Understanding the mediatisation of educational policy as practice

Abstract

The main argument presented in this paper is that the mediatisation of education should be viewed as forms of practice linked to specific practice effects. Drawing on Bourdieu's conceptualisation of practice – as elements of practice, practice games and field effects – the paper argues that viewing mediatisation as practice provides a set of methodological starting points for research involving media interactions with education. Taking the mediatisation of education policy as an empirical case for the argument, the contribution of the paper is to raise questions about how the term is utilised in educational research and to suggest that the practice is more open and complex than some accounts suggest. A secondary argument presented in this paper is that Bourdieu's account of practice provides resources suitable to developing research on mediatisation as an addition to social field theorising of processes.

Keywords:

• Bourdieu
• mediatisation
• practice
• temporary social fields

Acknowledgments

Shaun would like to acknowledge the support of his co-editors, Jane Wilkinson and Ian Hardy for their dedication and engagement over the course of three years, from which this special issue and this specific paper are results. Shaun would also like to acknowledge the input and support of Bill Green, who encouraged the convening of a symposium at CSU Wagga Wagga on policy and leadership as practice. This special issue is a result of continued discussion of ideas presented at that initial symposium. Support for the writing up of this paper was provided by Charles Sturt University in the form SSP leave in 2008, funded through CRGT, and a RIPPLE fellowship during semester 2, 2009. Thanks go to Tom Lowrie for this support.

Notes

1. It should be noted that there are a number of analogies employed by Bourdieu in relation to social fields, which can lead to a certain conceptual polyvalence when adapted in research. While the focus in this paper draws on practice games as a way to connect between Bourdieu's theory of practice and his later account of social fields, another analogy used is that of the market, which was most explicitly developed in relation to language and power (for example in Language and symbolic power, Bourdieu 1991). As the focus of this paper lies in developing an account of practice as the basis for methodologies suitable to the study of mediatisation, the market-like qualities of fields are not developed as fully in the discussion that follows. This is one kind of limit to the argument that follows, in that a full exploration of the connections between different analogies used by Bourdieu in relation to social fields would necessitate a much longer explication. For an example of the application of Bourdieu's work to education in terms of language and markets, see James Albright and Allan Luke's (2008) edited book Pierre Bourdieu and literacy education.

2. Bourdieu did not directly develop the concept of mediatisation in his own writing. However, in the publication Weight of the world, to which Bourdieu was a contributor, (Bourdieu, Accardo, Balazs, Beaud, Bonvin, et al., 1999) one chapter authored by Champagne (1999) deals explicitly with mediatisation. Within this chapter, mediatisation is used as a marker for the research and analysis undertaken rather than explicitly addressing connections to the broader literature base concerning mediatisation. Furthermore, in Bourdieu's (1998a) article on soccer, Bourdieu makes a distinction between the practice of soccer and the spectacle of soccer, with the latter reference being specifically applicable to the effects of mediatisation on soccer.

3. This was the initial starting point as one of the first emerging themes in newspaper articles was a scoop that raised the possibility that Batterham would undertake a review of Australia's Science Capability. This was a scoop because the emerging theme resulted from an interview that a journalist (Dorothy Illing) conducted with Batterham as a follow up to his announcement as Australia's Chief Scientist (Illing, 1999a).

4. This end of data second limit was included as a way of highlighting the ongoing circulation of policy themes and emerging themes from Batterham's Review that were subsequently influential on the Government's policy ‘Backing Australia's Ability’, which adopted most of Batterham's recommendations.