the importance of discourse eatsip, jan 22th 2013 cindy leclercq (katho, belgium)

The importance of

discourseEATSIP , Jan 22th 2013

Cindy Leclercq (KATHO, Belgium)

The importance of discourse

EATSIP - Jan., 21st – Feb., 2nd 2013 C. Leclercq

A little exercice to get a taste of SEN-words :

Make a web of words that you consider important in the field of Special

Educational Needs and inclusion.

Work with the people sitting around you – 5 minutes



‘DISCOURSE’

= what is written and spokenAt a certain time

In a certain society

That describes how we see our worldBut also forms the way we see our world

Discourse represents our reality Discourse constructs our reality



• Foucault, Michel • French philosopher 1926 – 1984

• History of madness• The order of things (l’ordre du discours)• Discipline and punish• governmentality


EATSIP - Jan., 21st – Feb., 2nd 2013 C. Leclercqe.g. Guidelines for teachers (1872)

Teachers have to fill the oil lamps and have to clean the chimney every day.

Every teacher has to bring a bucket of water and a bucket of coal to be used during the school day.

Provide extra care in the creation of the writing pens. One can sharpen the pens in such a way that is most appropriate for individual pupils.

Male teachers are allowed to spend one night a week to recruit a spouse, or two nights a week in case they attend church an a regular basis.

After an attendance of 10 hours in the school, teachers are allowed to spend the rest of the time reading the Bible or other useful literature.

Female teachers that engage in mariage or that misbehave, have to be fired.

Every teacher will put aside a considerate amount of every payment in order to provide in his needs during the years of decline; thus he will never be a burden to society.

Every teacher who smokes, uses alcohol in any other form, attends gambling, visits taverns or gets a shave in a barber shop, shall rightfully be the subject of suspicious considerations on his moral opinions, on the purity of his purposes and on his impeccability or veracity.

The teacher who fulfills his duties without mistakes and in a loyal way during 5 years, can receive a rise in salary of 25 cents per week, if agreed by the Ministry of Education



• Discourse changes over timeo Children with cognitive disabilities - cognitive impairmentso Children with intellectual disabilitieso Children with mental disabilitieso Mentally handicapped childreno Mentally retarded o Idiots, imbecil, o Intellectually challenged

Words change concepts change opinions change how we look at things changes ‘reality’ changes



If we don’t have (a) word(s), it doesn’t exist in (our) language,

In our minds, In our reality

Autisme, ADHD, dyslexia, … : when did the words appear in our language?

Did it exist before? Didn’t we notice before? How come we see more and more of it?

‘Possession’, hysteria, chastity, … : when did the words disappear? How did our mind shift to make these

words disappear?



Discourse forms our reality + our identity:

Who am I / who can I be? Robin has dyslexia, Ken is an autist, Sara has ADHD, ….

Spotlights on: Gifted children, children with disabilities, children with special

educational needs

What is left in the dark? Who is the normal child? Where is the normal child?



With discourse comes POWERWhat we say indicates what we consider

What is normalWhat is good

What is allowedWhat is confirmed




What is normal abnormalWhat is good bad

What is allowed forbiddenWhat is confirmed restricted




SELF – EVIDENT

But this is not necessary suchIt can be different!



What is good, normal, allowed, self-evident

Can change over time

e.g. giving a child a slap



With discourse comes POWER

With discourse comes EXCLUSION what is not allowed

What is not mentioned (= cannot exist)



With discourse comes POWER

With discourse comes EXCLUSION

With discourse comes RESISTANCE



Resistance = The persons, behaviors, … That put question marks

To things we find self-evident

e.g. why do we ‘label’ our children?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv49RFo1ckQ

e.g. M. Luther King – black people are equalI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning

of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a

state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a

dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a

dream today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv49RFo1ckQ



Discourse Analysis1) Looking at texts, analyzing words +

meaningsTo search what kind of reality is constructed through those words : what is considered ‘normal’, ‘good’, what is self-evident

2) Putting question marks to this3) To search for alternative possibilities

to allow new identitiesTo create a form of freedom …



A mothers diary

http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/mediatheek/nieuws/buitenland/1.1528721

Text on the paper is translation/ transcription of some parts

Try to analyse this as a discourse!



The importance of discourseEATSIP - Jan., 21st – Feb., 2nd 2013 C.

Leclercq

the importance of discourse eatsip, jan 22th 2013 cindy leclercq (katho, belgium)

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