The Media Got it Wrong! A Critical Discourse Analysis of Changes to the Educational Policy Making Arena

Authors

  • Peter Piazza Boston College Lynch School of Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22n36.2014

Keywords:

educational policy, media research, teacher unions, neoliberalism

Abstract

The context for education policy making has changed dramatically in recent years. Policy-making at the state-level has become characterized by near-unprecedented enactment of neo-liberal education policies, increased influence of so-called Education Reform Advocacy Organizations (ERAOs) and increased challenges to unions’ political influence. In this article, I explore the news media’s characterization of power and political influence in this new policy making arena. I offer case study analysis of a Massachusetts law, passed in the summer of 2012 with support from a non-profit advocacy group called Stand for Children, that limits seniority-based tenure for public school teachers. I use Critical Discourse Analysis to explore how themes, or discourses, common to this new context of policy making played out in the media coverage of the law, and I identify and characterize differences between media coverage of the law and the historical account as told in stakeholder interviews with major players involved in policy debate and development. Ultimately, I suggest that differences between media and interview data can tell us a lot about power and political influence in a time of dramatic policy change.

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Author Biography

Peter Piazza, Boston College Lynch School of Education

Peter Piazza is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at the Boston College Lynch School of Education. His research interests are related to the policy and politics of reforms to pre-service teacher education, teacher induction and public K-12 education. He is currently completing dissertation research, titled “Fast Forward: Changing Political Relationships of the New Policy Making Arena,” that explores recent changes to tenure policies in Massachusetts.

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Published

2014-05-16

How to Cite

Piazza, P. (2014). The Media Got it Wrong! A Critical Discourse Analysis of Changes to the Educational Policy Making Arena. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22, 36. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22n36.2014

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Section

Articles