Education Through TIME: Representations of U.S. Education on TIME Magazine Covers From 1983–2017

• In Event: 66.088 - Sheraton Roundtable 13 - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 66.088-2 - Multimodal Analysis of History

Abstract

Magazine covers are multimodal ensembles whose message is conveyed through combinations of words, images, and design elements. Drawing upon social semiotics and multimodality theories, a multimodal content analysis of TIME Magazine (TIME) covers published between 1983 and 2017 was conducted to understand how TIME has visually communicated ideas about U.S. education to their audience throughout time. Three primary categories were constructed: 1) schools are in need of fixing; 2) learning and schooling have not changed through time; and 3) uncomplicated stereotypical representations can stand for broad categories of educational stakeholders, practices, and tools. If these conceptualizations of education are left unchallenged, uncritical reader-viewers may take up such conceptualizations as truth and reality.

Authors

• Dani Kachorsky, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

• Kathryn P. Chapman, University of Kentucky

• Stephanie F. Reid, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Arizona State University