UNCOVERING POWER DYNAMICS AND IDEOLOGIES IN HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ DISCOURSE IN IMENTI-NORTH SUB-COUNTY KENYA

Abstract

Language is a tool that can be used for communication purposes but it is also a means through which inequality in the distribution of power is created and perpetuated and through which this inequality can be remedied. High school principals play a central role in shaping the behavioural climate of their institutions through their speech whereby they communicate values, norms, and expectations. However, Principals do not merely communicate information; they structure interactions, assert power and regulate behaviour through language. This study sought to uncover the high school principals’ power dynamics and ideological inclinations through the lens of critical discourse analysis complemented with speech act and politeness theory. The approach allowed an in-depth examination of the specific linguistic tools that are employed in high principals’ speeches and also unearth the ideological underpinnings present in their discourse. Specifically, the study was guided by these objectives: to establish the linguistic features used in high school principals’ of Imenti North discourse that reflect institutional power relations, to explore how language use in high school principals’ of Imenti North discourse reveal underlying ideologies and to examine how discourse of high school principals of Imenti North potentially shapes students’ actions and responses. The study subscribed to descriptive research design which entailed detailed descriptions and analysis of the content of high school principals’ speech to unearth the power dynamics therein. Stratified random sampling coupled with purposive sampling were employed to arrive at 12 schools of Imenti North-Sub County in Meru where 20 orally delivered speeches by the principals were collected using an audio recorder. The data was then transcribed, coded and thereafter 76 texts were extracted which were discussed in line with the study’s objectives then presented thematically. This study is significant for it gives insights on language use in high school principals’ speeches and contributes to the growing field of educational discourse analysis. The study findings revealed that the discourse of high school principals is rich with linguistic features that assert and reproduce power. Through imperatives, modality, rhetorical tropes, surveillance metaphors, transitivity and authoritative speech acts, principals maintain institutional dominance. The study also revealed that the high school principals’ discourse shape students by embedding meritocratic, neoliberalism, religious and disciplinary Ideologies in their everyday speech. Through authoritative commands, moralizing narratives, speech acts of reward and punishment and strategic use of politeness and face threatening strategies, principals construct a disciplined, achievement-oriented student identity. The study sheds light on understanding the ideological work of language in educational leadership thus contributing to the growing field of educational discourse.