These slides are from my presentation in a research seminar course where I am designing a study that will be part of my PhD dissertation. I outline my theoretical framework in critical theory and semiotics, the approach of critical discourse analysis (CDA), data collection and data analysis.

1. TRANSFORMATIVE
POTENTIALS OF OPEN
EDUCATION
IN THEORY, POLICY, AND
PRACTICE
JAMISON R. MILLER

2. Open education has the potential to
sustainably transform extant
educational institutions into more
equitable and democratic forms.
THESIS:
The subscription room at Lloyd's of London in the early 19th century. CC(0)

3. Open Education in
1) THEORY
Open Education as a Real Utopia
2) POLICY
The “Neoliberal Tinge” in Open Education?: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Open
Education Policies in Virginia
3) PRACTICE
From EDUPUNK to Open Policy: Critical Technology Praxis in Higher Education
Image CC (BY-NC) Jonathan Cohen

4. The “Neoliberal
Tinge” in Open
Education?:
A Critical
Discourse Analysis
of Open
Education Policies
in Virginia∎ Tkacz (2015) book, Wikipedia and the Politics of Openness, along with
∎ Critical Theory (Horkheimer, 1947;1972) and
∎ Semiotics and linguistics (Derrida, 1973; Foucault, 1972; Kristeva, )
constitute the theoretical framework for the study.
Image: Warwick University

5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
● How are open educational resources and associated
practices discursively framed in institutional and state
policies and legislation in Virginia?
● What ideological underpinnings, beliefs, and meanings are
evident in open education policy?
● How is open education discursively positioned as an
alternative to extant practices in education?
Image CC (BY-SA) Véronique Debord-Lazaro

6. Fairclough (1993, 1995)
Texts present ideologies,
beliefs, messages, and
meanings.
CDA proposes to illuminate
these messages, how they are
framed, and how they can be
resisted and usurped.
Gee (1999)
Language is not merely a
means of communication, but
also orders social activity.
CDA is concerned with how text
presents discursive practices-
the ways in which we are in the
world.
Martínez-Alemán (2015)
Has been applying CDA in
higher education policy
analysis.
Identifies its primary purposes
as 1) to reveal ideological
foundations of discourse, and
2) to provide evidence (data) to
support corrective action
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

7. Image CC (BY-SA) Pleuntje
DATA COLLECTION
Virginia’s Legislative Information System & SCHEV
● Search “open education” + find related terms in targeted legislation
(11)
OER Policy Registry at Creative Commons
● Search “United States of America” + “Virginia” (7)
Virginia Community College System
● Z-Degree and Zx23 programs (17)
Four-Year Universities
● Virginia Tech, Virginia State, W&M
Open education policies from 2007–2016

8. DATA ANALYSIS
Image CC (BY) Angie Garrett
Following Martínez-Alemán (2015), CDA is derived from an array of social science techniques
and not a singular method.
Thus, analysis is complex and will likely entail:
Establishing context(s)
● Identification of connections between aspects that construct and restrict discourse
○ CULTURE, SOCIAL IDENTITY, and LANGUAGE
● Identification of linkages between TEXT, STRUCTURAL POWER, and CONTEXT
Framing the text (McGregor, 2004)
● Power relations: who is depicted in power, who has agency, who does not?
● Omission of information, nominalization (converting verbs to nouns), passive verbs
● Presuppositions, what is assumed by the author?
● Insinuations and connotations
● Tone of certainty and authority
● Register, do the words spoken ring true?

9. DATA ANALYSIS
Image CC (BY) Angie Garrett

10. ASSUMPTIONS
● Built on the assumptions that language is more than the mechanics
of communication; it orders social practices and expresses ideology
and thus holds impact on actions
DELIMITATIONS
● Focused on institutional and state-level higher education policies
from Virginia from 2007-2016
LIMITATIONS
● As open education policies are only just emerging, there are
relatively few examples from which to draw
● This study will not be analyzing the impact of evident discourses
Image CC (BY-SA) Edith Soto

11. TRANSFORMATIVE
POTENTIALS OF OPEN
EDUCATION
IN THEORY, POLICY, AND
PRACTICE
JAMISON R. MILLER