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Media neglect of Indigenous student performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2001–2015

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2019

Edward Rock Davis ,
Rachel Wilson  and
John Robert Evans
Edward Rock Davis*
Affiliation:
School of Education and Social Work, Education Annexe, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Rachel Wilson
Affiliation:
School of Education and Social Work, Education Annexe, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
John Robert Evans
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Edward Rock Davis, E-mail: edav9683@uni.sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

This research explores media reporting of Indigenous students’ Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in two national and 11 metropolitan Australian newspapers from 2001 to 2015. Of almost 300 articles on PISA, only 10 focused on reporting of Indigenous PISA results. While general or non-Indigenous PISA results featured in media reports, especially at the time of the publication of PISA results, there was overwhelming neglect of Indigenous results and the performance gap. A thematic analysis of articles showed mainstream PISA reporting had critical commentary which is not found in the Indigenous PISA articles. The three themes identified include: a lack of teacher quality in remote and rural schools; the debate on Gonski funding recommendations and the PISA achievement gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. This study concluded the overwhelming neglect is linked to media bias, which continues to drive mainstream media coverage of Indigenous Australians.

Keywords

Aboriginal educationmedia biasmedia discourseProgramme for International Student Assessment
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , August 2021 , pp. 136 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019

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