ERIC Number: EJ1220948
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Aug
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0741-7136
EISSN: N/A
"Producing Human Capital": A Critical Discourse Analysis of Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Shin, Jaran; Ging, Liz
Adult Education Quarterly: A Journal of Research and Theory, v69 n3 p163-183 Aug 2019
Historical and legislative evolutions of education policy have repurposed federally funded adult education programs in the United States. The 2014 passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has considerable repercussions for everyone involved in the field because it controls the funding, assessment, and structure of these programs. Using critical discourse analysis, this study examines the public law and a Program Memorandum from the federal government. It demonstrates how the language used in the documents characterizes Title II of WIOA (the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act), the goals of adult education, eligible adult learners, and the process by which programs are held accountable for federal funding. The findings show the ways in which Title II tactically legitimizes the U.S. government's neoliberal capitalist desire within a democratic society: The idealistic language of opportunity acts as a camouflage for the further infiltration of market-oriented practices into the public sector.
Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Labor Force Development, Labor Legislation, Adult Education, Educational Legislation, Language Usage, Discourse Analysis, Adult Students, Eligibility, Educational Objectives, Accountability, Federal Aid, Educational Finance, Neoliberalism, Competition
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A