Framing teacher identity in an era of accountability: Media and teachers’ narratives in Chile

Abstract

This article presents the main results of a research project that aims to analyze teachers’ perceptions of media discourses and how those discourses influence their teacher identity. Based on focus groups with teachers from public, charter, and private schools in the Metropolitan Region of Chile, this study shows that teachers’ identities are results of their experiences, the audit culture context, and media discourses. However, in order to combat negative media discourse representations, teachers need to re-frame the conversation by becoming aware of media discourses and creating counternarratives to reposition themselves in society.