Teachers and public engagement: an argument for rethinking teacher professionalism to challenge deficit discourses in the public sphere

In the context of public debates on teacher quality, both media and education policy texts construct deficit discourses about teachers, discourses that work together to inform public, commonsense understandings of teacher quality. This paper explores the interrelationships between discourses on teachers constructed on television and in policies in the Australian policy context. Critical discourse analysis was employed to trace the links between the discourses on teachers constructed in a television situation comedy and discourses in the policy documents that inform the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme. The paper demonstrates the interdiscursivity of media and policy discourses on teacher quality by analysing the ways that the television sitcom constructed a particular version of teachers within the quality policy context. The analysis highlights the need for teachers to challenge these deficit discourses. The paper concludes by arguing for a rethinking of teacher professionalism in ways that include active engagement in public debates on education.     

Modernizing leadership through private participation: a marriage of inconvenience with public ethos?

What distinctive leadership changes does the private sector bring to the running of public sector educational services? This paper contributes to an understanding of the issues raised by this question by studying the senior management of a private company running services for an English local education authority. The paper explores evidence of modernizing leadership, as well as the extent to which a traditional public ethos is sustained or re‐interpreted within modernization. Analysis is based principally on interviews with senior management, but is also informed by the larger data set collected as part of the case study of this public‐private partnership. The paper suggests that modernizing leadership, as understood in terms of the dominant policy discourse, is not found in its pure form, but is modified by a continuing orientation to an older public ethos. A model is proposed—an adaptive public service model of leadership—which reflects the style of leadership forged by senior management. Issues, dangers, paradoxes, and contradictions inherent in the model and the practice it represents are highlighted. The model is not put forward as an ideal to follow, but as a means of highlighting the issues that arise where modernization and older ideals of public service encounter each other.     

'The Trouble with Our Schools': A media construction of public discourses on Queensland schools

This paper gives an account of competing public discourses on schooling. In particular, it investigates one newspaper's coverage of the release of an educational report. The paper combines interview data with a critical discourse analysis of newspaper texts to show how media reporting of Queensland schools constructed a preferred discourse on education that represented schools as being in crisis, 'in trouble'. The analysis describes how the paper shaped popular opinion on educational policy through the construction of public discourses of crisis in education. Further, the analysis shows how this discourse positioned particular groups as the authoritative voice on standards in Queensland schools. It shows how, at a time when teacher quality was under question, the media constructed a public discourse that diminished the authority of teachers to speak about education policy, granting that authority to the newspaper's editor, who assumed the people's voice on educational issues. This analysis of the construction of public discourses about education policy gives insights into the media's place in educational policy-making. In so doing, the paper adds to the small body of literature that investigates the relationships between the media and education.     

Classroom teacher effectiveness research and inquiry,and its relevance to the development of public education policy: an Australian context

This paper has as its focus an analysis of the question and problem of classroom teacher effectiveness research and inquiry. It presents an examination of what counts as valid and worthwhile research in classroom teacher effectiveness studies for the development of education policy within an Australian context, the State of Victoria. The Government’s Blueprint, the major education policy document of the Victorian State Labour Government, outlines its educational approach. Important and core features of government direction for education policy include a focus on social and economic disadvantage. A priority for the Victorian State Labour Government is tangible and measurable improvement in the performance of the public education system. A particular concern is the problem of academic underperformance within public schools, particularly those designated as low-performing and situated in socially and economically disadvantaged communities. Building the capacity of the State’s teacher workforce forms a key component of the Blueprint, and State Government direction in public education. The paper utilises a qualitative theoretical framework. Eight education policy actor/participants were interviewed and their responses analysed using a critical discourse approach. The main findings indicate that education policy actors advocate a strong belief in particular forms of evidence-based research for the development of education policy in the area of classroom teacher effectiveness.     

The Common Core debate on Twitter and the rise of the activist public

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted with broad bipartisan backing in 46 states in 2010. Yet by 2015 they had become a lightning rod for a range of critiques about the education system while public support declined precipitously and became increasingly partisan. Not coincidentally, the CCSS were also the first major education initiative to play out in a social media environment. In this study we used mixed methods to analyze the debate surrounding the Common Core on Twitter for a 6-month period in 2013–2014, with a focus on the central participants in the discussion and the linguistic argumentation they used. We found an active debate about the Common Core on Twitter, consisting of about 190,000 tweets from 53,000 distinct actors. Using social network analysis, we identified three major factions in the debate, which represented supporters of the CCSS, educators who opposed the CCSS, and a large contingent of opponents from outside of the education industry. We also detected that many of the most prolific participants from outside of education were individual activists, rather than members of formal advocacy organizations. Analyzing the content of the debate amongst the most influential participants, we found it to be less about the CCSS themselves than a proxy war about larger education-related social issues. Finally, through an examination of the language of the tweets, we determined that the central members used a form of linguistic argumentation called ‘politicalspeak,’ which they employed to rouse their followers and influence the public discourse. Thus, the tactics of the factions on Twitter, particularly opponents of the CCSS from outside of education, employed both issue framing and linguistic strategies to establish a dominant narrative. Based on these findings, we argue that the discourse on Twitter at the time of the study was less of a means to introduce new ideas and perspectives, then it was amplify the voices of a broader array of public activists seeking to influence the direction of public policy.     

Renewing the public and the role of research in education

Australians live at a time when the quality of discussion in the public sphere and within the institutions of the state is at a very low ebb; when policy making is dictated by short term political cycles, spin and focus groups; and when notions of the public good are set aside in favour of self-interest. This paper is based on the premise that if one of the historic purposes of education is to renew the public, then education holds the key to improving the quality of public discourse. However since education policy making in contemporary times is also caught up in the processes which diminish public discourse, the challenge is to find ways to break this vicious cycle. This paper argues that one of the factors contributing to this state of affairs is the influence of what is currently passing for educational ‘research’. It traces the ways in which unrefereed consultant and think-tank research has captured policy makers and some sections of the media, and shows—using a recent influential research report as a case study—how such research often does not stand up to critical review. The purpose in questioning the rigour of such research is based on the conviction that a process of reinvigorating and deepening public debate about education must be based on quality research. The paper concludes by suggesting some ways by which the education research community can contribute to the process of renewing the public.     

Curricular decision-making among public sex educators

The content of sex education in government-funded schools in the USA varies dramatically and reflects its contested nature and goals. Drawing from 50 interviews with sex educators working in the public, government-funded school system in a Midwestern US state, this study explores the processes through which sex educators decide what and how to teach. Working from the theoretical framework of argument sphere theory, and, specifically, socio-scientific controversy, we find that sex educators often resolve the competing arguments they face through processes that we call deliberative conflation and deliberative co-optation. Deliberative conflation involves the use of criteria from one or more argumentative spheres to judge evidence appropriate to a different sphere. Deliberative co-optation involves the use of discourse practices from one sphere to make arguments actually grounded in another. Both of these processes enable the reconciliation of otherwise incommensurate arguments, but they do so in ways that foster unstable and ambiguous curricular decisions. Our findings provide guidance towards improving sex education and its attendant outcomes.     

A comparison between the workplace cultures of Saudi Arabia's private and public education institutes

In Saudi Arabia, it is generally perceived that private special education institutes (SEIs) provide a higher quality education than their public counterparts. Parents tend to trust and invest in private rather than public institutes. This is principally attributed to the greater financial capacity of private special institutes, which ensures services can be provided more effectively. Investigating this perspective, this study seeks to bridge the gap often observed and commented upon between public and private SEIs, and to reflect critically on how the needs of all students with intellectual disabilities can be met within the public system. A comparative case study of two SEIs in Saudi Arabia for students with intellectual disabilities, one public and one private, was designed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents, teachers and principals. A key finding of this study is that there is a major difference in the workplace cultures of public and private institutes. This results in several observable factors that were found to contribute to the quality of provision for learners.     

Contesting education policy in the public sphere: media debates over policies for the Queensland school curriculum

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 educational policy. The paper concludes with a call to teachers and policymakers to seek opportunities to construct an authoritative public voice on issues of education policy.     

International education as a novel entity in a public education system: the establishment of a new public international school in Israel

Abstract

This study traces the founding process of Eastern Mediterranean International School (EMIS) by analysing the motivations and interests of different stakeholders involved in the establishment process. In this novel initiative students from Palestine, Israel, and other countries study within the Israeli public school system towards an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with founders, educators, Ministry of Education officials, a parents’ survey, and content analysis of related documents, the authors show how the school was established and approved despite the supposedly contradicting hegemonic discourse of the official Israeli policy. They conclude by suggesting some implications for scholars and policy-makers.     

Framing the benefits of higher education participation from the perspective of non-completers

ABSTRACT

Ensuring that students of all backgrounds are smoothly transitioned through the stages of access, participation and completion in higher education has been the focus of much public policy and research in recent decades. Subsequently, public policy discourse treats those who do not complete their higher education degrees as unsuccessful, despite a lack of research considering the beneficial outcomes of non-completing students. Evidence of beneficial outcomes of higher education participation without completion has potential to challenge the deficit-centric discourse of completion dependent on a binary view of success and failure. This article details a critical discourse analysis of responses to a 2017 survey of university non-completers asked ‘were there any benefits from the time you spent doing an [sic] incomplete degree?’. This study finds that non-completers experience a wide range of benefits from incomplete studies despite the dominant discourse discounting their experiences as unsuccessful. Additionally, this study presents a critique of framing surveys of non-completing students within the normative bounds of success as completion in higher education, and instead calls for a more nuanced construction of success in higher education.     

Dissection of a truth regime: the narrowing effects on the public good of neoliberal discourse in the Virginia performance-based funding policy

A major role of all public higher education institutions is to foster the public good. In democratic societies, the public good emphasizes the more collective activities and benefits and how resources are accessible to all in a society. Institutions of higher education create new knowledge, promote cultural tolerance, increase civic activity, and have lasting intergenerational effects among other things which all serve to enhance the collective activities of a polity. Since public higher education institutions promote the public good, and since public higher education institutions are governed by policy, educational policy becomes a crucial determiner of the public good. Moreover, policies are constructed with language or discourse. Thus, the discourse of policy, which has the power to structure the actions, speech, and thoughts of those affected by the policy, has a direct impact on the public good. In light of this importance, this paper critically examines the discourse of educational policy.     

Successful implementation of information and communication technology integration in Malaysian public schools: An activity systems analysis approach

This multiple-case study drew upon Engeström's (1987) activity theory (AT) to understand the conditions and explain the systematic contradictions that facilitate successful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration in schools. The data were collected through in-depth interviews and document analysis from one primary and one secondary public school in Malaysia. In-depth interviews were carried out with nine participants, including principals, ICT coordinators, and teachers. Findings revealed three conditions that led to successful ICT integration: 1) types of ICT tools in the school, 2) rules and regulations in the school that shape the ICT culture, and 3) division of labour within the school community. The findings indicate that school stakeholders must work together to resolve tensions introduced by systemic contradictions in different activity systems, which shape school ICT culture. The study aims to enrich the discourse on ICT integration by assisting school stakeholders to reflect on their own ICT integration strategies.     

Challenges for University Engagement in the UK: Towards a Public Academe?

This paper considers the changing role of universities in the UK as they respond to an engagement agenda that stipulates a more immersive and visible interaction between academics and the public. It constitutes a survey of attitudes to public engagement in a selection of UK universities drawing on interviews with senior academics with managerial responsibility at the end of 2009. The results of this study reflect a mood of indecision and anxiety among respondents towards a public engagement agenda seen to influence the contours of their professional identities and working lives. The study situates academic accounts that contest the legitimacy of public engagement as a core academic activity and the role of academics in communicating with public groups. Moreover, it reveals a lack of agreement and consistency in the conceptualisation and application of public engagement in higher education contexts, certainly beyond an emergent discourse of research impact.     

Participatory action research and the public sphere

Some action research today lacks a critical edge. This article identifies five inadequate forms of action research, and argues that action research must be capable of ‘telling unwelcome truths’ against schooling in the interests of education. It reasserts a connection between education and emancipatory ideals that allow educators to address contemporary social challenges. It suggests how educational trends in recent decades may have led to the domestication of educational action research, and concludes with three messages about quality in educational action research. It re‐thinks educational action research initiatives as creating intersubjective spaces for public discourse in public spheres.     

Reluctant partners in modernization: The National Autonomous University of Mexico and its links with industry

We identify the discourse which underlies a series of interviews with opinion leaders who represent academia, industry, and government in Mexico. All three sectors identify with modernization and claim that higher education should play a more active role in transferring modern technology to Mexican industry. Privately, however, all informants appear to oppose such a technology transfer for various reasons. The contrast between public and private positions suggests an eroding confidence in the role of higher education as a factor of modernization. Political power in Mexico once derived its legitimacy from social and economic stability, not from science and technology. Lately stability is increasingly being questioned, while conservative institutions of higher education such as UNAM are caught in the crossfire. Our research suggests a persistence of pre-industrial stereotypes derived from an obsolete Colonial ideology which has outworn its usefulness. These results demand a re-interpretation of the crisis in our higher education system. While the National University has consistently satisfied the demand for graduates in the country (Lorey 1993), in 1995 more than 120,000 applications for freshman registration were rejected. Graduates from public universities are being displaced from political decision-making. The question of reform of higher education in Mexico has serious implications for the future of the nation.     

The space between: building liberatory capital in a school–community partnership

Even before withstanding one of the most devastating economic crises in American history, families living in poverty have battled a dominant discourse that labels them as lacking personal responsibility, initiative, and the ability to make “good” choices. This discourse is reflected in the parent-involvement mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, where parents living in poverty are expected to sign contracts promising to take a more active role in the education of their children. This study describes what it looked like when a grassroots, Community Based Organization (CBO) dedicated to speaking back to this dominant discourse partnered with an urban public school system to simultaneously help families leave poverty and improve the academic success of their children. This paper illustrates what it looks like when families living in poverty speak back to the dominant discourse, seek validation for their non-dominant discourses, and enter a potentially liberating Third Space between.     

Politics,religion and morals: the symbolism of public schooling for the urban middle-class identity

Research points to sections of the middle-class repopulating the ‘ordinary’ urban public school and whilst there are key differences in how they are navigating public school choices, from ‘seeking a critical mass’ to resisting traditional methods of choice and going ‘against-the-grain’, or collectively campaigning for a brand new public school, the urban middle-class are developing contemporary methods to challenge the existing ways of thinking about middle-class choice. Drawing on this literature, this paper explores the symbolism of public schooling for relatively affluent choosers in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The positioning of public schooling as essentially secular and liberal indicates how the public school is valorised within the contemporary market place. Within a market that tends to undersell the public school, the perceived lack of organised religion and progressivism may be the unique selling point for the cosmopolitan, globalised consumer.     

Discourses of education and constitutions of class: public discourses on education in Swedish PBS television

Drawing on post-structural perspectives and analysis of television programs on education, the article investigates the public educational discourse in Sweden. It shows how a dominant neoliberal educational discourse is articulated together with a discourse of equal education, where the two discourses influence and subvert each other so that neither becomes totally hegemonic. Taking as its point of departure the neoliberal emphasis on the individual, especially as it relates to school choice and to the significance of class for educational success, the analysis focuses on the constitution of classed positions. The study reveals constitutions of class in which race, place, gender, economy and agency are intertwined, such that the schools and the students are attributed both different statuses and different subject positions in terms of future economic trajectories. The conclusions drawn are that, in the public conversation about the organization and goal of compulsory education, it is important to be aware of the discursive and political contexts in which the discussions take place. It is also important to realize that class matters in the educational assemblage in the form of economic subjectivities constituted in a web of intersecting notions about differing preconditions and outcomes of education.     

The Discourse of Research Degrees Supervision: a case study of supervisor training

This article is designed to add to the literature dealing with the supervision of research degrees. It examines the discourse of supervision in the context of accredited research supervisor training at one British university. The data is based on naturalistic observation of course participants and in‐depth interviews with a range of stake‐holders. It explores the metaphors employed by supervisors to describe their roles within the research award process. This is the first stage of a larger project that is looking in more depth at supervisory discourse and using the analysis of that discourse as a heuristic device to encourage reflection in professional education.