Browsing by Author "Ovaska, Jenni"

The focus of the study is to examine how dropping out of vocational upper secondary education and those students who drop out are represented in Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in the 21st Century. Dropping out is a general phenomenon in Finnish vocational upper secondary education. Formerly it was represented from the individual point of view and attention was focused on the deviancy and the negative attitude toward school of the drop-out. In the 21st century, transitions are discovered in discussions concerning dropping out, when dropping out seems to be a more normal phenomenon in education. On the other hand, it has been included in the discussions concerning the profitability of the education system and educational exclusion. Dropping out is still considered problematic in education policy discussions, and I examine what kind of interpretive frames newspaper media uses framing dropouts and how drop-outs are positioned in these texts. As my recearch material I used writings concerning dropping out of vocational education that were published in Helsingin Sanomat during 2000-2014. The frame analysis and the discoursive concept of the subject position were used as an analytical framework. My theoretical approach was based on social constructionisms assumption that language constructs social reality. It was also based on the assumption that media not only reflects the dropping out discussion in society but also actively participates in its signification. As a background outline of my study I made use of quantitative content analysis that showed the adolescent drop-out low voice in texts. Four dominant frames were to be found in the data - control, worry, threat and hope - that illustrated dropping out as an ambiguous but in general problematic issue. Subject positions that were formed in texts for the adolescent renew the interpretation of dropping out as a problem. Positionings also construct otherness for the drop-outs commensurate to those students to be committed themselves to studies. Interpretations that emphasize the normality of dropping out remained as a marginal reference compared to the dominant frames in texts. The interpretations that understand "experimenting choices" after comprehensive school did the same. Research results suggest that the dominant frames in Helsingin Sanomat still construct a picture, where dropping out seems to be an abnormal action in relation to expected action. However, there can be seen hints to give responsibility to educational system.