in classrooms to: (1) critically examine their teaching and behavioral support practices, (2) guide future interactions with students and families, and (3) use with students to empower them to critically analyze texts, media, and society. We rely on the CDA frameworks provided by Rebecca Rogers (2011), James Paul Gee (1999), and Norman Fairclough (1989). CDA is a tool that can disrupt cycles of power and oppression in classrooms and schools; it gives us a way to make oppressive systems and the way they replicate visible, so we can intentionally interrogate and dismantle them rather than unintentionally reproduce them in educational spaces.