Powell, E (2020) Negotiating Adolescent Femininities in School: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. DEdCPsy thesis, University of Sheffield.
Abstract
This study contributes to debates on a postfeminist perspective on girlhood. The critical literature review introduces the reader to three dominant postfeminist discourses in education; i) the ‘mean’ girl, ii) the ‘successful’ girl and iii) the ‘empowered’ girl. The theoretical positions of critical realism and poststructural feminism provide a framework from which to explore girls' use and navigation of discourse. Eight girls participated in four focus groups, exploring the research questions 1) ‘how does engagement with dominant discourses open up and constrain opportunities for talk, thought and practice of ‘doing’ girl in school?’ and 2) how do girls use, navigate and resist dominant discourses to shape ‘being’ girl and their sense of self in school? A Critical Feminist Discourse Analysis reflected five main strategic discourses which shaped the subjectivities of adolescent girls in school. Namely, the ‘mean’ girl; the ‘pressured’ girl; the ‘empowered’ girl; the ‘compared’ girl and the ‘powerless’ girl. The ‘real-world applicability’ (Georgaca and Avdi, 2012) of the study is explored by considering research question 3) ‘what are the implications for Educational Psychology practice?’ Specific diversity and gender related competencies from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) ‘Standards of Proficiency for Practitioner Psychologists’ (HCPC, 2015) are considered. This research has implications for both systemic practice in education settings and direct work with adolescent girls.
Metadata
Supervisors: | Williams, Antony R |
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Awarding institution: | University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education (Sheffield) |
Identification Number/EthosID: | uk.bl.ethos.813885 |
Depositing User: | Ms E Powell |
Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2020 15:58 |
Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2021 16:51 |
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Thesis Final Aug 2020
Filename: Thesis Final Aug 2020.pdf
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