The “competent child” in times of crisis: a synthesis of Foucauldian with critical discourse analysis in Greek pre-school curricula

Abstract

Late modern children usually have school experiences from a very young age. Therefore, official educational discourses have the potential to shape their everyday life and subjectivity. The objective of this article is to explore the forms of knowledge that were produced around early childhood and schooling by the two most recent curricula of the Greek pre-school educational system in an era of crisis. In this framework, a discourse analytical approach is proposed which combines Foucauldian with critical discourse analysis. From the analysis, it appears that both curricula actively engage in the discursive struggle for hegemony in society, producing a specific understanding of childhood and schooling. In particular, according to the analysis, both curricula echo a neo-liberal discourse, which could exert a specific ideological power upon young children’s subjectivity. However, it was found that the most recent curriculum is even more focused on the neo-liberal ideological project. This conceptual shift could be understood in the current context of the hegemony of the neo-liberal ideology in the social field. Moreover, it was found that both curricula contain several child-oriented elements, crafting the image of “the competent child”. However, these elements could probably function as a subtle instrument for further achieving the aims of the neo-liberal hegemonic discourse for antagonism and entrepreneurship. As children do not passively receive the content addressed to them, future research on the relationship between representations and subjective experiences is deemed necessary.