Media coverage of education
01 Sep 1994-British Journal of Educational Studies (Taylor & Francis Group)-Vol. 42, Iss: 3, pp 286-297
TL;DR: This paper provided examples of this bias in newspaper reportage based on a case study of an annual teacher union conference and journalists' different interpretations of events generally, showing that middle-market tabloid newspapers in Britain help to shape a perception of teachers and state schools that is mostly negative and derisory.
Abstract: The middle‐market tabloid newspapers in Britain help to shape a perception of teachers and state schools that is mostly negative and derisory. This article provides examples of this bias in newspaper reportage based on a case study of an annual teacher union conference and journalists’ different interpretations of events generally.
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TL;DR: The authors investigates the work of media discourses on education policy in public debates over the Queensland school curriculum and shows how educational policy issues were discursively constituted and contested through the construction of public discourses.
Abstract: This paper investigates the work of media discourses on education policy in public debates over the Queensland school curriculum. It draws on theories of discourse, theories that have recently influenced the field of policy sociology, to outline a conceptualization of policy and media texts as discourses in the public sphere. In so doing, it notes the significant contribution such public discourses on education make to the policy process. The paper employs critical discourse analysis to investigate the discursive constructions of curriculum during one particular policy initiative. The analysis focuses on newspaper debates over the inclusion of a subject called Health and Physical Education (HPE) in the Queensland secondary school curriculum. The paper shows how educational policy issues were discursively constituted and contested through the construction of public discourses on education policy. In particular, it demonstrates how such public discourses worked to construct authoritative voices on education...
47 citations
Cites background from "Media coverage of education"
...The last two decades has seen consistently negative media coverage of educational issues in both in Australia (Porter 1990, Comber et al. 1998) and elsewhere (Ball 1990, Thomsen 1993, Baker 1994, Loveless 1997, Pettigrew and Maclure 1997)....
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TL;DR: By reflecting on a variety of cartoon representations of teachers and their work, the authors outlines a semiotic approach to undertaking research on teachers' professional cultures, and proposes a method for analyzing teacher's professional cultures.
Abstract: By reflecting on a variety of cartoon representations of teachers and their work, this paper outlines a semiotic approach to undertaking research on teachers’ professional cultures.
33 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether the speciality of journalists influences their source selection procedures and found that compared to journalists that specialize in education issues, science correspondents employ a narrower scope when seeking sources.
Abstract: Media accounts of reality have the potential to influence public opinion and decision making processes. Therefore who has and who does not have access to the media and can make their voice heard is a crucial question with serious political consequences. In this article it is investigated whether the speciality of journalists influences their source selection procedures. The coverage of science in schools is an interesting example, since it can be covered by specialized science or education correspondents, but also by general news reporters. A public controversy in the UK about the inclusion of creationism in a school is used to identify which types of sources were selected by various journalists. The focus is upon the selection of sources and whether journalists with different specialties consider various sources relevant and credible. A content analysis of articles, featuring this controversy, is combined with an analysis of correspondent’s strategies for selecting sources based on interviews with them. The findings suggest that compared to journalists that specialize in education issues, science correspondents employ a narrower scope when seeking sources. This might have important consequences for the representation of views on science education in the media.
26 citations
Cites background from "Media coverage of education"
...…news stories in the UK has risen since the early 1990s and more specialist education correspondents have been employed by (some) newspapers and broadcast media during this time, the professional practice of educational correspondents is a relatively under-examined area of study (e.g., Baker 1994)....
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...under-examined area of study (e.g., Baker 1994 )....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the role of scientific experts in the controversy over teaching creationism in science classes at a secondary school in England has been examined, focusing on the question who the experts were that appeared in the press coverage.
Abstract: The issue whether creationist accounts of the origins of life should be taught in science education alongside or even instead Darwin’s theory of evolution is controversial in many countries. In 2002 there was a controversy around teaching creationism in science classes at a secondary school in England. The research presented in this paper uses this controversy around teaching creationism/evolution as case study to find out more about the public representation of science education. Here it focuses on the question who the experts were that appeared in the press coverage and examines the role of scientific experts in this controversy. Expertise is a key resource in many public controversies involving science and can also have an impact on decision-making processes and on the public opinion. Also the way expert sources are presented in media accounts of socio-scientific controversies can have an effect on how their credibility is perceived and the arguments being made.
22 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that the quality press is more likely to be internally inconsistent and contradictory in its reportage of education policy and, on occasion, to inhibit debate through discourses of omision.
Abstract: This article examines as a critical case how newspapers reported the grant maintained schools policy. It argues that claims that press reporting of educational issues is frequently unfair are only partially substantiated. The quality press is more likely to be internally inconsistent and contradictory in its reportage of education policy and, on occasion, to inhibit debate through discourses of omision.
21 citations
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Book•
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: For example, Simon argues that educational policy usually reflects the outcome of a struggle between progressives who see reform as a first step towards social change, and conservatives who prefer a stratified system which reflects existing social divisions.
Abstract: The fourth and final in the "Studies in History of Education in England" this volume examines the changes and developments in the British education system from the Second World War to the eve of the millennium Education has always been a battlefield and never more so than in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century Simon argues that educational policy usually reflects the outcome of a struggle between progressives who see reform as a first step towards social change, and conservatives who prefer a stratified system which reflects existing social divisions It documents the changes that took place as the result of these battles: it begins with the 1944 Education Act and the massive extension of educational opportunity that took place in the postwar period; it then deals with the subsequent prolonged debates about comprehensive education, and other measures of liberalisation during the 1960s and 1970s; and it ends with the years of Conservative government, the 1980s and 1990s, when systematic attempts were made to reverse the advances that had been made during the earlier period Winner of the History of Education Society Prize 1991-92 Winner of the Standing Conference for Studies in Education Prize 1991-92
128 citations
2 citations