Connecting philosophy and practice in the fabric of public education: An analysis of K-12 instructional technology discourse inspired by Foucault's technologies of the self

This study was undertaken to better understand the discourse surrounding K-12 instructional technologies as represented in published articles of three trade publications whose target audience is educational practitioners. The study additionally sought to test the viability of an analytical framework inspired by Michel Foucault's technologies of the self. Two hundred and thirty-seven articles published in three trade periodicals (Education Week, Learning & Leading with Technology, and The School Administrator) over a two-year sample period were analyzed using NVIVO, a qualitative data analysis software product from QSR, International.;Within the research framework, articles were differentiated based on the kinds of outcomes the authors were discussing in relation to the introduction or presence of technologies in an educational environment. Articles could be categorized as discussing outcomes concerns related to Productivity, concerns which were primarily Symbolic in nature, concerns involving relations of Power, or involving the formation of Identity. Articles were coded as whole units based on the primary or dominant outcome concerns represented within them.;Seven findings are discussed. (1) Productivity dominated the sample (218/237 articles), suggesting a significant lack of diversity in the nature of the discourse being explored in educational trade publications. (2) The lack of diversity was reflected in the types of organizations being referenced within that media discourse. (3) Alternative perspectives are not being actively explored in the media coverage of the instructional technology phenomenon. (4) Analysis of the framework for the study determined that it was indeed a viable framework for the research. (5) The coding categories proved to be exhaustive, that is, they accommodated every article (with the exception of a single article removed from the sample), and (6) mutually exclusive, meaning that no coded article qualified for inclusion in two categories (referred to in the study as domains.) (7) Patterns of language can be related to at least some of the domains of outcome expectation in the study framework.;Suggestions for future research focus on continued development of what the researcher titled an Outcomes-Based Concerns Model (OBCM) for use in educational staff development and technological implementation initiatives.