GIER Twilight Lecture Series: "When teachers and teaching hit the headlines: Is it all bad news?"

GIER Twilight Lecture Series: "When teachers and teaching hit the headlines: Is it all bad news?"

Principal speaker

Dr Aspa Baroutsis

When teachers and teaching hit the headlines: Is it all bad news?


Media reports about education tend to give the impression that teachers and teaching are in crisis in Australia. Media consumers are confronted with headlines about the nation's declining performance on large-scale standardised assessments, or the perception of deteriorating teacher "quality' and a lack of public accountability in teaching, or the suggestion of low entry standards for initial teacher education candidates. As a result, the public image of teachers and teaching is facing major reputational damage. While investigative journalism does much to support and serve a democratic society, in contrast, "tabloid journalism', "citizen journalism', editorials, and opinion editorials sensationalise and amplify only certain messages about teachers and teaching. In this presentation, I draw on data from my research to outline some media logics of practice that can underpin the production of news and the framing of popular portrayals of teachers and teaching in the media. The session will conclude with a conversation following the main presentation where the audience will be invited to discuss ways in which educators, leaders, and policy makers can better engage with media professionals and media outlets to improve the framing of news about teachers and teaching.


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