STATE IDEOLOGY IN SCHOOLS: EXAMINING DIVERSITY REPRESENTATION IN AFGHANISTANI TEXTBOOKS THROUGH CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

In the postmodern era, where education via formal schooling is deemed highly significant for children’s personal growth and professional development, the content of knowledge delivered by schools is taken for granted. After the critical turn in education, the neutral view on knowledge and literacy was challenged. Since then, critical curriculum studies have examined how and why politics influence education. Using the methods of critical discourse analysis (CDA), this study critically examines and analyzes the content of school knowledge in the socially complex and dynamic context of Afghanistan by focusing on the representation of ethnic diversity in two school subjects. Confirming the assumptions of critical discourse studies, the representational patterns of the existing ethnic groups did show a strong bias. Results revealed that ethnic minority cultures and figures are either backgrounded or suppressed, while the cultures and figures of the dominant ethnic group is normalized and glorified. Moreover, textbooks used discourses of national unity, national identity, and Islamic solidarity to justify the representational patterns. The study concludes that knowledge acquired in school can have negative socialization effects by normalizing inequality and ethnic assimilation. By critiquing the problematic treatment of cultural diversity, this study advocates a multicultural approach to curriculum development. The findings can guide educational policies and curriculum developments in Afghanistan as well as other similar contexts. In Addition, it may contribute to creating critical awareness, which is the prerequisite for combating social inequalities of any form.