One newspaper’s role in the demise of the Tasmanian Essential Learnings Curriculum: Adding new understandings to Cohen’s moral panic theory in analyzing curriculum change

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of print media in the development of systemwide curriculum change. Consideration is given to the nature and influence of newspapers on public opinion about curriculum change through the examination of the role of the Mercury in one period in the history of Tasmanian curriculum change. The application of Cohen’s (Folk devils and moral panics: The creation of the mods and rockers (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, 2002) work on moral panics in influencing public opinion is utilized as a theoretical framework.