ABSTRACT
The broadening of the notion of discourse is helpful in building a theory in which similar structural patterns can be applied to analyze that which falls into the traditionally understood discourse and that which traditionally would be called material conditions. Educational theories are analyzed as ontological devices implicated in the construction of social objectivities. The notion of discourse goes beyond such rational and technological dimensions. Theories of education, and the discipline of educational studies in general, are sometimes accused of being dubious in terms of their academic quality, exactly because they are saturated with normative claims and persuasive rhetoric, and because of their notorious lack of conceptual clarity.
