Media Education and the Limits of Assessment

Abstract

This paper is concerned with subject identity and assessment in the case of contemporary English (UK) Media Studies. It explores the relationship between the ‘spirit’ of Media Studies, notions of its relative value and its institutionalised version, ‘Subject Media’ (its authority, as administered by examiners). The case study given attention is the first examination of a new specification for AS (Advanced Subsidiary) Media Studies, held by the English awarding body, OCR, in 2000. The AS level is taken after GCSE and before the full A Level (A2), usually by students aged 16–17 in school sixth form or further education colleges. The paper suggests, through analysis of examiner discourse, that the assessment of media learning is not yet organised into a ‘vertical discourse’ (Bernstein, 1996), although examiners will it to be so. These findings set up the possibility that the distinguishing features of Media Studies in England might be over-stated.

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