TEACHER MOONLIGHTING IN THE MEDIA: CRITICAL DEPICTIONS OF A PROFESSION IN CRISIS
Biographical Sketch
Eleanor J. Blair is a faculty member at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, and teaches foundations of education courses in assessment, teacher leadership and history/philosophy of education. Her research utilizes critical pedagogical frameworks to analyze teachers’ work, promote critical media literacy and understand the significance of place in teacher leadership.
Type of Presentation
Individual presentation
Brief Description of Presentation
The implications of teacher moonlighting for the status of the teaching profession and teachers’ work are often debated in the media. Recent media representations of teachers' work and teacher moonlighting often "feed" popular notions about teachers that are superfluous and inaccurate. Rather than encouraging critical discussions of the professional status of teachers, these media mis-representations do little to promote meaningful discussion about the process and product of teachers' work in 21st century schools. This paper examines recent media characterizations of teachers' work and teacher moonlighting within a critical media context.
Abstract of Proposal
The implications of teacher moonlighting for the status of the teaching profession and teachers’ work are often debated in the media. If how we think about things influences their ultimate reality, the reality of teacher moonlighting mocks efforts to increase the status of the profession. Popular media depictions of teacher moonlighting highlight the persistent role of this phenomenon in teachers' lives, but stop short of examining the relationship between teacher moonlighting and teachers' work. Statistics documenting high attrition rates among teachers and declining enrollment in teacher education programs document a profession in crisis. Popular media mis-representations of teachers provide a platform for a meaningful discussion of the intersection between the reality of teachers' lives and media images of the process and product of teaching in 21st century schools..
Location
Session 1B (Summit, Double Tree)
Start Date
2-22-2019 10:30 AM
End Date
2-22-2019 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Blair, Eleanor J., "TEACHER MOONLIGHTING IN THE MEDIA: CRITICAL DEPICTIONS OF A PROFESSION IN CRISIS" (2019). International Critical Media Literacy Conference (2016-2019). 3.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2019/2019/3
TEACHER MOONLIGHTING IN THE MEDIA: CRITICAL DEPICTIONS OF A PROFESSION IN CRISIS
Session 1B (Summit, Double Tree)
The implications of teacher moonlighting for the status of the teaching profession and teachers’ work are often debated in the media. If how we think about things influences their ultimate reality, the reality of teacher moonlighting mocks efforts to increase the status of the profession. Popular media depictions of teacher moonlighting highlight the persistent role of this phenomenon in teachers' lives, but stop short of examining the relationship between teacher moonlighting and teachers' work. Statistics documenting high attrition rates among teachers and declining enrollment in teacher education programs document a profession in crisis. Popular media mis-representations of teachers provide a platform for a meaningful discussion of the intersection between the reality of teachers' lives and media images of the process and product of teaching in 21st century schools..
