Slides from the session on representing education. Focused on the issues raised in Jeffs and Baker

1. Education and the Media

2. Coverage
Baker (1994) media attention on education
intensified
Jeffs (1999) education given less attention prior to
1950’s
Yet, historic considerations suggest a more
complex relationship between media & the press
C.L.TUPLING

3. Nineteenth Century
media coverage

5. 1870 Education Act
MR. FORSTER ON EDUCATION .
The York Herald (York, England), Saturday, January
22, 1870; pg. 8; Issue 5067
NATIONAL EDUCATION LEAGUE .
Birmingham Daily Post (Birmingham, England),
Saturday, February 19, 1870; Issue 3616
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6. 1889 Schoolboy Strikes
SCHOOLBOY STRIKES
Manchester Times, Saturday, October 12, 1889;
Issue 1681
THE WEEK
The York Herald, Saturday, October 12, 1889; pg.
4; Issue 11970
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7. Disruptive pupils
“..always secure extensive media coverage” (Jeffs,
1999: p. 158)
Behaviour is focus of attention, reasons ignored
Conflict becomes spectacular rather than ordinary
Fear of contamination? (nineteenth century
spread)
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8. Progressive Schools
Framing of alternative schooling as chaotic, out of
control
Serves to normalise ‘ordinary’ schools
From New Lanark, to Prestolee to Summerhill
Summerhill: Inside England's most controversial
private school
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9. Standards
Educational standards are a perpetual concern
Means of monitoring and surveillance
Contemporary measures of performance in league tables
are overly simplistic whole appearing robust and valid
By publishing the press presents itself as the parents'
friend
Schools have nowhere to hide (The Times, cited in Jeff's,
1998)
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10. Significance of
Education
Formal systems of education more pervasive than
in the past
Experience education for longer
Education becomes essential for securing jobs
and economic position
Marketisation and ‘parentocracy’ (Brown, 1990)
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11. Concluding Thoughts
The messenger (tabloid press) is not the sole
source of trivialising (O'Connor, 1989)
To what extent does the press do the
Government's bidding?
How marketable is complex information?
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12. References
Baker, M. (1994) ‘Media Coverage of Education’, British Journal of
Educational Studies, 42 (3): 286-297
Brown, p. (1990) ‘The 'Third Wave': Education and the Ideology of
Parentocracy’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 11 (1):
65-85
Jeffs, T. (1999) ‘Are you paying attention? Education and the media’
in Franklin, B (ed) Social Policy, the Media and Misrepresentation,
London: Routledge
O’Connor, M. (1989) ‘Reflections from an observer’, in A.
Hargreaves and D. Reynolds (eds) Education Policies:
Controversies and Critiques, Brighton: Falmer Press
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