Discourses and Ideologies in Gy25: A Comparison Between Regular and Adapted Upper Secondary School : A Critical Discourse Analysis Based on Schiro’s Four Curriculum Ideologies

The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate how curriculum ideologies shape discourses on knowledge and how students are constituted and communicated within Gy25 for the regular upper secondary school and the adapted upper secondary school, national program. The thesis draws on Schiro’s four curriculum ideologies, scholar academic, social efficiency, learner centered, and social reconstruction, as well as Von Heusinger’s and Schumacher’s concept of discursive prominence as analytical frameworks. It employs discourse analysis to examine the language of the curricula’s value base, overarching goals, subject syllabi, and grading criteria. The findings reveal that both curricula are permeated by a shared overarching discourse of active societal participation and employability, yet this goal is operationalized through different ideological pathways. Gy25 for the regular upper secondary school is dominated by the scholar academic ideology in combination with social efficiency, which constitutes the student as normatively measurable and academically cultivable. Gy25 for the adapted upper secondary school is characterized by the learner centered ideology together with social efficiency, which constitutes the student as an individual to be prepared for working life based on personal conditions. Differences in language, discursive prominence, and student positions demonstrate how inclusion is articulated as an objective but, in practice, rests on segregating structures. This thesis contributes knowledge on how ideologies and discourses interact within policy documents and underscores the need for critical reading of curricula, particularly from a special educational perspective.