A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL-BASED OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE: UNDERSTANDING EDUCATIONAL POLICIES FOR BETTER SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS), Educational Policy, School Leadership, Official CorrespondenceAbstract
This study examines the underlying linguistic structures and power dynamics in official school-based correspondence on educational policies within the Schools Division of Catbalogan City, Philippines. Grounded in Norman Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model, the research utilizes a hybrid Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analytical approach to evaluate policy communications transferred from the division office to four selected secondary schools: Samar National School, Guinsorongan National High School, Catbalogan National Comprehensive High School, and Silanga National High School. The analyzed corpus comprises key documents from the last quarter of the 2024–2025 School Year, focusing on school-community partnerships, learner performance indicators, teacher professional development, and instructional leadership. The corpus linguistic analysis reveals four primary discursive strategies: administrative, teachers', disciplinary, and interventional content. Grammatical examination of transitivity and lexical selection reveals an authoritative and highly prescriptive linguistic register. This linguistic framing positions local school leaders and teachers within a deficit model, prioritizing rigid bureaucratic compliance over local agency. The analysis highlights a systemic misalignment between the collaborative, decentralized goals of School-Based Management under Republic Act No. 9155 and the centralized, surveillance-oriented language of official correspondences. Based on these findings, this study demonstrates the need to reformulate educational policies using non-authoritative, collaborative, and culturally responsive linguistic patterns to foster genuine shared governance.
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