Accounting for teachers: changing representations of education in The Australian Financial Review 1993–2022

Figures & data

Figure 1. Distribution of Articles 1993–2022.

Table 1. Top 50 Keywords in the AFRTC, organised by theme, ordered by log ratio.

Industrial	salaries, unions
Funding	Gonski, socio, disadvantaged
Classrooms	maths, curriculum, classroom, mathematics, classrooms, instruction, grammar, subjects, vocational, STEM, learning, classes
Students	students, student
Teachers	teachers, teaching, teacher, teacher’s, educators, teach, profession, shortages, taught
Schools	principals, schools, schooling, educational, education, school, secondary
Performance	PISA, numeracy, NAPLAN, literacy
Teacher Education	graduates, universities, tertiary, courses
Education Policy	autonomy, sizes
Sources	Grattan, OECD, AFR

Table 2. Ten randomly selected concordance lines for “autonomy”.

how schools should be run – with greater principal	autonomy	and even more rigorous testing. For reasons I
reforms. Priorities include teacher training, school	autonomy	and the curriculum.
are for more competition between schools, more	autonomy	for school managers and more accountability so
Of course, recommendations for greater	autonomy	for school principals and less time required on
in 2019 showed schools which gave principals	autonomy	had higher attendance levels than schools running
In line with earlier pledges giving principals more	autonomy,	Ms Gillard also promised yesterday that high –
The report also said ideas such as greater principal	autonomy,	national testing and competition between schools
austerity culture versus a culture of resource-rich	autonomy	that is able to deliver real change” he said.
The opposition is similarly enamoured with	autonomy.	The Coalition's Real Solutions For All Australians
join in. Key points Federal move to give more	autonomy	to 25 per cent of Australia's public schools. A $70

Table 3. Ten randomly selected concordance lines for “sizes’.

more teachers to the profession and reduce class	sizes."	A meeting of state and territory treasurers in
Cutting class	sizes	and constructing new school buildings are popular
the past, not repeating mistakes like reducing class	sizes."	As a nation we don't have a great
Research Institute has found that smaller class	sizes	have had only a small effect on student learning.
in pre-kindergarten programmes, small class	sizes	in earlier grades and teachers who said they had
new teaching methods that render traditional class	sizes	irrelevant. In western Sydney, 80 Catholic schools
concerns over behaviour management and class	sizes.	Just under 30 per cent of those surveyed said they
that tell us whether it's good to cut class	sizes	or pay teachers more” Leigh says.
which already have larger than average class	sizes,	said they did not affect education standards. “We
Dodd reported last week, the reduction in class	sizes	since the 1960s and “70s has driven federal and

Table 4. Top 20 collocates of teacher/s in the AFRTC, ordered by mutual information.

	Teacher	Teachers
Industrial/Workforce Issues	shortages, shortage, supply, salaries, workforce, unions	Federation, qualified, nurses, salaries, paid, unions, union, pay
Performance/Quality	quality, improving, improve, performance, standards	professional, best, quality, better
Teacher Education	initial, training, courses, development,	training
Contexts of Teachers’ work	student, classroom, education	principals, primary, classroom, maths, teach, NSW
Other	former, focus	support

Table 5. 10 Randomly selected concordance lines for “quality” as a collocate of “teacher”.

referrals, affordability, location, teacher	quality	and culture”, says Hill. There are also great hopes
increased resourcing, improved teacher	quality	and embracing this as a national goal”, said Innes
The recommendations focus on improving teacher	quality	and giving school principals more flexibility,
under way – including a greater focus on teacher	quality	and intensive training and mentoring as well as
long been concerned about the decline in teacher	quality	and its effects on student performance. An
key points. We need more emphasis on teacher	quality	and mentoring; teachers with high expectations of
greatest driver of educational outcomes is teacher	quality	and our ability to attract, keep and engage the
areas including improving the link between teacher	quality	and pay. Another $147 million and $47 million will
for principals and schools, a focus on teacher	quality	and performance, including a capacity to reward
its changes on school funding and towards teacher	quality	and principal autonomy. Released overnight on

Table 6. 10 Randomly selected concordance lines for “training” as a collocate of “teacher”.

like academic ability, throughputs such as teacher	training,	and outputs, for instance, student results.
lead quickly to the question of teacher	training,	and the quality of graduates. Scrutiny on tertiary
later in life. And even then, the quality of teacher	training	at universities is inconsistent and dubious, at best.
Our education plan will focus on improving teacher	training,	ensuring we have a robust curriculum and
5 per cent of those entering traditional teacher	training	having entrance marks of more than 90. Just
We would need different initial teacher	training,	incentives to stay on, stable staffing and
"reading first” programme and improved teacher	training.	Mr Bush is also proposing a $US3 billion
based on the ideas and practice that underpin the	training	of student teachers at the University of
it needs qualified education groups and teacher	training	organisations to provide pre-service and teacher
Minister Christopher Pyne will use teacher	training	reform and an overhaul of the curriculum to

Figure 2. Distribution of articles by sub-corpus.

Table 7. Keywords in the AFRTC sub-corpora, organised by theme, ordered by log ratio.

	1993–2002	2003–2011	2012–2022
Politics	Kemp, Beazley, George, Kennett, Keating	Brumby, Brendan, Nelson, Bishop, Carr, Latham, Rudd, Howard, Bob, Stephen, Smith	Morrison, Pyne, Turnbull, Scott, Christopher
Industrial	Burrow, earnings, retirement, awards	servants, rises, nurses, strike, wage
Curriculum and Pedagogy	unemployment, Japanese, Japan,		STEM, instruction, wellbeing, digital, explicit, maths, risks, engagement, feedback, studying, expertise, approaches
Teacher Education			ATAR
Performance			NAPLAN, PISA, OECD's, backwards,
Sources			Grattan, Buckingham,
Funding			Gonski
Other	names, stock	church, art	Covid, pandemic

Table 8. Prototypical texts, organised by sub-corpus, ordered by prototypicality.

1993–2002	Poll on privatisation (1996)
	Teacher unions to fight Coalition (1993)
	ACTU, teachers threaten national campaign to protect pay system (1996)
	Federal Budget to double funds for teaching Asian languages (1996)
	Education shaping up as a $130 m election issue (1993)
2003–2011	Teachers to strike as Carr cries poor (2004)
	Teachers strike in backlash against pay rise limits (2003)
	NSW teachers strike threat (2004)
	Wage claims put pressure on Vic budget (2004)
	Teachers’ mass school walkout (2003)
2012–2022	Direct instruction for science is top of class (2016)
	Curriculums fail kids (2018)
	Reading expert praises Coalition's direct approach (2013)
	Teachers are hitting the books during pandemic (2020)
	STEM academy motivates careers in previously struggling region (2020)

Table 9. News values in prototypical texts by sub-corpus.

	1993–2002 Sub-corpus	2003–2011 Sub-corpus	2012–2022 Sub-corpus
Eliteness (of high status or fame)	The Opposition spokesman on education, Dr Kemp, welcomed the publication of the discussion paper (Dwyer, 1993).	NSW Premier Bob Carr said the government had every right to try to keep a lid on costs (Mellish, 2004).	The Centre for Independent Studies challenged inquiry-based learning. Senior researcher, Dr Jennifer Buckingham, said PISA results from 2009 and 2015 show inquiry-based learning is associated with lower scores (Bolton, 2020).
Impact (effects/ consequences)	"The effects of the Kennett Government's actions in Victoria will take that State from being a leader in school education to nearly the bottom of the list” (Dwyer, 1993).	It is expected to shut hundreds of schools, forcing thousands of parents to take the day off or take their children into work (Skulley & AAP, 2003).	An author of a new paper on using phonic skills to improve children's reading has welcomed new Education Minister Christopher Pyne's commitment to return to direct instruction in schools (Dodd, 2013).
Negativity	THE trade union movement's campaign to have the Federal Government re-elected has accelerated, with a vote by teacher unions at the weekend to mount a campaign against the Federal Opposition (Bolt, 1993).	Employers First formerly the Employers Federation of NSW estimated the strike would cost $100 million in lost output and efficiency (Skulley & AAP, 2003).	… the OECD also found little evidence in favour of reducing class sizes for science teaching and warned that it was probably not worth the extra burden on school budgets (Dodd, 2016).
Positivity	The increased money for Asian languages is one reflection of the Howard Government's priority for schools (Grattan, 1996).	The Victorian government is close to solving a major pay claim by 25,000 public servants (Skulley, 2004).	A teacher whose school is in one of the lowest categories for socioeconomic disadvantage has been recognised with an award for enrolling 30,000 students in specialist STEM courses … (Bolton, 2020).
Superlativeness (high intensity/ large scope)	The president of the 180,000-member Australian Teachers Union, Ms Sharan Burrow, said yesterday the election campaign, to cost a six-figure sum, would be the biggest ever launched by teachers and reflected their concern over the coalition's education and industrial policies. (Bolt, 1993).	But the state government says the Commonwealth Grants Commission's decision to slash NSW's allocation by more than $300 million has forced it to make big cuts. (Day, 2004).	Something like the COVID-19 pandemic would only be overcome through using science, but since the 1990s there has been a “massive decline” in maths and science study at Australian schools. (Bolton, 2020).
Timeliness (recent, about to happen)	President of the ACTU, Ms Jennie George launched an industrial campaign in Melbourne yesterday with the Australian Education Union (AEU) and Independent Education Union (IEU) (Murphy, 1996).	Teachers across NSW yesterday voted to strike after the Carr government succeeded in getting a pay case before an industrial commission reopened by crying poor (Mellish, 2004).	"It's really positive,” said Jennifer Buckingham, whose co-authored paper, Why Jaydon Can't Read: The Triumph of Ideology over Evidence in Teaching Reading, will be published by the Centre for Independent Studies in its Policy journal on Monday (Bolton, 2018).

Dwyer, M. (1993, 15 January). Education shaping up as a $130M election issue. Australian Financial Review, 3.

 Google Scholar

Mellish, M. (2004, May 25). Teachers to strike as Carr cries poor. Australian Financial Review, 6.

 Google Scholar

Bolton, R. (2020, April 6). STEM academy motivates careers in previously struggling region. Australian Financial Review, 14.

 Google Scholar

Skulley, M., & AAP. (2003, September 17). Teachers’ mass school walkout. Australian Financial Review, 5.

 Google Scholar

Dodd, T. (2013, September 30). Reading expert praises Coalition's direct approach. Australian Financial Review, 23.

 Google Scholar

Bolt, C. (1993, January 18). Teacher unions to fight coalition. Australian Financial Review, 3.

 Google Scholar

Dodd, T. (2016, December 10). Direct instruction for science is top of class. Australian Financial Review, 3.

 Google Scholar

Grattan, M. (1996, August 9). Federal budget to double funds for teaching Asian languages. Australian Financial Review, 5.

 Google Scholar

Skulley, M. (2004, March 3). Wage claims put pressure on Vic budget. Australian Financial Review, 8.

 Google Scholar

Day, A. (2004, May 24). NSW teachers strike threat. Australian Financial Review, 5.

 Google Scholar

Murphy, K. (1996, April 18). ACTU, teachers threaten national campaign to protect pay system. Australian Financial Review, 2.

 Google Scholar

Bolton, R. (2018, April 24). Curriculums fail kids: Finkel. Australian Financial Review, 3.

 Google Scholar