Public discourse, the media, and international education in Canada

In: Qualitative social work: research and practice, Band 19, Heft 5-6, S. 845-863

Abstract

The phenomenon of the internationalization of education has been prevalent in developed western countries, with varied and at times contested discourses about international education and students. We wonder how these discourses are constructed and contested in the media and further shape public opinions. Using the critical theories of language, power, and media, we analyzed 44 articles relevant to international education/students and their commentaries in the widely circulated Canadian newspapers. Our findings illustrate three dominant themes as the rhetoric of international education/students in Canada and how they are discursively constructed: (1) international education as a commodity; (2) international students as recipients of the generosity of Canada; and (3) international students as burden/harms to Canadian education/students as well as having moral deficits and being lawfully wrongdoers. This analysis highlights how international students are otherized, essentialized, and silenced as the voiceless despite their strong presence as the fastest growing migrant group in Canada with diverse identities and needs. We close with a discussion of the media analysis on international students as one such example of how dominance such as neoliberalism is taking up e-space like other public domains in social environments, which social workers deeply care about.