A Critical Discourse Analysis of Prospect & Vision Series English Language Textbooks as Framed in Foucauldian Reading on Ageism

One rich educational trait in Iranian culture is to respect the aged ones and keep their dignity, enjoying their lived experiences. Here, the concept of age is defined as an identity representation with a positive connotation which signifies enriching experience / knowledge. In keeping with, the main objective of the present study was to disclose how ageism as a social-ideological construct not a biological concept has been represented in English language schooling textbooks. Theoretically framed in Laclau and Muffe Critical Discourse Analysis based on Foucauldian reading, the current study was to do a content analysis of English language textbooks in Iranian junior and senior secondary schooling systems (Prospect and Vision series). The researchers extracted the dominant discourses represented in the exercises, images and contents of the textbooks based on frequency and the related categories. Findings spelled out a kind of “otherness” represented a kind of “otherising” discourse in the textbooks. The elders were represented in three aspects of “absentism” “a negative issue” or “token construct”.  Indeed, when present, they were also misrepresented as sick or disabled ones or persons with token /socially passive role. They did not enjoy a dominant discourse and the youth were the subject of the discourses. Curriculum developers are thus needed to revisit their readings on ageism construct to provide a positive definition on it, framing educational justice demanded in Fundamental Reform Document and its Islamic-Iranian ethos.