how media shapes education

1. Topic 3:
Media Perception of (Local) Education
EPA4192
Semester 2, 2008-09

2. Goal
1. To understand how mass media talks about the local
education
2. To examine the possible impacts on the ways of
reporting on various actors in the educational system
 Mass media
 Printed media (e.g., newspapers, magazines)
 Electronic media (e.g., TV, radio)
 Internet (e.g., YouTube, Xanga, Facebook)

3. What we need to know
Develop an understanding of media
1. What interests media
 Issues, crises, problems…
1. What influences media
 Government, political parties, pressure/interest groups, business
sector…
1. What is their knowledge level about education
 Expertise/professional? Outsiders?
1. What are their sources of information
 Information: documents, press release, consultation papers, research
reports, seminars,…
 government officers, professionals, front liners, parents, students,…
1. What is the local/global/regional
presence/affiliations/networking of media. E.g.,
 PTU = Democratic Party = pan-democratic media (e.g., Apple Daily)
In order to manage perception

4. Media perception
 Positive
- students’ results (in the
public exams)
- excellent performance of
stakeholders (in terms of
learning capacity)
- Reforms (strive for
excellence)
 Negative
- Misconducts (teachers
/students)
- Poor performance/capacity (e.g.,
zero points of candidates in
public exam, low level of
“language teachers” in the
Language Proficiency
Assessment)
- Deforms (regressive)
- Strives/demonstrations
(undermine the societal interests
and social order)

5. 5
Observation [1]
Politics of scapegoat
 The introduction to, and the implementation of the
new policy, is mainly attributed to the erratic and/or
dubious practices of stakeholders. E.g.,
 Language Benchmarking Assessment (Language
Proficiency Assessment)  maintaining
(questioning?) the language competence of teachers
 School-based management  school
democratization? Strengthening accountability (but
accountable to whom?)

6. 6
Observation [2]
 The nature of the politics of scapegoat:
 (1) cover up the covert intentions of the government
(manipulative and hegemonic approach);
 (2) influence the public opinion that sides with the official
stance;
 (3) aim at the powerless/excluded group (being attacked and
discriminated)
 (4) avert the threat to the educational bureaucracy in case of
blunder

7. Teacher’s stress [1]

8. Teacher’s stress [2]

9. Teacher’s stress [3]

10. Teacher’s stress [4]

11. Teacher’s stress [5]

12. Teacher’s stress [6]

13. 13
Teacher’s stress [7]

14. Teacher’s stress [8]
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suqRFlOOOeo [ 學生
粗口串 Miss 香港教育成功的例子 ( 字幕版 )]
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiI0P6bxBo [ 學生跟
老師鬥串 ]
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXapuBiAq6c [ 課堂
唱粗口歌 如開狂野派對 中學生欺女教師網上熱
播 ]

15. Reminders for Critical Reading
15
1. Heading (Sub-heading): eye-catching and colorful
remarks/wordings
2. Information
 Homogenous or divergent
 accurate and updated?
 Official or non-official
 Using figures or statistics, what purposes?
 Using table or point form to summarize/simplify the content, be
accurate or relevant?
1. View
 Sole or multiple/different
 Objective or subjective/exaggerated/biased
 Any sound evidence to support?

16. Reminders for Critical Reading
16
4. Editorial
 Affirmation or negativity
4. Commentaries/forums
 Affirmation, negativity, or both
4. Illustrations (e.g., political cartoon)
5. If you were an ordinary reader, what do you feel about
the reporting? Do you think such readers are being
affected by the reporting?

17. Media perspective
1. Reflect or distort the public views?
2. The social / cultural reconstruction of reality
3. Serve as a mouthpiece of the public / the government?
4. Professional in reporting and commenting on the critical
educational issues?
 Knowledgeable
 Objective (avoid misinformation, disinformation and
misinterpretation)
 Truth