“Not so globalised”: contrasting media discourses on education and competitiveness in four countries
| Date | 07 January 2019 |
| Pages | 155-176 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-08-2016-0108 |
| Published date | 07 January 2019 |
| Author | Edward Rock Davis,Rachel Wilson |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,International business |
“Not so globalised”: contrasting media
discourses on education and
competitiveness in four countries
Edward Rock Davis and Rachel Wilson
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to analyse contrasting discourses on education and competiti veness
from four countries to show the different national values that are a key driver in economic
development.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper uses content analysis to compare and contrast the
newspaper discourse surrounding the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in
four countries with above OECD average performance: Japan and South Korea (improving
performance) and Australia and Finland (declining performance). PISA has attracted much
government and public attention because it reflects education and the economic value of that
education.
Findings –There are key contrasts in the discourses of the four countries.Despite shifts to globalised
perspectiveson education, strong national and culturaldifferences remain. Educationalcompetitiveness
and economic competitiveness are strong discoursesin Japan and South Korea, while in Australia and
Finland, the focus is on educational competitiveness. The media in Finland has few references to
economic competitivenessand it does not feature in Australia. The discoursethemes on PISA from 2001
to 2015 are presented with trends in educational attainment and shifting national perspectives on
education.
Research limitations/implications –Analysis islimited to the top two circulation newspapersin English
language in each country over 2001 to 2015. These newspapers in Finland, Japan and South Korea
includetranslated content from local languagepapers.
Originality/value –The paper provides longitudinal perspectives to understand the contrasting
societal values placed on education and how these relate to perspectives on competitiveness. This
media evidence on national discourses can inform education policy orientations in the four countries
examined.
Keywords PISA, Education, Competitiveness, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Finland
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Education has long been acknowledged as a key economic driver as industrialisation w as
driven by growth in mass, public schooling (Lall, 1992). Education and economy represent two
sides of the one coin in the production of human and social capital. Educational outcomes
from schooling play a key role in building human capital (skills, kno wledge, understanding)
and also in forging social cohesion (Gradstein and Justman, 2000). Less is understood about
the relationship between education and countries’ competitiveness (Baumann and Winzar,
2016). In the modern globalised world the role of competitiveness, both economic
and educational, is amplified, yet the role of education in competitiveness has only
recently become the focus of empirical research (Baumann and Winzar, 2016;Sum and
Jessop, 2013).
Edward Rock Davis is
based at the University of
Sydney Faculty of
Education and Social Work,
Sydney, Australia. Rachel
Wilson is based at the
Faculty of Education and
Social Work, University of
Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Received 2 August 2016
Revised 30 August 2016
Accepted 12 September 2016
DOI 10.1108/JABS-08-2016-0108 VOL. 13 NO. 1 2019,pp. 151-172, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1558-7894 jJOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES jPAGE 151
The recent trend to empiricallyexamine the relationship between educational and economic
outcomes, including competitiveness, has evolved in tandem with the OECD’s Program of
International Student Assessment, PISA, which acknowledges that education is central to
economics and provides an opportunity to explore this relationship (Hanushek and
Wo
¨ßmann, 2012). Data from the triennial educational assessments provide rank order
among participating countries, and the position of countries in educational competitiveness
became a “hot topic” in mass media and the focus for heated national and international
debates. Thus, public discourse around the educational outcomes of PISA has developed
parallel research examining the relationship between education and economy. This paper
explores and compares that discoursein four countries.
The overall aim of PISA is to measure how well 15 year olds are prepared for meeting the
challenges they will face in their lives after schooling (OECD, 2016). Measurement of
students’ preparedness in reading, mathematics and science provides countries with
internationally comparable indicators that give insights into their nations’ future stability and
competitiveness both educationally and economically. However, much of the scholarly
research has taken a cross-sectional approach with comparative examination of relative
attainments (Shin et al., 2009;Sprietsma, 2010). It is only more recently, with five or more
assessment points to reflect on, that a comparative approach to countries with improving
and declining trends in PISA results has become possible. This paper presents an analysis
of PISA, by undertaking a longitudinal comparative analysis of two countries with improving
scores (Japan and South Korea) and two countries with declining scores (Australia and
Finland) and examining the media discourse surrounding PISA in relation to educational
and economic competitivenessin each of the four countries.
The study has three purposes. First, it considers educational achievement, specifically in
reading, science and mathematics, in relation to each country’s competitiveness. Second, it
investigates and compares the media discourse on education and compet itiveness in each
country. Third, it provides a longitudinal perspective to better understa nd how education
“drives” competitiveness by mapping discourse alongside upward or downward trends in
education results. Given that different school policies, priorities and cultural values have
resulted in divergent educational achievements around the world, this study offers an
innovative perspective on the relationship between educational achievement and
competitiveness. This study explores the relationship between education and competitivenes s
and contributes to the well-established literature on the association between education and
economic performance (Faruq and Taylor, 2011;Hanushek, 2013;Hanushek and Wo
¨ßmann,
2007, 2015;Wolf, 2004). There are three research questions:
RQ1. What is the media discourse on educational attainment surrounding PISA in
Australia, Finland,Japan and South Korea?
RQ2. How is competitiveness positioned within the discourse of educational attainment
surroundingPISA?
RQ3. What shifts in discourse on competitiveness are evident over time and in relationto
improving or decliningeducational PISA scores?
The paper also discusses how findings reflect the broader cultural position of education in
the four countries.
Literature review
To position analysis within the burgeoning literature on PISA, economics and education, the
relationship between competitiveness and education is examined; how this understanding
may be reflected in public discourse; and the methods available for examining that
discourse. Over the past 40 years, international assessment has generated a mass of
literature exploring and contrasting educational approaches in countries across the globe
PAGE 152 jJOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES jVOL. 13 NO. 1 2019
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