Creating Catch 22: zooming in and zooming out on the discursive constructions of teachers in a news article

Abstract

The media regularly present negative news articles about teachers and teaching. This paper focuses particularly on one such news article. Using reflective analytic practices, first we zoom in to conduct a detailed analysis of the text. We find that complex and contradictory moral categories of teachers are assembled within and through the text. We then zoom out to consider the potentially detrimental effects of such public discourses on teachers and the teaching profession. We make visible the dominant discourses in this text, illuminating some of the societal issues and practices that are textually constituted within this and other news articles about teachers. We provide evidence of a public discourse that might be contributing towards continuing concerns and negative public opinion regarding teacher quality and schooling standards. We argue that such news articles may well work to influence public opinion regarding declining teacher quality and standards, and of public schools as being in crisis, creating moral panic.Keywords: textual analysis; teachers; media; reflective practice; public discourses 2 "Sure there's a catch," Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy".There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. … Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

Re-framing teacher evaluation discourse in the media: an analysis and narrative-based proposal

“…Within the studies that address this topic, several researchers find that the media portrays teachers as caring (yet professionally ineffective) individuals who simultaneously need and obstruct reform (Cohen, 2010;Thomas, 2004). Moreover, researchers identify several discourses within educational news reporting, including discourses of derision (Wallace, 1993), deficit (Keogh & Garrick, 2011;Thomas, 2011), anddisgust (MacLure, 2003), as well as repeated messages of crisis (Cohen, 2010). News articles within this vein "influence public opinion regarding declining teacher quality and standards, and views of public schools as being in crisis, creating moral panic" (Keogh & Garrick, 2011, p. 419).…”

“…Several researchers have identified related discourses specific to the reform movement, including discourses of deregulation and professionalization (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2001); illusory discourses of authentic participation (Anderson, 1998); and a social language of accountability (Cohen, 2010). Within the media and these broader educational discourses, positive counter-narratives and practitioner voices largely remain in the shadows as messages of crisis frame educational policy debates (Cohen, 2010;Keogh & Garrick, 2011).…”

Media representation of teachers across five countries

“…Some of this work is informed by the work of Gunter Kress on the 'grammar' of images (Kress, & van Leeuwen, 1995). The representation of teachers in newspapers has received modest attention (Goldstein, 2011;Keogh & Garrick, 2011;Pettigrew & MacLure, 1997) and there has been little work that focuses on the language of the texts rather than the images. While there has been considerable work on comparing media accounts of the implementation of education policies across different countries (see for eg.…”

“…Research suggests that newspapers all over the world publish articles about teachers that are "frequently unfair" and "partially substantiated" (Pettigrew & MacLure, 1997, 392). They often blame teachers for poor student performance and poor educational outcomes (Ball, 2008) and present a negative image of teachers (Keogh & Garrick, 2011), creating a "crisis mentality towards education" and teachers (Thomas, 2006). This paper reports on an investigation to compare this media scrutiny of teachers across five different countries.…”

The best and most respected teachers in the world?

“…In general, research on how teachers are described and presented in the media shows that they often get bad publicity, especially in English-speaking publications (Cohen, 2010;Goldstein, 2011;Keogh and Garrick, 2011;Macmillan, 2002;Thomas, 2003Thomas, , 2006). Very few articles or books have been published on the topic in relation to Finland.…”