Teacher education reform and preservice teacher assessment : Representations of teachers and initial teacher education in news media

This chapter explores how news media represent teacher education reform, the emergence of teaching performance assessments (TPAs), and related preservice teacher assessment in Australia. The analysis draws on a dataset of 111 news articles published since the release of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) report, Action now: Classroom ready teachers in Australia in 2014. The dataset was analysed using the Analytical Framework for Media Discourse. The discussion highlights some of the implications and the role of the media in portraying teaching, teacher quality, and standards. It addresses how this portrayal impacts teachers’ professional identity and public perceptions of the profession more broadly