What (and whose) evidence counts? Interrogating shifting conceptualisations of ‘evidence-based’ education in public discourse in Australia

Emphasis on 'evidence-based' practice in education has intensified in Australia over the past three decades. This article charts this rise by presenting a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of a purpose-built corpus of over 1,600 articles published in Australian national and capital city daily newspapers between 1988 and 2024. Using the conceptual lens of 'media logic' (Altheide, 2013), we explore four phases of 'evidence-based' practice linked to the 'what works' agenda. Our analysis finds an increasing focus over time on specific aspects of pedagogical instruction, particularly in the areas of phonics and reading, with emphasis placed on the superiority of explicit and direct instruction. Within the corpus, evidence-based approaches are often equated with value-neutral, rigorous and effective methods, and the idea of 'evidence' as universally uncontested, proven and removed from teacher professional judgement. The final years of the corpus demonstrate a marked increase in attention to 'evidence-based' and 'what works' approaches, in parallel with reference to knowledge brokers and other private interests. Within this push for 'what works', we identified a growing emphasis on outsourcing traditional teacher-led activities, such as lesson planning and curriculum work, as frequently advocated by private interests, intermediary organisations and knowledge brokers, positioning the notion of 'evidence-based' as a silver bullet for a number of problems, including teacher shortages.