Representations of Teachers in the Print Media : An Intertextual Analysis on Teacher Identity in the 6 Australian Newspaper Articles

Abstract

The research examines how Australian newspaper journalists represent the general impression and identity of teachers in the teacher related 6 Australian newspaper articles listed from 17 March, 2017 to 1 June, 2017. Linguistic discourse forms and defines the perception of reality at the same time, playing a crucial role in making social identity. The image of teachers and the instruction of teachers are created not only by the people actively participating in the formation of such a perception but by the social context they exist in as well. Therefore, the linguistic discourse used in the newspaper media directly and indirectly both affects the way the public perceives teacher identity. This paper focuses on examining the representation of teachers appearing in the 6 articles of the 3 Australian newspapers through the analysis of the education related articles of newspapers and looks into how the public perceives teachers in newspaper media discourse. In other words, the aim of the research is to ascertain the social identity of teachers which the media has constructed and what the representation does mean in the formation of social identity of teachers made in the result of interpretation of the newspaper media. Furthermore, the research attempts to discuss the impact of the formation of teacher identity on social awareness towards teachers and the instruction of teachers and employs a way such as textual analysis in the light of the nature of the research.