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Purpose:
This study explored the ways in which media presented narratives of teachers.
Theoretical Framework
As teachers and now teacher educators we are often frustrated by the ways in which the media represents teachers. They are often depicted as less intelligent than peers, yet for several decades there has been clear evidence that preservice teachers are as intelligent and competent (see Darling-Hamond & Bransford, 2007). When I began as a teacher educator the university where I worked found that those going into teaching scored as high as other students and their problem-solving skills were superior. We noticed that more positive stories of teachers emerged during the pandemic, but following it media stories continued to be negative. These negative accounts of teachers used evidence from educators who weren’t teachers and presented indictments on collective representations continuing a narrative of public entitlement in relationship to schools and teaching. We became interested in how media stories of individual teachers in local media currently represented and positioned teachers.
Methods
This study uses content analysis and positioning theory to guide analysis of the narratives we collected. Rather than more media stories of schools and teachers generally and collectively, we chose stories that featured individual teachers.
Data Source and Analysis
The media narratives were from local media stories of individual teachers from a very conservative state in the Western United States. Focusing on the 2023-2024 school year, we identified stories that reported on the practice of individual teachers. Working together we analyzed these stories using the tenets of positioning theory looking specifically at what the positioning of teachers revealed about the obligations, duties and responsibility of teachers. After our initial analysis we returned to the media narratives to determine whether the evidence clearly supported our interpretation.
Findings
The analysis revealed two distinct narratives of teachers as award winners or disasters. However, regardless of category, we determined that the positioning of teachers revealed the same narrative of obligation, duties and responsibilities. The underlying narrative is one of excessive public entitlement in relationship to teachers.
Conclusion and Significance
Media representations of teachers whether award winners or disasters, provide narratives of teachers that promote a representation of teachers that promotes a view of the public as excessively entitled regarding requirements of teachers to give all to the public. That they must sacrifice their lives and be consistently above reproach regardless of student or parent behavior. Such representations continue to provide a view of teaching as requiring deep sacrifice and commitment for which teachers consistently fall short. The implication of this representation of teachers results impacts whether or not people select teaching as an occupation and whether they choose early retirement over staying. This is important at a time when most schools and districts face sever teaching shortages.