ERIC Number: EJ1088043
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0161-956X
EISSN: N/A
Race and Racelessness in CMO Marketing: Exploring Charter Management Organizations' Racial Construction and Its Implications
Hernández, Laura E.
Peabody Journal of Education, v91 n1 p47-63 2016
As schools face growing competitive pressures, researchers have investigated the increasing reliance on marketing and its implications for various racial and socioeconomic groups. Although research has expanded our knowledge of marketing's gatekeeping qualities, it has less often considered the manner in which school marketing efforts contribute to broader, social understandings of race and the characterization of racial groups. Because marketing has historically played a pivotal role in the construction of race and racial identity in American society, this exploratory study considers if and how racial identities are configured in the marketing materials of two prominent charter management organizations (CMOs). Employing critical discourse analysis, this study suggests that the focal CMOs employ a racial discourse characterized by indirect racial references that are supplemented with negative depictions of the communities and racial groups they serve. I argue that the focal CMOs' racial discourse contributes to the reification of colorblindness, the dominant racial frame that characterizes the manner in which many understand race and race relations. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the CMOs' espousal of color blindness in their marketing materials, noting how the discursive obfuscation of race affects the manner in which educational leaders imagine educational solutions and neglects the continued and unique impact that race has in everyday lives.
Descriptors: Race, Racial Composition, Charter Schools, Enrollment, Competitive Selection, Student Recruitment, Racial Identification, Racial Relations, School Choice, Minority Group Students, Ethnic Groups, Discourse Analysis, Racial Attitudes, Racial Differences, Researchers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A