Selling learning: towards a political economy of edutainment media

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of the emerging market for ‘edutainment’ media in the UK. It covers three main sectors: print publishing, software and on-line learning. In each case, it argues that the development of the market is towards concentration of ownership; and that this is reinforced by the influence of contemporary educational policy. This results in a narrowing in the diversity of material available to the consumer and in the forms of learning that are promoted. However, the article also suggests that there is a considerable degree of instability in the market, as different sectors expand and contract in response to economic, technological and political change; and it argues that attempts to target both parents and children by combining ‘education’ and ‘entertainment’ are bound to prove problematic.