Browsing by Subject "Koulupuhe"

My thesis is based on the text Sivistysporvarille hommia (2016) which is written by Saara-Sofia Sirén who is a Member of Parliament. In my thesis, I analyze how Saara-Sofia Sirén speaks about the Finnish school system. My thesis discovers educational discourses which have been prevailing in the history of Finnish educational discourse. Educational discourse is produced everywhere and Saara-Sofia Siréns text is part of that discourse. The main parts of educational discourses have been related to change and progress demand. Jari Salminen contends the main reason for this is that the world is constantly changing and the school system needs to respond to this. Political decisions related to the school system are made in parliament. Therefore, a Member of Parliament has a special speech position related to her authoritative position. At the time when the text was published Saara-Sofia Sirén was also a member of the Education and Culture Committee and that also creates credibility in the educational discourse which she embodies. For that reason, the question I ask in my thesis is ‘’How Saara-Sofia Sirén speaks about Finnish school?’’ ’’ and which kind of tools rhetorical analysis gives when examining the speech. My research material for the thesis is the text Sivistysporvarille hommia which is written by Saara-Sofia Sirén, member of parliament. The text is published in Ajatuspaja Toivo’s issue Paluu tulevaisuuteen (2016). The rhetorical analysis shows that in Saara-Sofia Siréns educational discourse education came to the center of epideictic discourse. Epideictic discourse comes out through several rhetorical ways. The rhetorical tools are for example ethos, logos, pathos, style, and order of the arguments. In Saara-Sofia Siréns educational discourse progress discourse seems non-alternative. One of the key rhetorical tool in this subject is logos which seeks to rationalize the idea of a changing world in which the school system must also be strongly involved. The author’s speech on equality and the individual discourse has typical features of the neoliberal discourse that have emerged for previous educational research. Behind several arguments is the emphasis on the economy, which is veiled behind persuasive speech and common preliminary agreements.