STUDYING SCHOOL: DEPICTIONS OF EDUCATION ON THE DISNEY CHANNEL
Christa E. Weaver
A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
Department of English
University of North Carolina Wilmington
2012
Approved by
Advisory Committee
Katie Peel Lauren Squires
Colleen Reilly Chair
Accepted by
______Dean, Graduate School
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...... v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... vi
LIST OF TABLES ...... vii
INTRODUCTION ...... 1
Overview ...... 1
Television’s Significance ...... 1
Disney’s Impact ...... 4
Education as a Focus ...... 5
METHODOLOGY ...... 7
Overview of Content Analysis ...... 7
Benefits Outweigh Drawbacks ...... 11
Sample...... 13
Coding Scheme ...... 15
RESULTS ...... 17
Attitudes toward the School System ...... 17
Instances of Learning ...... 23
Characterizations of Educators ...... 27
Characterizations of Academic-minded Students ...... 34
Combined Portrayals of the School System...... 38
DISCUSSION ...... 39
Negative Representations...... 39
Learning is Largely Unnecessary...... 41
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Limitations ...... 43
Ramifications ...... 45
CONCLUSIONS...... 49
LITERATURE CITED ...... 52
APPENDIX ...... 60
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ABSTRACT
Television is ubiquitous, and it is consistently shaping people’s perceptions of reality.
The Disney Channel, a popular television station, is one faction of the multimedia giant, Disney.
This company constantly sends messages to the consumers via its products. Therefore, I examined four Disney Channel series—Wizards of Waverly Place, The Suite Life on Deck,
Phineas and Ferb, and A.N.T. Farm—to investigate how “reality” was portrayed by these fictional shows. Specifically, I focused on analyzing the portrayal of education—a common theme on the Disney Channel.
I performed content analysis on 55 Disney Channel episodes that aired between January
2010 and January 2012. Each series chosen targeted middle-school-aged children because I wanted to examine the messages children were being sent about the school system while they were still a part of the school system. When analyzing these series, I coded for characters’ attitudes towards the school system, any instances of learning, and the characterizations of educators and academic-minded students.
My findings indicate that these Disney Channel series portray a pessimistic view of the school system. Negative attitudes toward the school system, and those who promote what the institution stands for, outweigh the positives 309:40. Additionally, learning takes place more frequently outside of the school system than inside of it; though, it is rarely seen in these series.
Therefore, if television truly shapes the way individuals view reality, then the educational system is under attack. These Disney Channel series are giving impressions that school is not an important institution, educators are inept at doing their jobs, students who value academics are destined to have a low social standing, and learning is more frequently accomplished outside of school.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my committee. First of all, I want to offer a big thanks to my thesis advisor, Dr. Colleen Reilly, who guided me with encouragement, patience, and timely feedback.
Her consistent affirmation concerning my research kept my excitement for this project alive and thriving. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Katie Peel and Dr. Lauren Squires for the different perspectives they brought to my research. Their input helped mold my findings into a well- rounded study.
Also, special thanks go to my family and friends for their support and encouragement. I could not have done finished this project without them.
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Episodes Coded and Series Air Dates ...... 13
2. Positive Attitudes toward the School System on the Disney Channel...... 18
3. Negative Attitudes toward the School System on the Disney Channel ...... 18
4. Positive Views of the School System ...... 19
5. Negative Views of the School System ...... 21
6. Learning that Takes Place because of the School System ...... 24
7. Learning that Takes Place Outside of the School System ...... 24
8. Positive Portrayals of Educators ...... 28
9. Negative Portrayals of Educators...... 30
10. Positive Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics ...... 34
11. Negative Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics ...... 36
12. Culmination of the Portrayals of the School, Educators, and Students Who Assign Value to Academics ...... 39
13. Full Results: Negative Views Presented by the Disney Channel about the School System ...... 65
14. Full Results: Positive Portrayals of Educators ...... 66
15. Full Results: Negative Portrayals of Educators ...... 67
16. Full Results: Positive Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics ...... 68
17. Full Results: Negative Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics ...... 69
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STUDYING SCHOOL: DEPICTIONS OF EDUCATION ON THE DISNEY CHANNEL
INTRODUCTION
Overview
According to Robert Butche, the media is successful at playing into America’s consumer- based society. He states that media sell physical products, as well as ideas, beliefs, and social and cultural values (para. 6). Currently, the Walt Disney Company is one of the top multimedia companies in America (Butche para. 5), owning media networks, parks, resorts, studio entertainment, and consumer products (“Company Overview” para. 1). Consequently, Disney is constantly disseminating particular ideas, beliefs, and values to the consumers of its products, influencing people’s views about reality. Therefore, examining Disney’s presentation of reality is imperative to forming a better understanding of society as a whole.
Since the educational system1 is a foundational part of American society and a frequent hot-topic in the media (Demir 90), I used content analysis to examine how the Disney Channel portrayed the school system. I analyzed 55 episodes, and I coded for how this TV station depicted attitudes toward school, its educators, and academic-minded students. I also looked at instances of learning throughout these episodes. By analyzing the portrayal of the school system,
I was able to discover the types of messages that the Disney Channel sends to viewers about the
“reality” of education. My findings indicate that the school system and the people closely associated with it are primarily depicted in a negative fashion. Moreover, learning is rarely shown to be taking place at all, much less as a result of the school’s prompting.
Television’s Significance
Television is a central part of many people’s lives. Robert Kubey and Mihaly
1 In this paper, the terms “educational system,” “educational institution,” “education,” “school system,” “school,” and “the institution” are all used interchangeably.
Csikszentmihalyi state, “On average, individuals in the industrialized world devote three hours a day to the pursuit—fully half of their leisure time and more than on any single activity save work and sleep. At this rate someone who lives to 75 would spend nine years in front of the tube”
(para. 6).
Though the television often consumes viewers’ undivided attention, the television is frequently on even when individuals are engaged in other activities. Kelly Schmitt, Daniel
Anderson, and Kimberley Woolf researched 50 individuals’ actions in relation to the television over a 10-day time span (268). They videotaped children and adults, examining their behavior while the television was on (268). They discovered that the television was often on while the individuals were doing non-viewing activities, such as social interaction, personal grooming, chores, eating, playing, reading, writing, and physical activity (270).
Though people may be participating in other activities, television often captures people’s interest when it is left on. Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi discuss television’s allure; they quote
Percy Tanenbaum from the University of California at Berkeley who states, “Among life’s more embarrassing moments have been countless occasions when I am engaged in conversation in a room while a TV set is on, and I cannot for the life of me stop from periodically glancing to the screen. This occurs not only during dull conversations but during reasonably interesting ones just as well” (para. 2). Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi explain this occurrence, stating that paying attention to any “sudden or novel stimulus,” like what the television provides through its sound and visuals, is part of a biological response ingrained in people to help protect them from predatory dangers (para. 13). Since television seems to capture people’s attention because of its form as well as its content (Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi para. 14), marketing strategists have increased viewing areas for this type of media (Romano 14).
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Allison Romano writes that television networks are catering more to areas outside the home (14). She states that spaces without television are disappearing because marketers are aware of the advantages of consumers being consistently subjected to their messages (Romano
14). George Schweitzer, President of Marketing for CBS, furthers this idea by saying, “We’re looking for places we can be intrusive and exclusive…You can’t turn us off” (qtd. in Romano
14). Some of the intrusive, out of-home spaces that televisions are increasingly appearing in are supermarket checkout lines, auto-service waiting rooms, subways, buses, and gas stations (14-
15). Therefore, any individual engaging in an activity that occurs at one of these places will be encountering this form of media and the messages that it presents.
Researchers have uncovered that the amount of television exposure Americans encounter leads to numerous potential effects. One effect, frequently discussed in scholarship, is an increase in aggressive behavior among children who watch violence on the screen (Potter 35).
Often this occurs because individuals imitate what they see on TV; however, other studies have shown that viewers have an emotional connection with violent acts on the screen, filling them with the urge to be aggressive as well (35). Additionally, other effects are that some children start to believe violence is a socially acceptable way to express aggression, and some react in fear to what they see on TV (35). In contrast, not all the effects are negative. Some intervention studies have shown that children learn that the violent acts they see on TV are wrong; however, in these studies, this alternate perspective seems to depend on a media-literate person discussing the violent acts with the children during their exposure (Potter 35).
Despite the research on the effects of television exposure, there are too many factors involved to create a generalized rule about what will specifically happen to people when exposed to a particular thing on TV. Many of these factors depend on the viewers’ backgrounds, their
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emotional states while viewing, their personalities, how much they relate to what they are seeing on the television, and how frequent their exposure is (Potter 39-41). Other major factors depend on the portrayal of what is being seen on TV (42). For instance, some these factors include how realistic the television show is, which actions are rewarded on the screen, and which actions are punished (42).
Though direct effects are difficult to apply to a universal audience, a general effect that television has on its viewers is that it shapes people’s views of reality. Tony Schirato and Jen
Webb state that so much of what individuals know about the world is tied up with what is presented to them through the media (169). In other words, people use media’s depictions of the world in order to understand it. Many do this without considering that media “are an ideological state apparatus designed to produce a citizenry that accepts the existing economic and social power relations” (DeLuca 87). Essentially, the media play a vital role in the hegemonic system by relaying ideology to consumers and by showing people what is acceptable and desirable
(Gitlin 4-5; Abelman and Atkin 78). Therefore, since television is one of the most popular forms of media, the TV plays a key role in shaping how people view the world, sometimes to the extent that individuals substitute what they see and learn while watching fiction with what they expect from reality (Abelman and Atkin 75).
Education as a Focus
According to Cennet Demir, the media often discuss students’ dissatisfaction with school and their lack of achievement in the institution (89-90). He states that the media’s persistent attention to school issues reinforces the fact that the educational system’s goal of teaching children is still important to society (90). Therefore, Demir conducted a study to determine students’ attitudes towards the school system. He found that most American middle-school-aged
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students were critical of their schooling experience (104). These students primarily viewed school as a “wild, crowded, chaotic, boring, painful, controlled, and regulated environment in which students needed to learn how to survive” (100).
Demir asserts that students’ perceptions toward school influence their school experiences and their learning processes (90). Roelande Hofman, W. H. Adriaan Hofman, and Henk
Guldemond further Demir’s claim with their study, finding that students’ perceptions of school were linked to the students’ “cognitive and affective outcomes” in the school (172). Moreover, they discovered that students with more positive perceptions of the educational institution functioned best in the institution (190). The only instance where a positive perception was not linked with performance was when the school overemphasized the importance of student- performance (189). Additionally, Elliot Eisner also supports the stance that perceptions of education impact students’ experiences with the school system. He claims that “metaphors and images of schooling and teaching that we acquire have profound consequences for our educational values and for our views of how schooling should occur” (261). Therefore, if media influence how people view reality, looking into the portrayal of education by the media, specifically television, is necessary to determine if media is one of the causes of current students’ attitudes toward school.
Disney’s Impact
Butche states that Disney is one of “five multimedia giants [that] exert unchallenged power in the dissemination of information, ideas, culture, social mores, values and products to young people” (para. 5). The company does this through its concentration on popular culture and by continually creating new products, attempting to make use of every form of media (Giroux and Pollock para. 5).
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Disney’s commitment to make use of the most current media in order to expand their consumer-base is apparent in their finances (Iger 3). According to Henry Giroux and Grace
Polluck, “In 1999, Disney was a $22 billion profit-making machine” (para. 6). Twelve years later, that number has practically doubled despite America’s current economic hardship, which suggests Disney’s importance to American citizens. Robert Iger, President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Walt Disney Company, states, “In fiscal 2011, net income attributable to Disney was a record $4.8 billion, an increase of 21% over last year, and revenue was a record $40.9 billion, up 7% from last year” (Iger 1).
Part of the reason for this industry’s ongoing success is its focus on expanding beyond the United States. According to Iger, “With our [Disney’s] Russia launch, we will have more than 100 worldwide channels in our Disney Channel portfolio, up from 19 a decade ago” (Iger
2). Here, Iger is referencing Disney’s 24-hour cable network which is aimed to attract children and families (Org 3). This popular branch of the Disney industry has “99 million subscribers” in the United States and “141 million [international] subscribers” (Org 2). Clearly, Disney’s reach is expansive and continually growing. Children around the world, but especially in America, are likely to encounter something Disney-owned or operated early in their lifetimes. Giroux and
Pollock support this claim, stating that “Disney is a teaching machine that not only exerts influence over young people in the United States, but also…overseas” (para. 6). Nicholas
Sammond furthers this statement, claiming that Disney has been at the forefront of the idea that whoever “controls the minds and the desires of children controls their future as subjects and citizens-as consumers and reproducers of American culture” (29). Thus, according to this assertion, Disney is a leading disseminator of ideology to children in the United States.
Therefore, I examined the Disney Channel—specifically series aired in America which target
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middle-school-aged kids—in order to see what kind of education-based messages are being displayed to children.
METHODOLOGY
Overview of Content Analysis
I used content analysis to explore Disney’s representations of education. Content analysis is a method that gathers and examines qualitative and/or quantitative data for the purpose of making inferences about a text or series of texts (Harwood and Garry 479; Lee and Peterson 959;
Weber 9). Klaus Krippendorff provides a more formal definition, stating that content analysis is
“a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of their use” (18). This definition “aligns content—the target of the research—with how contemporary society operates and understands itself through its texts”
(Krippendorff xx). This methodology has been used in various research fields, such as communications, psychology, anthropology, sociology, organizational theory, political science, education, linguistics, and history in order to analyze television shows, newspaper articles, the internet, advertisements, one-on-one conversations, speeches, riddles, and folktales. (Harwood and Garry 479-80; Lee and Peterson 961; Weare and Lin 273). According to Christopher Weare and Wan-Ying Lin, using content analysis can address almost any research question (273).
Because content analysis is useful for answering numerous research questions, various purposes can be accomplished by using this methodology. Content analysis can be used to discover the intended messages of the authors of the text (Berelson 72; Harwood and Garry 480;
Weber 9; Holsti qtd. in Weare and Lin 273). It can also be used to discover individuals’ psychological states, to analyze propaganda, to detect cultural trends, to reveal what issues or ideas that society is focused on, and to examine people’s physical and mental responses to
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various communications (Berelson 75, 80, 90, 98, 105; Harwood and Garry 480-1; Weber 9;
Holsti qtd. in Weare and Lin 273). To do this, researchers look at words, themes, characters in stories, items (i.e. a book or film), “space-and-time measures” of a text, or a combination of these (Berelson 136, 138, 140-3). Additionally, content analysis can be used to determine how communication varies among nations and different forms of media (Weber 9; Harwood and
Garry 480; Lee and Peterson 961).
Content analysis is a sorting process which allows researchers to reduce and categorize texts into qualitative and quantitative data (Lewis-Beck 5). This method allows researchers to focus on what they want to examine. They can exclude any information that is unrelated to their focus by studying texts in the contexts2 of their developed question. By analyzing their texts in this fashion, the “texts acquire significance (meaning, contents, symbolic qualities, and interpretations)” (Krippendorff 33). Therefore, content analysis allows researchers to look at their texts through a predetermined lens and discover the different ways in which their texts answer their question. For example, Thomas Skill et. al conducted a study in which they examined portrayals of religion on fictional prime time television (251). When conducting this research, they determined that they would examine these TV shows through the lens of religion to discover how often religion was shown, what kind of religious behaviors were depicted, the importance of religion on prime time TV, and what the contexts of religious behaviors were on television (251). Similarly, when conducting my research, I chose to view my texts through the lens of education. Other patterns were filtered out of my research because I wanted my results to focus on my chosen topic; by doing this, I was able to determine the frequency that education was discussed and how people and activities involved in education were portrayed.
2 “A context is always someone’s construction, the conceptual environment of a text, the situation in which it plays a role” (Krippendorff 33).
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Because what researchers study by way of content analysis is very open-ended, Weare and Lin state that structure of the study will depend on what the researchers are analyzing (273;
Collins and Hussy qtd. in Harwood and Garry 480). However, there is an underlying set of procedures that everyone must undergo when using content analysis in order to “develop valid and reliable measures” and to ensure that any inferences made about the studied texts are based on trustworthy data (Weare and Lin 273; Krippendorff xx). To begin this process, the researchers need to develop a research question (Krippendorff 31; Holsti qtd. in Weare and Lin 273;
Harwood and Garry 480). With the question in mind, the researchers pick a text to analyze and then choose how much of that text to examine. They then break down their text into sampling units, recording/coding units, and context units (Weare and Lin 274; Krippendorff 98).
A sampling unit is the specific text(s) that the researcher will be analyzing (Weare and
Lin 274; Krippendorff 98-9; Lee and Peterson 960). For example, if researchers want to use content analysis to study a magazine, they could decide the sampling unit should include every issue ever produced, or they could decide to narrow the sampling unit and only analyze issues released in a certain year. I did the latter for my study, examining episodes from four Disney
Channel series that aired between a two-year span in order to have a recent sampling category.
On the other hand, the purpose of the recording/coding unit is for researchers to create categories for what to look for in the sampling unit, which allows them to draw “relevant distinctions within an observation field,” turn observations into data; the recording/coding unit also provides the opportunity for other researches to perform the same analysis (Krippendorff 97,
125-6; Lee and Peterson 960; Weare and Lin 274; Harwood and Garry 480). In other words, researchers describe in detail what they are searching for. Their goal is to limit subjectivity when choosing what data is relevant to record “without denying the participation of human abilities”
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(Krippendorff 126). Though people may have vastly different perspectives about the same concept, researchers create specific instructions detailing the inferences they are making, as well as the qualitative and quantitative data that they are searching for; this way, if a person who is not associated with the original project attempts to analyze the same text, that individual will know what content the researchers want recorded according to their defined categories
(Krippendorff 36, 89). For instance, for my coding/recording categories, I chose to look at three different categories, each of which showed a different aspect of the school system. These categories were then further divided into a list of specific questions (see appendix A, B, and C).
For example, I examined attitudes toward the school system as one of my categories. I then coded for how many times the word “school” was used, if it was used in a positive, negative, or neutral manner, and what constituted a connotation of “school” being labeled as positive, negative, or neutral.
Finally, the context unit sets “limits in the information to be considered in the description of recording units [emphasis in original]”; it provides the context for the message that is to be recorded (Krippendorff 101; Weare and Lin 274; Lee and Peterson 960). For instance, if researchers wanted to code for when the word “play” is used on a particular television show, they may set up a context unit which states that they are only searching for that word in the home environment. By doing so, they would not record any instance of the word “play” outside of the home, and the home becomes the context for coding that word. In my study, one of my coding/recording units was set up to discover characterizations of educators and students who valued academia. The context unit I put into place enabled me to focus on the characterizations of these specific characters only within school settings. By doing so, I was able to concentrate on how these characters were treated in educational settings, instead of also looking for how they
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were treated at home or in social settings.
After coding for specific information and recording the data that fits into those categories, researchers describe the results of their content analysis. The results can be “in the form of data files, summaries, propositions of a factual nature, recommendations for actions, or judgments
(suitably qualified by estimates of validity),” which are written in a way that the intended audience can understand (Krippendorff 364). In other words, researchers should be able to draw a conclusion from all of the data they collect and clearly present that conclusion, using the factual evidence they gathered in their study in order to support their claims (Collins and Hussey qtd. in Harwood and Garry 480; Weare and Lin 274).
Benefits Outweigh Drawbacks
Like every methodology, content analysis has benefits and limitations. One primary drawback to using this method is that validity and reliability of studies are sometimes questioned
(Harwood and Garry 492; Lee and Peterson 959; Weare and Lin 274). Every aspect of this technique is affected by researcher bias, from “data collection methods, to analysis and ultimately interpretation of results” (Harwood and Garry 484-5). Therefore, some believe that another method is necessary to verify the results of content analytical studies (Harwood and
Garry 493). Specifically for my study, evidence of reliability will be weaker because I am the sole researcher; with more researchers, the validity of the results increases because of the variety of perspectives that intertwine to form the study (Harwood and Garry 485). Additionally, the fact that content analysis deals with filtering information from a text through a predetermined lens instead of “exhaustive categorization of all data, may result in undue bias” because researchers may miss something that is relevant to their study by filtering out certain data (Harwood and
Garry 492; Lee and Peterson 959).
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Despite the limitations of content analysis, there are a variety of benefits. The structure of the research is flexible, allowing the researcher more freedom and ingenuity in the development of the research design (Harwood and Garry 493). Also, quantitative and/or qualitative data can be gathered and analyzed (Harwood and Garry 493). It can be used on large amounts of data, and it is an unobtrusive, context sensitive method, meaning that people’s lives do not have to be interrupted during the research process (Harwood and Garry 493; Lee and Peterson 960).
Another benefit is that “content analysis of popular songs, religious texts, newspaper articles, political platforms, and the like allows for inferences about social contexts of behavior” (Lee and
Peterson 961). Moreover, longitudinal studies can be done through archival research, enabling researchers to use instances from the past in their study (Lee and Peterson 960). In other words, researchers can study how certain factors lead to specific outcomes years later. Identifying these past patterns may also help enhance predictions about the future (Harwood and Garry 482). It can be used to examine cross-cultural topics, which is a renewed interest in fields, such as psychology (Lee and Peterson 961). Furthermore, with the development of computer software that can perform content analysis, using this method could improve reliability while reducing the cost and the amount of time that a researcher or researchers spend on the project (Harwood and
Garry 493; Weare and Lin 276).
Though the flexible research structure and the ability to code for qualitative and quantitative data are benefits of using content analysis for my project, the main benefit is the fact that inferences can be made about the way people behave in reality by studying popular cultural artifacts. As mentioned earlier, since the Disney Corporation is one of the largest in America, I examined one part of it—the Disney Channel. The various series on this channel serve as my cultural artifacts, allowing me to compare how this television station depicts education with
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current views that students have regarding the school system. By exploring this, certain inferences can be made about the influence that the Disney Channel, and other stations like it, has on how students’ view their school experience.
Sample
To examine messages about education on the Disney Channel, I questioned how it depicts education, especially in middle school and high school. I randomly selected 55 episodes from four different series on the Disney Channel—Wizards of Waverly Place, A.N.T. Farm,
Phineas and Ferb, and The Suite Life on Deck—all of which target middle schoolers3 (see table
1). These series were selected because they all depict aspects of middle school and high school.
All of these shows aired between January 2010 and January 20124 (Ashby, “Television Review:
Suite”; Ashby, “Television Review: Wizards”; Barnes; Umstead 39); thus, I could identify trends and attitudes concerning education in series that have been airing for years, as well as in the newer Disney creations.
Table 1
Episodes Coded and Series Air Dates
Basic Series Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Information Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck
Number of Episodes Coded 15 10 15 15
Beginning Air Date Oct. 2007 May 2011 Aug. 2007 Sept. 2008
3 My process of random selection consisted of copying and pasting all the episodes from these series, between the relevant dates listed, onto separate pages. I then used the arrows on my keyboard to scroll up and down with my eyes closed, and picked an episode with my mouse. I repeated this process for each series, aside from A.N.T. Farm, until my data set was complete. Since A.N.T. Farm is a new series on the Disney Channel and the first season is still in the process of airing, I was limited to finding full episodes on YouTube. Out of 20 possible episodes, only 10 appeared in their entirety, which is why I did not code 15 episodes for this series. 4 Because of my random selection process, I was not able to choose episodes that are all equal in length. Though most episodes are 30 minutes long, two episodes from Phineas and Ferb are only 15 minutes long and one episode from Wizards of Waverly Place is an hour long.
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Basic Series Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Information Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck
Ending Air Date Jan. 2012 Unknown Unknown May 2011
Wizards of Waverly Place, the first series I examined, centers on the Russo family.
Primarily, the focus is on the children—Alex, Justin, and Max. Part of this series revolves around magic; the Russo children learn and practice wizardry, preparing for a family competition that will determine which sibling gets to keep his or her powers and which siblings will live the rest of their lives as mortals. The other part of this series focuses on these kids living among humans and engaging in regular mortal activities, such as school and parties.
A.N.T. Farm, the next series I analyzed, is about gifted, young students that are placed in an Advanced Natural Talent program at a local high school. This series primarily follows the story of Chyna Parks and her friends, Olive and Fletcher—gifted students that are a part of the
A.N.T. program. These gifted students, designated ANTs, attempt to find their place among average high school students, though their attempts to fit in are often thwarted by the school bully, Lexi.
The third series I examined, Phineas and Ferb, has a different focus than the other series.
This show takes place during the summer months, when school is not in session; however, there are still summer school activities and school lectures that are held at times. This series revolves around two different plots. The first plot involves the stepbrothers, Phineas Flynn and Ferb
Fletcher, their sister, Candace Flynn, and their friends, Baljeet, Buford, and Isabella. Phineas and
Ferb are constantly building out-of-this-world creations and having crazy adventures with their friends, while their sister tries to “bust” the brothers by showing their mom their creations. On
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the other hand, the other plotline deals with the family’s pet platypus, Perry, who is a secret agent for a government organization. He constantly battles his rival, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and keeps him from doing evil to the city of Danville.
The last series that I analyzed was The Suite Life on Deck. This series, a spin-off from
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, is about a group of friends that live and go to school on a cruise ship; they have adventures as they sail around the world encountering different cultures. This group of friends is primarily comprised of Zach, Cody, London, Bailey, Marcus, and Woody, though others come and go throughout the series.
Coding Scheme
I analyze three different aspects of the school system. First of all, I examine attitudes towards the school system to help determine characters’ opinions of the institution.5 My question is whether the school system is shown to be a place of enjoyment, respect, and value; or, whether
Disney Channel shows depict school as boring, unnecessary, or ineffective. This data considers the types (i.e. positive or negative) and numbers of comments/inferences6 being presented. Also, similar to the content analysis done by Skill et. al to determine the portrayal of religion on TV, all of the characters who present information that is recorded will be listed (251, 255). Therefore, by the end of my analysis, connections can be made about how students’ attitudes toward school affect other students’ perceptions and/or treatment of them (see appendix A).
Second, my study analyzes the portrayal of where and by what means learning takes place. The question is how school-related learning is portrayed in comparison to learning that
5 While examining portrayals of the school system, I limit my research to examining middle school and high school. I do not record any magic-related instances that could affect the results or any instances of homeschooling. 6 When discussing comments, I am referring to direct statements about the school system, though those statements may not contain the word “school” in them. On the other hand, when discussing inferences, I am referring to instances where characters indirectly imply something about the school system; nonverbal gestures are included when talking about inferences.
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occurs outside of the school system.7 This study seeks to identify three specific types of learning: interactive, active, and passive.8 Interactive learning is an instance where students learn via collaboration. In order for this type of learning to occur, two or more students must exchange ideas and/or knowledge with each other. This type of learning occurs in a conversational setting.
Active learning, on the other hand, occurs when one or more students are involved in the search for knowledge. It differs from interactive learning because, instead of engaging in a conversation to learn things, students are seeking knowledge from other sources. The desire to know more about a subject can be aimed toward educational (i.e. academic/experimenting), constructive (i.e. building/making), or practical (i.e. need-to-know) causes. Finally, passive learning occurs when students are instructed by an individual or group of individuals who are knowledgeable about a certain subject. This type of learning, unlike the other two, places the bulk of the responsibility of learning on the person/people instructing (see appendix B).
Finally, I code for how the Disney Channel characterizes those who promote the educational institution. When coding for this, I restrict my analysis to examining characters while in the school or while doing a school-related activity.9 I examine educators (i.e. teachers, principals, lecturers, guidance counselors) connected with the school system to discover if they are portrayed in a positive or negative way through their verbal and nonverbal gestures.10
Educators presented favorably, with qualities such as intelligence and helpfulness, are scored as positive. However, educators that are presented unfavorably, with qualities such as a lack of
7 Again, I only analyze middle school and high school students. Any magic-related or homeschooling instances that involve learning are not recorded. 8 I borrowed ideas from Yueh-Min Huang et. al, who study and evaluate ubiquitous learning against meaningful learning, in order to create my own learning categories. 9 Similar to when coding for portrayals of the school system and instances of learning, while coding for stereotypes I limit my analysis to middle school and high school. Also, no magic-related instances or depictions of homeschooling are examined. 10 An example of a verbal gesture would be when a teacher is caught lying, whereas an example of a nonverbal gesture would be when an educator smashes a pie in someone’s face out of meanness. 16
intelligence, are scored negatively. Also, borrowing from Skill et. al’s coding scheme concerning the portrayal of religious figures and events on TV, any satirical or silly depictions of educators were scored as negative (257). Additionally, I examine how Disney depicts students who value education or who strive to do well in school.11 By recording how these students are represented, I discover the implications of being involved with or liking academia. For instance, if teachers are viewed as idiots and good students are perceived negatively by peers, the implication is that the cost of valuing academia is one’s social standing (see appendix C).12
RESULTS
Attitudes toward the School System
Out of the 55 episodes I coded, the word “school” is mentioned 114 times and 43 inferences and/or comments are made about the school system. Some of the episodes center around school, whereas some do not mention it; however, overall, this institution is strongly represented on all of the Disney Channel series I coded. It is important to point out that not all mentions of “school” are said with a positive or negative connotation. There are 40 instances which fall into neutral territory, meaning that there are 74 statements invoking the word “school” which convey some sort of positive or negative meaning about the institution.
11 When examining these individuals, I only code for how they are portrayed in relation to other students. In order to do this, I look at how other students treat them, talk to them, and talk about them. Verbal and nonverbal communications are recorded. 12 While coding, I do not use computer aids to help collect and analyze data because this study deals primarily with qualitative data. Though computers can be programmed to search for both qualitative and quantitative data, non-verbal data is not as easily captured with recording equipment (Harwood and Garry 489). Therefore, manual coding is used for this study because both verbal and non-verbal behaviors are analyzed. Also, since connotations to words are important when dealing with qualitative data, manual coding seems to be the best choice to do a thorough analysis (Harwood and Garry 483).
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Table 2
Positive Attitudes toward the School System on the Disney Channel
Positive Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Attitudes Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Statements using “School” 1 2 0 1 4
Inferences/Comments 3 4 1 3 11
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 6 1 4 15
Each show has more negative representations of the school system than positive ones.
Wizards of Waverly Place has nine negative references to the school system and four positive references; A.N.T. Farm has 29 negative instances and six positive ones; Phineas and Ferb has
50 negative mentions and one positive depiction; The Suite Life on Deck has 14 negative references and four positive ones. All in all, there are 103 negative representations of school, while 15 positive representations are depicted (see tables 2 and 3).
Table 3
Negative Attitudes toward the School System on the Disney Channel
Negative Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Attitudes Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Statements using “School” 4 11 49 6 70
Inferences/Comments 5 18 1 8 32
Other 0 1 0 0 1
Total 9 30 50 14 103
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When examining the depictions of the school system, I was able to place all the illustrations into predetermined positive and negative categories. The positive portrayals included the school being viewed as liked, valuable, and safe; ironically, the overwhelmingly dominant negative representations were completely opposite, showing the school as disliked, not valuable, and unsafe.
The main positive portrayal given is that the school system is liked by the students (see table 4). There are nine instances that students either discuss their excitement about what the school offers or discuss the school as a place where they enjoy being. For instance, in The Suite
Life on Deck, Cody says he loves “everything about school” (“Bon Voyage”). Also, in A.N.T.
Farm, Chyna is excited about all of the club choices that the school offers (“ParticipANTs”).
The view that the school system is valuable is seen four times throughout these episodes, making it the next most common positive depiction (see table 4). In these instances, the school is discussed as being a place that enables learning and is viewed as important by the students. For instance, in A.N.T. Farm, Chyna writes a speech about the ANT program, stating that it has been a great experience for her (“IgnorANTs is Bliss”). Also, in Phineas and Ferb, Candace believes that the leadership seminar will help her accomplish her goal of busting her brothers (“The
Secret of Success”). Therefore, these examples illustrate that the students recognize the value of the school system in their lives.
Table 4
Positive Views of the School System
Connotations of the Inference/Comments
Views Word, “School” about School Total
Liked 1 8 9
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Connotations of the Inference/Comments
Views Word, “School” about School Total
Safe 1 1 2
Valuable 2 2 4
Finally, the last positive portrayal of the school system is that it is a safe place for students (see table 4). There are two instances where school is regarded as being a place where students can feel at ease and confident that nothing bad will happen to them. Both of these instances take place in A.N.T. Farm. After worrying that the school is haunted, Olive discovers that Cameron has been playing tricks on her (“The PhANTom Locker”). Chyna comments that
Olive can feel confident that the school is not haunted. Also, Chyna tells Olive that no one, meaning the bigger kids, can do anything to the ANTs while they are in class (“TransplANTed”).
This indicates a feeling of protection that shows confidence in the school system, as well as those in charge of it, to keep students safe.
Though there are positive depictions of the school system, the main portrayal of this institution throughout these episodes is that it is disliked (see table 5). Essentially, it is not a place that students want to be. In Wizards of Waverly Place, after telling Justin about one of her schemes, Alex says, “So basically I just saved you from like four more years of school”
(“Delinquent Justin”). In A.N.T. Farm, Olive fakes memory loss after an injury in order to get out of high school, which she refers to as a “prison,” “jungle,” and “demonville” (“IgnorANTs is
Bliss”; “CANTonese Style Cuisine”; “ParticipANTs”; “SciANTs Fair”). Phineas and Ferb’s theme song, which is sung by Phineas and Ferb, states, “There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it,” which gives school a negative connotation. In this theme
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song, kids do not look forward to school starting; instead, the focus is on summer ending because of school (“The Curse of Candace”). Also, in The Suite Life on Deck, London repeatedly refers to the “stupid, not cool sea school,” showing school as an unpleasant thing that hurts one’s social status (“Senior Ditch Day”). These instances of school being seen as a place that traps students, a place that makes the fun cease, and a place that makes the students desperate for a way out are seen 42 times throughout these coded episodes.
Table 5
Negative Views of the School Systema
Connotations of the Inference/Comments
Views Word, “School” about School Total
Disliked 33 9 42
Not Valuable 25 2 27
Unsafe 5 11 16
Physically 3 10 13
Emotionally 2 1 3
a. This table only presents the top three negative portrayals of the school system. The
school system is also seen as being disingenuous (when the school or its programs are
deceptively presented one way but are later found out to be another way), ineffective
(when the goals and methods of the school are brought into question or looked down
upon), and easily manipulated (when students and teachers can maneuver around the
rules of the school system for their own personal gain).
The Disney Channel also presents school as not being valuable (see table 5). This view ranks next highest in numbers of portrayals. There are 27 instances where school is seen as either
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unimportant to the students or as something that gets in the way of real learning. In The Suite
Life on Deck, Cody comments that his brother views school as “a place to sleep between naps”
(“Bon Voyage”). London proudly tells her teacher that she did not do her homework (“Can You
Dig It?”). Also, in Phineas and Ferb’s theme song, the lyrics state, “there’s a whole lotta stuff to do before school starts this fall,” after discussing all the complex tasks and adventures they are going to complete during the summer, like “building a rocket,” “discovering something that doesn’t exist,” and “creating nanobots” (“Phineas and Ferb Interrupted”).13 These assertions create the impression that school puts an end to learning. In these shows, students can do almost anything they set their minds on, and school is often not necessary to helping them achieve their goals. In fact, school often seems to interfere with students’ lives because it takes up their time.
Therefore, students avoid their homework or sleep through their classes because what they are supposedly being taught is not valuable to them; more often than not, they seem to be able to do better on their own.
The third major category demonstrating the portrayal of the school system relates to safety issues (see table 5). In 16 instances, the school is discussed as being unsafe, either to students’ physical or emotional well-being. Thirteen of those instances refer to physical safety issues. For example, in Wizards of Waverly Place, Justin says that he is going to give a graduation speech that will “rock the flimsy foundation of this school,” and the principal replies,
“Who told you about our flimsy foundation? Look, you can either have a music department or structural safety, but you can’t have both” (“Delinquent Justin”). Also, repeatedly in A.N.T.
Farm, different ANTs discuss how they have to run, hide in their lockers, or put on armor for protection from the “big kids” when the bell rings in the school; when they do not do one of
13 I included the theme song in the material that I coded because school is directly mentioned in the song and is presented to the audience upon each viewing. 22
these, the ANTs are seen getting thrown on the floor and stepped on by the older students
(“ParticipANTs”; “TransplANTed”; “IgnorANTs is Bliss”). Additionally, the principal in A.N.T.
Farm tells some of the ANTs that the school has fire alarms but they do not work (“The
PhANTom Locker”). Therefore, physical safety is portrayed as an issue in the Disney Channel’s school systems because the structural integrity of the buildings are displayed as being unsound, safety precautions are not in place, and there are not guidelines to keep certain students from hurting others.
Moreover, there are three instances where emotional safety is in question in these series.
When discussing emotional safety, I am referring to anything that happens in school, or because of it, that causes students to have intense emotions, or anything that causes students to avoid their regular routine in an attempt to avoid any form of mental abuse, such as bullying. For example, in A.N.T. Farm, Olive and Chyna hide from Lexi—the head cheerleader—because she is known for being verbally mean to the ANTs (“ParticipANTs”). Also, Chyna is upset that she does not feel like she belongs in high school because she is a younger and smaller students than average, and her dad acknowledges the intense feelings that come along with attempting the “tough process” of “fitting in” (“InformANT”). Additionally, as Olive emotionally screams at Chyna about the science fair, she ends up saying that it was a terrible idea to place “innocent grade- schoolers in the demonville which is high school” (“SciANTs Fair”). Therefore, as these examples show, the school system is a place that does not seem to address or ensure the emotional safety of their students.
Instances of Learning
I also examined learning in these Disney Channel shows (see tables 6 and 7). Out of 55 episodes, learning is only seen as taking place 50 times. Thirty-seven of those 50 instances take
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place outside of the school system,14 whereas only 13 instances of learning are seen taking place because of the school system. The Suite Life on Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place have the most instances of school-related learning, numbering seven and four, whereas A.N.T. Farm and
Phineas and Ferb are tied, only showing one instance of learning that happens because of the school system. On the other hand, Phineas and Ferb and The Suite Life on Deck show the most examples of learning outside of the school system, numbering 23 and eight, whereas A.N.T.
Farm and Wizards of Waverly Place each present three instances.
Table 6
Learning that Takes Place because of the School System
Types of Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Learning Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Active 2 0 0 1 3
Interactive 2 0 0 0 2
Passive 0 1 1 5 7
Other 0 0 0 1 1
Total 4 1 1 7 13
Table 7
Learning that Takes Place Outside of the School System
Types of Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Learning Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Active 1 0 8 6 15
14 Outside of the school system does not mean physically outside the school grounds, though often this is the case. It means that the learning that is taking place is not sanctioned by the school.
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Types of Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Learning Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Interactive 0 1 1 1 3
Passive 0 2 13 1 16
Other 2 0 1 0 3
Total 3 3 23 8 37
In addition to recording where learning takes place, I also recorded what types of learning occur (see tables 6 and 7). Whether students are seen engaging in educational activities as a result of a school assignment or by their own initiative, passive learning is the most common method displayed on the Disney Channel. While in school, teachers contribute to students’ passive learning three times and guest lecturers and tour guides on field trips contribute to students’ passive learning four times. Outside of school, on the other hand, passive learning occurs 16 times as students are seen assuming the role of teachers, instructing other students about educational, experimental, and practical matters.
Additionally, active learning ranks second both in and out of school. This type of learning includes reading to discover information and self-induced study or experimentation. Active learning is more closely associated in frequency with passive learning when it is seen taking place outside of the school system—there are 15 instances of this. However, active learning that occurs because of the school system is only portrayed three times, making this type of learning more closely associated with interactive learning—the least common form of learning seen in these series.
Interactive learning occurs when students are working together on a project or
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brainstorming about the best way to proceed with a project. Whether in or out of school, the number of occurrences of this type of learning are closely linked in frequency. There are only two instances of interactive learning that take place because of school; however, there are three that take place outside of the school system.
In addition to active, interactive, and passive learning, there are four instances of learning
I have categorized as “other” because they do not neatly fit into the prescribed categories. In one instance, learning occurs outside of the sanctioning of the school system, but happens as a result of the school-related environment. For example, in Wizards of Waverly Place, Harper and Alex are in the Driver’s Ed car with Mr. Laritate (“Lucky Charmed”). Harper does not have a firm grasp on what she is doing, and Mr. Laritate complains; he does not provide any instruction.
Therefore, Alex, who is sitting in the backseat, starts giving Harper driving tips to help her improve. Normally, this would be seen as passive learning because Alex, who has assumed the role of instructor, is teaching Harper what she knows. However, this situation would not have occurred if it were not for the school system’s program; therefore, it cannot be categorized as learning that occurs outside of the school. On the other hand, Alex is not sanctioned to teach
Harper anything. She has taken Mr. Laritate’s responsibility, who is neglecting his duties.
Consequently, this instance of learning cannot be categorized as learning that occurs because of the school system either.
The other three illustrations of learning that I have categorized as “other” resemble active learning in all respects except one—students are being forced to engage in learning instead of having the desire to do it. In these examples, the only desire these students have is to avoid negative consequences. They do not care about the subject matter they are engaging with. For example, when viewing instances of learning outside of the school system, Candace’s mom gives
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Candace an ultimatum to read The Wizard of Oz or wipe “down Perry’s platypus plaza play set” in Phineas and Ferb (“The Wizard of Odd”). Therefore, Candace chooses to read. Also, in
Wizards of Waverly Place, Alex tries to take Harper’s place on tour with the Finkles because
Harper does not want to go, and Alex wants Harper—the Finkles’ daughter—to be happy
(“Wizards vs. Finkles”). The Finkles agree to the substitution and tell Alex that she must learn
(by herself) some script lines, how to juggle, and how to play an instrument in the time span of a few hours. They let Alex know that if she is not up to the challenge Harper will suffer the consequences and be made to go on tour. Therefore, Alex’s desire is not to learn, but to make her friend’s life better. Lastly, one example of forced learning that happens because of the school system is the marriage exercise Ms. Tutweiller assigns in The Suite Life on Deck (“Marriage
101”). Regardless of the students’ attitudes towards the exercise, they are forced to engage in this activity because their grade is at stake otherwise.
Characterizations of Educators
In addition to examining learning, I also looked for how the Disney Channel characterized the school’s educators. Educators are presented positively 10 times and negatively
114 times throughout these series (see tables 8 and 9). A.N.T. Farm has four positive representations of educators, which is the most of any series I examine; however, it also has 72 negative representations, which is the most extreme of any series. Additionally, Wizards of
Waverly Place and The Suite Life on Deck are almost evenly matched. Wizards has 21 negative illustrations and three positive ones, whereas The Suite Life has 20 negative portrayals and three positive ones. Phineas and Ferb, on the other hand, only depicts an educator in one instance, and that depiction is negative.
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Table 8
Positive Portrayals of Educators
Positive Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Encouraging 1 2 0 1 4
Helpful 1 0 0 2 3
Respected 0 1 0 0 1
Smart 1 1 0 0 2
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 3 4 0 3 10
Both the positive and negative representations of educators were placed into predetermined categories to help separate and illustrate the kinds of portrayals presented. The positive depictions included educators being seen as encouraging, helpful, respected, and smart, whereas the negative portrayals included educators being seen as primarily dumb, mean, unprofessional, not respected, and weird.
When examining the positive depictions, there are four instances where an educator is seen as encouraging (see table 8). For the purpose of this study, I define encouragement as giving verbal affirmation to individuals about their abilities and/or their actions. For example, in
Wizards of Waverly Place, Alex usually tries to get out of trouble or pass the blame to someone else for any actions that have consequences. However, when she wrecks the Driver’s Ed. Car, she tells Mr. Laritate what she had done (“Lucky Charmed”). He responds to Alex by telling her how proud he is of her for finally taking responsibility for her actions. Also, in The Suite Life on
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Deck, when Cody does not feel like he would make a good journalist because his story resulted in the cancellation of the Seven Seas News, Ms. Tutweiller tells him that a good journalist follows his instinct, which is exactly what he was doing (“The Seven Seas News”).
In addition to being encouraging, there are three instances where educators are presented as helpful. During these times, educators give assistance and/or guidance to those who need it, either verbally or by the rules they implement. For instance, in Wizards of Waverly Place, Max says that the new principal at the high school has helped him to focus by implementing “strict rules and [a] dress code,” which has “taken the guess work” out of his life (“Western Show”).
Also, in The Suite Life on Deck, Ms. Tutweiller tells the cameraman what to focus on during the
Seven Seas News broadcast (“The Seven Seas News”).
The third type of positive portrayal of educators is that they are individuals who are respected by those around them. Others demonstrate their admiration for educators by showing respect through their actions or words; however, this does not include the respect associated with adding a Mr. or Ms. in front of the educators’ names. A.N.T. Farm displays the only instance of this. In this episode, the principal lies to the students, telling them that she is tasking them with making gifts for orphaned children; however, the truth is that she is selling the toys online and pocketing the money for herself (“SANTa’s Little Helpers”). When the ANTs find out about this,
Olive says that she admires the principal’s “entrepreneurial spirit.” Though the act of deceit can be taken as a negative representation of this educator, the fact that a student found something admirable about the act indicates that respect is being shown.
The last positive depiction of educators is when they are represented as being smart; that is, when they piece bits of information together to show they are knowledgeable about a subject because of their perceptions. There are two instances of this in the 55 episodes. In Wizards of
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Waverly Place, Alex bakes the new principal a cake, telling him that it is a peace offering for causing disruptions the day before; however, the principal deduces that something is wrong with the cake (“Western Show”). Therefore, instead of eating it, he puts a glove on, sticks his hand in it, and pulls out the fish that Alex baked into the middle of the cake. Also, in A.N.T. Farm, some of the students have created an “End Hunger Today” club; however, the club is just a guise for them to use school funds to buy food for themselves. (“ParticipANTs”). Their secret does not stay secret for long, however, since the principal quickly figures out what they are doing.
Table 9
Negative Portrayals of Educatorsb
Negative Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Dumb 4 12 0 0 16
Mean 3 11 0 1 15
Not Respected 6 20 0 3 29
Unprofessional 4 13 0 14 31
Weird 1 10 1 0 12
Other 3 6 0 2 11
Total 21 72 1 20 114
b. This table only names the top five negative portrayals of educators; however, the
“Other” category stands for when educators are presented as boring (when the
educator is not interesting to listen/talk to), dishonest (when the educators do not tell
the truth about something pertaining to school), irresponsible (when the educators
lose control of one or more students’ actions in a school setting or school-related
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setting), and uneducated (when the educators lack the credentials to fill a position
they have been placed in).
Though there are some positive depictions of educators, negative portrayals are far more common (see table 9). The most common is that the educator is unprofessional. There are 31 instances of this. I define unprofessionalism as any action or verbal interaction which could diminish educators’ authority or respectability because they are not conducting themselves according to business etiquette with regards to students, or any instance where they actively choose to go against their jobs’ expectations. I do not consider their ethics, their fairness in making judgments, their competence to do their jobs, or the degree of responsibility that they display in this category. One example of how an educator is displayed as being unprofessional is in Wizards of Waverly Place. When Alex initially tells Mr. Laritate that she accidentally crashed the Driver’s Ed. car, his first reaction is to do a “happy dance” and tell every stranger near him that he finally has an air-tight confession from Alex, since she usually tries to pass the blame when she does something wrong (“Lucky Charmed”). In The Suite Life on Deck, when the class goes on a field trip to an archeological dig, viewers discover through characters’ conversations that the bus ride to the dig was rough and scary because of the roads; instead of Ms. Tutweiller being in control and helping keep the students calm, she is hysterical (“Can You Dig It?”).
Therefore, the students end up helping her to a place where she can sit down and many of them do their best to calm her down. Also, there are numerous instances where educators talk to students about their personal lives and problems, focusing on themselves instead of the students.
For instance, in A.N.T. Farm, the principal tells students about how she goes “prowling for silver foxes” at night, how she wants to draw attention away from her niece at her niece’s wedding
(“SANTa’ Little Helpers”; “ManagemANT”). Additionally, the science teacher from that series
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tells Fletcher how stressed he is because of his new baby and his mother-in-law moving in
(“SciANTs Fair”).
Another negative portrayal, appearing 29 times throughout the series, is that educators are not respected individuals. I recorded any negative statement or inference made about the educators. For example, in The Suite Life on Deck, London feels the urge to be mean to someone, so she starts looking for her teacher (“Mean Chicks”). London states that she hopes Ms.
Tutweiller is wearing her hideous headband so that she can make fun of her. Also, in Wizards of
Waverly Place, Alex tells Mason, “Just because Mr. Laritate picks a painting doesn’t mean it’s good. I mean, look at him. He picks out those clothes” (“Alex Charms a Boy”). Moreover, in
A.N.T. Farm, after getting caught being dishonest, the principal later tells the ANTs that the ghosts of her past, present, and future visited her in her sleep (“SANTa’s Little Helpers”).
Fletcher responds, “In one night? I would think your past alone would take a good month.” Olive adds, “And, given your age, I’m surprised you even had a future.” Statements, such as these, indicate the condescending view that many students have toward their educators in these series.
In addition to showing educators to be unprofessional and not respected, there are 16 instances where educators are depicted as dumb. “Dumb” educators do or say something that seems to lack intelligence, or they lack understanding of verbal comments that others easily grasp. For instance, in Wizards of Waverly Place, the principal and superintendent are speaking in metaphors and they do not understand each other; however, Alex understands and must serve as their interpreter so that they can effectively communicate (“Western Show”). Furthermore, in
A.N.T. Farm, Cameron sees the ANTs’ guidance counselor walking down the school hall in his bathrobe (“You’re the One that I Want”). When he questions him, Gibson says that he has been sleeping and taking a shower at the school by using the urinal water and soap in the men’s room.
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Cameron asks him if he is aware there is a sink in the men’s room that he could use, and Gibson responds, “Eww. Sinks are filthy. People wash their hands in them.” The implication here is that
Gibson lacks the intelligence to know the purpose of a urinal.
An additional negative quality that educators possess on the Disney Channel is that they are often mean to the people around them. There are 15 times that educators are verbally hateful, critical, or rude to someone else, or they act in a way towards someone that shows they are not nice, considerate, or caring. Though some of these instances may overlap with being unprofessional, in those cases the instance was coded only as mean. For example, in Wizards of
Waverly Place, after firing Mr. Laritate, the superintendent wipes pie all over Mr. Laritate’s face in front of everyone at the school (“Western Show”). Also, in A.N.T. Farm, when Olive wants to join the “End Hunger Today” club, the principal says that the club is full and throws a chicken wing at her to get her to leave (“ParticipANTs”). Furthermore, when the principal’s raven attacks the janitor and tries to peck out his eyes, she just laughs while the students are concerned
(“IgnorANTs is Bliss”).
The last major negative quality that educators embody is weirdness. There are 12 instances where educators appear to act in a way that is culturally non-standard in terms of general human behavior. Like the quality of meanness, though some of these representations may overlap with being unprofessional, I only counted them as “weird” to ensure that nothing was being counted for multiple categories. An example of a weird portrayal is in A.N.T. Farm when Gibson raises his shirt in front of the ANTs, sticks his finger in his bellybutton, and smells it (“TransplANTed”). Also, Gibson has an afro, and often when the ANTs are upset, he bends over and offers them a tissue that he has stuffed in his hair (“ParticipANTs”).
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Characterizations of Academic-minded Students
In addition to the portrayal of educators, I also coded for the portrayal of students who value academics. The following students emerged from my analysis: Harper, Zeke, and Justin from Wizards of Waverly Place; Chyna, Olive, Fletcher, and Angus from A.N.T. Farm; Baljeet and Irving from Phineas and Ferb; and Cody and Bailey from The Suite Life on Deck.
I was able to place the representations of these students into predetermined positive and negative categories (see tables 10 and 11). The 15 positive depictions of academic-minded students included them being seen as admired, likable, respected, and smart. On the other hand, the 92 negative portrayals primarily included students being seen as being bullied, disliked, and called derogatory names. The Suite Life on Deck contains the most negative representations of these students, numbering 37, and has only three positive illustrations of those who favor academics. A.N.T. Farm contains the next highest number of negative portrayals, having 35 negative depictions and only six positive ones. Wizards of Waverly Place ranks third, having 20 negative illustrations and six positive ones. Phineas and Ferb, however, does not depict students who value academics in either a negative or positive way.
Table 10
Positive Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics
Positive Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Admired 0 4 0 1 5
Likeable 5 1 0 1 7
Respected 0 1 0 0 1
Smart 1 0 0 1 2
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Positive Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Total 6 6 0 3 15
When examining the 15 positive representations of students who value school, there are four qualities of these students which can be categorized (see table 10). There are seven instances where these students are seen as being likable. In other words, their peers want to be around them or think they are attractive, either because of their physical appearance or their personality.
For instance, in Wizards of Waverly Place, Harper is excited that Zeke is going to be her partner for the science fair because she has a crush on him (“Alex Russo, Matchmaker?). Moreover,
Alex tells Justin that even though he is a “dork,” she would miss him if he was not around (“Eat to the Beat”).
The next most common positive representation is that these students are admired; this quality is displayed five times in these series, when students receive verbal or nonverbal affirmation about something that they do or say. I excluded any reference to intellect as the basis for admiration because intellect has its own separate category. An example of an academic- oriented student being admired is in A.N.T. Farm. When Chyna sings in the school, all the students clap for her, acknowledging her talent (“ManagemANT”). Also, when describing the
Advanced Natural Talent program, Chyna blatantly states that every ANT has a “special talent”
(“The InformANT”).
Additionally, students who value academics are also positively viewed as smart two times throughout these series. This means students receive affirmation solely based on their intellect. For example, in The Suite Life on Deck, all of Cody’s classmates know that he usually
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receives A’s in school; therefore, they all want to be his partner for a group assignment in class
(“Marriage 101”). Also, in Wizards of Waverly Place, Justin is showing Zeke a food pyramid that “you can actually eat and get all your daily nutrients out of” (“Alex Russo, Matchmaker?”).
Zeke tells Justin that he a “genius” after seeing his project, giving Justin verbal affirmation for his intellect and creation.
Lastly, there is one instance where these students are shown to have the respect of their classmates. For this category I am referring to the kind of respect people have for the law. In other words, people show respect by doing what is asked of them. The only example of this is in
A.N.T. Farm. When some of the ANTs were “busted” by the cops at a party, Olive states that the
ANTs gained some “serious street-cred” with the bigger kids. In other words, by the end of this episode the bigger kids will do what the ANTs want them to do (“TransplANTed”). When Olive stomps her foot, the two bigger kids run, which shows respect for the ANTs because they obey the nonverbal command.
Table 11
Negative Portrayals of Students Who Value Academicsc
Negative Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Bullied 5 17 0 27 49
Disliked 6 12 0 5 23
Called Derogatory Names 9 0 0 2 11
Other 0 6 0 3 9
Total 20 35 0 37 92
c. This table only illustrates the top three negative representations of these students. The
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category labeled “Other” also contain four depictions of the students not being
respected (peers are shown looking down on these students through verbal and
nonverbal gestures), four illustrations of them not being included (peers single out
these students so as not to involve them in social activities or be involved with them
in a school-related activities), and one instance of them being regarded as dumb
(when students lack the correct knowledge about something that they say they know
about).
Though there are some positive portrayals of academically-minded students, there are far more negative representations (see table 11). Of these, the top three are that these students are bullied, disliked, and subjected to name-calling. The most frequent negative representation of these students, seen 49 times throughout the 55 episodes, is that they are bullied by other students. When discussing being bullied, I am referring to instances where these students’ peers attack them by directly making fun of them, manipulating them, being mean to them, or attempting to control them. However, I do not include instances where students are subjected to name-calling in this category, though that often falls under bullying. An example of bullying is in A.N.T. Farm when a girl dumps Chyna out of a seat, claiming that seat belonged to her
(“TransplANTed”). Another instance is in Wizards of Waverly Place when a classmate tells
Justin that he “will” be doing his math homework for him (“Detention Election”).
The next highest negative association in regards to students who value academics is that they are disliked by their peers. There are 23 instances where peers discuss the undesirable qualities (i.e. appearance, speech, actions) of academic-minded students, which make them unpleasant to be around. These indirect comments come in the form of nonverbal communication when talking to the individual being referenced or verbal communication when talking to a third
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party about the student being referenced. Again, I do not include the instances when academic- minded students are called names in this category. Therefore, an example is in A.N.T. Farm when Cameron says that Olive is “the most annoying locker neighbor ever” (“The PhANTom
Locker”). An additional example is in The Suite Life on Deck when London is talking in a derogatory tone about how Bailey smells like corn (“Seven Seas News”).
Additionally, there are 11 instances of these students being called derogatory names by other students. For example, in Wizards of Waverly Place, Alex refers to Justin as a “loser,”
“nerd,” “dork,” and “joke” (“Alex Russo, Matchmaker?”; “Dad’s Buggin’ Out”; “Detention
Election”; “Eat to the Beat”). Also, in The Suite Life on Deck, Zack labels Cody an “idiot”
(“Seven Seas News”).
Combined Portrayals of the School System
By combining the findings concerning the Disney Channel’s presentation of attitudes toward the school system, educators, and students who assign value to academics, a more rounded depiction of how Disney portrays education and those who promote it can be derived.
Based on this study’s scope, the Disney Channel contains a total of 309 negative portrayals but only 40 positive ones (see table 12). A.N.T. Farm has the most negative and positive depictions, numbering 137 to 16; The Suite Life on Deck has 71 negative portrayals, while only showing 10 positive illustrations; Phineas and Ferb has 51 negative representations and only one positive depiction; lastly, Wizards of Waverly Place has 50 negative illustrations and thirteen positive ones.
Also, educators make up the top ranking negatively portrayed category on the Disney
Channel, numbering 114, yet they only have 10 positive representations, which is the least of any category (see table 12). Additionally, though the school system and academic-minded students
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are tied, having 15 positive illustrations each, the school system has the second most negative representation, numbering 103, leaving the portrayal of students with 92 negative representations—the least negative depiction in these categories.
Table 12
Culmination of the Portrayals of the School, Educators, and Students Who Assign Value to
Academicsd
Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Categories Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck
Pe Nf P N P N P N
School System 4 9 6 30 1 50 4 14
Educators 3 21 4 72 0 1 3 20
Students 6 20 6 35 0 0 3 37
Total 13 50 16 137 1 51 10 71
d. This table does not include instances of learning on the Disney Channel since there
was not a positive or negative association tied to learning inside or outside of the
school system.
e. “P” stands for positive portrayals.
f. “N” stands for negative portrayals.
DISCUSSION
Negative Representations
In light of the results, it is interesting to note that the only two shows on the Disney
Channel that are still airing new episodes, A.N.T. Farm and Phineas and Ferb, have the most negative portrayals of the school system. A.N.T. Farm does contain the most positive
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representations of this institution, but the negative portrayals depicted by this series greatly outnumber the positive. Also, though Phineas and Ferb has the largest number of negative representations of school, 48 of the 50 negative depictions come from its theme song. As stated earlier, they are included in the data set because the connotations associated with the school system are presented to the audience every time the series comes on the television; however, as for content within the episodes’ plots, A.N.T. Farm outnumbers Phineas and Ferb 29 to 2 in terms of negative portrayals. Consequently, this TV station portrays school as an institution that is primarily disliked, not valuable, unsafe, disingenuous, easily manipulated, and ineffective.
In addition to having the most negative portrayals of the school system within the plot,
A.N.T. Farm also has the most negative representations of educators. These negative illustrations range from unprofessional to dumb, not respected, unjust, mean, irresponsible, weird, boring, dishonest, and uneducated. Often educators are seen as acting childish, while students are shown correcting teachers mistakes and taking on their instructor’s responsibilities. Also, the educators do not seem to genuinely care about teaching their students; they are highly preoccupied with their own lives, especially their love lives.
In relation to how students who value education are portrayed, The Suite Life on Deck leads the other series in negative portrayals. These students are primarily shown to be annoying know-it-alls who are disliked by many and picked on by even more. For the most part, they have low social-standings and seem to act a bit awkwardly, like they are unsure of how to interact with others in a socially acceptable manner.
Additionally, the illustrations of how educators and academically-minded students are represented on the Disney Channel contributes to the overall depiction of the school system.
Educators are those that are hired to fulfill the purpose of this institution. School is a place for
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teaching students; therefore, by portraying educators primarily in a negative fashion, the Disney
Channel is not only sending messages about the external representation of the school, but the internal workings of it as well. Also, by focusing on negative depictions of students who value this institution, the Disney Channel is showing those who promote what this system stands for; therefore, adding to the overall negative portrayal of the school system.
Although The Suite Life on Deck contains the most negative representations of students who like school, A.N.T. Farm has the most overall negative portrayals related to this institution.
This is important because I coded five fewer episodes for A.N.T. Farm than any other, and this is one of Disney Channel’s newest series. The overwhelming amount of negative portrayals in this series is also ironic since A.N.T. Farm is centered on gifted students. Considering this focus, one might think that the positive depictions would outweigh the negative, which is not the case.
Instead, educators are not respected, students who value academics are bullied, and the school system is a physically and emotionally unsafe place for students.
Learning is Largely Unnecessary
Though I coded for learning throughout the Disney Channel series, it is not often seen happening because of the school system or outside of it. However, learning does not seem to be needed. When students want to build something, they just do it. They seem to intrinsically know how to construct whatever creation their imaginations hold. Also, students not only seem to know how to construct things, they also seem to know academic terms, phrases, and methods. As far as practical matters are concerned, students seem to understand how to work things; they do not appear to be lacking in much knowledge in any area. For example, in Wizards of Waverly
Place, Justin works to create an engine run by water for the science fair (“Alex Russo,
Matchmaker?”). However, the viewers never see him doing research on how to construct it,
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hypothesizing about how it can work, or failing in any attempt to build it, even though it is clear at the beginning of the episode that he is not sure how to construct the engine. Viewers are able to see a couple short instances where he is working on the engine, and then the audience sees his successful accomplishment. Also, when students are doing artwork in class, all their paintings turn out how they want them to. None of the students are seen having problems, learning through experience, or being in need of instruction (WWP “Alex Charms a Boy”). Furthermore, in
Phineas and Ferb, the boys are seen building a mechanical dog; however, once again, no learning of any kind is needed for them to construct this creation, and the dog ends up working perfectly (“Canderemy”).
One reason that learning may not be seen often is because these Disney Channel series are entertainment-based; however, though education is not the goal of these series, there are still some instances when learning occurs. Therefore, it is interesting to note that when learning does take place, it occurs nearly three times more outside of the school setting than inside of it, with a ratio of 37:13. From these numbers, it appears that students can learn more on their own or with their friends than they can in the school system. In fact, A.N.T. Farm and Phineas and Ferb each only display one instance of learning because of the school system. This type of data goes against many societal expectations because many generally consider educating children as the role of this institution.
Another factor that may have influenced the results about learning pertains to the basic settings of the shows. Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life on Deck tend to distribute school and socializing fairly evenly, despite the fact that the students in The Suite Life on Deck live and go to school on a cruise ship. However, Phineas and Ferb and A.N.T. Farm have more focused settings.
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As stated earlier, Phineas and Ferb takes place during the summer months when school is not in session. Despite this fact, there are certain summer school activities and school-related seminars that take place in the series. However, since the focus is not at a time when school is in session, this may account for the fact that there is only one instance of school-related learning in the 15 episodes I coded, yet there are 23 times that learning occurs outside of the school system.
Of course, there is the possibility that the numerical data for learning in school would not increase if school was in session, especially considering the theme song’s statement that these students “have a whole lotta stuff to do before school starts this fall” (“Canderemy”). Since learning happens more in this series than any other, one could argue that learning is part of what they have to do before school starts back up; the end of summer may signal the end of learning.
Finally, A.N.T. Farm is the opposite of Phineas and Ferb in terms of setting. As previously mentioned, this series’ setting primarily takes place in the school or it shows students doing school-related activities. Therefore, this may account for the fact that there are only three instances of non-school-related learning in the coded episodes. Though, just like the case with
Phineas and Ferb, there is the possibility that these numbers would not increase if the setting was altered.
Limitations
Though my findings give a general overview about what type of educational views are presented by the Disney Channel, there are some limitations to my study. First of all, I only examined four of the Disney Channel’s original series. Currently, Disney Channel is airing new episodes of seven other original series that I do not examine: Fish Hooks, Good Luck Charlie,
Shake It Up, So Random, PrankStars, Jessie, and Austin & Ally (“Disney Channel” para. 28;
“What’s on Disney Channel”). Additionally, the Disney Channel is still broadcasting reruns of
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The Suite Life on Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place (“Disney Channel” para. 28); therefore, past content that does not fall into the predetermined airdates for my study is still currently being presented to the public. Incorporation of reruns that aired in my study’s timeframe may have altered my findings.
Furthermore, the predetermined lens my study is based on filtered out some data that can be deemed relevant. First of all, when coding for the portrayal of educators, my findings indicate that they are presented in negative ways. However, since these are the only adult figures that are directly relevant to my study, I did not code for the representation of the rest of the adults in these series, though it appears that adult figures in general are associated with many negative attributes. If I had coded for how all adults are portrayed, I would have been able to determine if the educators are represented in a worse light than other adults, or if authority figures in general are equally antagonized throughout these series.
Also, when coding for educators, I limited my research to studying them only within school-related settings. However, there are instances in the Disney Channel episodes where educators interact with students outside of the mandates of the school. Therefore, if I had coded for this, I would have been able to determine if educators were consistently viewed the same regardless of the setting or whether a lack of association with the institution changed the way the educators were portrayed.
Additionally, I only coded for how students who value school are viewed and treated by other students within a school setting. By limiting observation of these students to the school, my study is unable to judge if others act differently toward them in social or private settings. By examining this data, I would have been able to make inferences about whether or not the mere act of being in the school or performing school-related activities caused more antagonism
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towards these students or not. Also, by limiting the examination of this category to only peer judgments, I was unable to show how educators and parental figures viewed these students.
Coding for this information would have given a more rounded view about whether or not everyone in these students’ lives shared a common view of them, or whether adult views of these students opposed the peer views.
Another facet that would have added to my findings would have been examining the negative and positive portrayals of students who do not seem to value academics. Doing this would have provided a more rounded view about students in general. By examining if they are generally revered or looked down upon, I could have compared and contrasted the results, both in and out of school, with the views of students who do value school; thereby, inferences could have been made about who is most heavily antagonized throughout these Disney Channel series and who is held in the highest esteem.
Ramifications
I uncovered a number of trends by examining these 55 Disney Channel episodes. First of all, the minimal data accumulated in relation to learning is significant. Learning is being portrayed as a largely unneeded process. Since most would agree that the purpose of the school system is to teach students, the lack of learning being shown can place the school’s importance to society into question.
Also, by portraying knowledge as intrinsically being a part of most of these students make-up, a form of instant gratification is being promoted. According to Dafna Lemish, the idea of instant gratification is that children:
learn from viewing television to demand innovation and surprise, expect a quick
pace, constant stimulation, and immediate satisfaction. These expectations stand
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in contrast to typical learning processes in school, which are relatively slow paced
and oriented to long term goals. (152)
Similar to this definition, students in these shows do not have to struggle to build and to know things; it just happens for them. In fact, even when learning does take place, it is not a complicated or tedious process. Students try to research something, and they find it quickly; or, students only have to listen while others explain certain things to them and then, for the most part, they are seen as able to remember it and put that knowledge into use whenever they desire.
There are exceptions, such as London Tipton form The Suite Life on Deck, who always seems to zone out in class, ask the teacher unrelated questions, and never do her homework. However, for the students that pay even minimal attention, the little knowledge they do not already know is easily attained.
As mentioned earlier, the portrayal of learning throughout the episodes I coded could be due to the fact that these series are entertainment-based. However, by not showing learning, the creators of these Disney Channel series are assuming that the audience would not be interested in watching learning occur. This attitude is important because just as the television is able to shape people’s perceptions, the creators of such media write and produce their shows based on current attitudes in society. Todd Gitlin states, “High consumption corporate capitalism implies a certain sensitivity to audience taste, taste which is never wholly manufactured. Shows are made by guessing at audience desires and tolerances, and finding ways to speak to them that perpetuate the going system” (14). Therefore, the Disney Channel’s writers are creating the content of these series by responding to the way they think people view the world. Then, by displaying the content to viewers, the Disney Channel is reinforcing certain attitudes and expectations concerning learning, as well as other aspects of education.
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Additionally, as stated earlier, all of the Disney Channel shows coded in this study are aimed towards middle schoolers; therefore, all of the messages found in these episodes are also aimed towards this age group. While school officials are working hard to reduce bullying in schools (Kert et. al 193), the Disney Channel is showing viewers how to bully others and who to target. Generally, in the shows I coded, the people doing the bullying are considered popular and/or “cool” by their peers, and, most of the time, they display verbal or physical aggression against students who value academics.
Though the amount of influence that media, such as the Disney Channel, has over viewers differs from person to person, there is a correlation between the way my coded episodes depict bullying and certain trends found in the school system. When it comes to bullies, Allison
Kert et. al state that they generally target victims who have not shown any aggression towards them since bullying often is “characterized by an unequal distribution of power” (193).
Additionally, Kert et. al assert that bullying usually occurs when an individual continually harms another person in order to “feel superior within the social context, most often in a school” (193).
Also, a recent study about middle schoolers’ social standing, which was published in 2011 by
Amy Bellmore, Vanessa Villarreal, and Alice Ho, furthers Kert et. al’s concepts about bullying.
In their study, they assert that the need to have a high social standing peaks with middle school students (776). They also discovered that aggressive reputations led to students receiving “a cool status” amongst middle school students (776). It seems that verbal, physical, and relational aggression is often used both to achieve and maintain popular status among peers in school
(777). Thus, in relation to the Disney Channel shows, this finding correlates with the presentation of the popular kids being the main bullies, whereas the unpopular kids, who tend to value academics, are consistently the victims. Additionally, this finding correlates with the “to be
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cool, do not like school” attitude that the Disney Channel presents.
Moreover, in addition to teaching children how to bully each other, these Disney Channel series are teaching children to treat teachers disrespectfully. Throughout the 55 episodes, students often made fun of the educators’ appearances and values. They played tricks on the educators, continually seeking to break established rules. Also, these types of actions were not limited to students who actively opposed school; even academic-minded students often possessed negative attitudes about the educators. Therefore, this is another example of how the
Disney Channel may be molding people’s perceptions about the educational system’s educators or reinforcing current societal views about what to expect in this institution. In either case, the message is negative for the educators and the school system.
Though the messages sent are predominantly negative for the school system and those involved, many student depictions are empowering. Children are granted the opportunity throughout these series to make their own rules and do as they wish. They are portrayed as smart and capable; consequently, the world bends to their wishes as they adventure through life. By depicting many students in this manner, the Disney Channel is appropriating the desires of numerous middle school children. For instance, according to Demir’s findings concerning middle schoolers’ attitudes towards the school system, most of the American students felt that the institution was a confining space and they wished for more autonomy and freedom (101).
Therefore, by giving students power and independence in these Disney Channel shows, the creators are appealing to the wants of their target audience. However, it is important to note that though these students are given the freedom of adults, they often do not behave like adults.
Frequently, they run from responsibility or any activities that they do not want to do; instead, they focus on doing what they desire. Therefore, on the Disney Channel, children have the best
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of both worlds; they possess power and freedom without the responsibility, which is rarely the case for individuals in reality.
CONCLUSIONS
With television being an ever-increasing part of people’s lives, it is important to know what kinds of messages are being viewed for two primary reasons. First, television affects people’s perceptions of reality in varying degrees; therefore, identifying messages sent by this medium is a necessary part of understanding the different ways viewers can be influenced. Also, the contents of television serve as a reflection of popular culture. Creators of television shows and other forms of media manufacture content based on societal trends; they display content that they believe will be received well by the public.
Since the importance of education is a widely discussed topic, I performed content analysis on four entertainment-based programs to discover how education was portrayed on these shows. I aimed my analysis at the Disney Channel, which is one facet of the multimedia giant,
Disney. The Disney Channel is a television station which targets middle school children, and it is continually growing in popularity in the United States and overseas; therefore, examining this station’s portrayal of education is prevalent to understanding current attitudes and expectations regarding the educational institution.
By doing content analysis on 55 episodes of four Disney Channel shows, which aired from January 2010 to January 2012, my study provides a recent snapshot of how school is portrayed to viewers. One of the main messages is that the school system is a disliked institution that is not valued by students. The students do not enjoy being at school and do not understand how what they are learning will be useful for their lives. Another main message that the Disney
Channel is sending is that the school’s educators are unprofessional and not respected by
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students. It is possible that the lack of respect comes from the lack of professionalism displayed by these adults; in any case, educators are not seen as people that students generally listen to, like, or want to imitate. Additionally, the Disney Channel rarely depicts learning; however, when learning does happen, it occurs mainly outside of the school system. The lack of representation of learning is important because viewers are being shown a world in which learning does not take time and effort, which is typically not the case in reality. Furthermore, the fact that learning occurs more frequently outside of the school system than because of it in these series is also important to note because most would agree that the school system’s purpose is to teach students.
Therefore, in these shows, the reason for the existence of the school system is questionable since its goal is not being accomplished inside this institution. Moreover, another primary message presented by these Disney Channel shows is that students who value academics are bullied and disliked. It appears that a low social standing is the consequence for students who value and promote the purpose of the school system. Granted, there are some positive messages being sent about the school system, those who support it, and learning; however, there are far more negative depictions being aimed towards middle schoolers.
Given what my study has discovered, this research can serve to inform the public about what messages are being sent via the Disney Channel. For instance, A.N.T. Farm, the most recent
Disney Channel show, had the most negative portrayals of the school system as a whole.
Therefore, this study could serve as a foundational study in correlation with others to concretely identify Disney Channel trends regarding education. Also, it can be used to help determine if
Disney’s depiction of this institution, and those closely related to it, can be linked to real-life student attitudes towards school, teachers, and academically-minded peers. Given Demir’s findings that many students view school as a place of confinement, it appears that there is some
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overlap between real-life views and the fictional portrayals on the Disney Channel, such as
Olive, from A.N.T. Farm, comparing the school to confining terms, like a prison.
Additionally, this study could be of great importance for school officials. By examining what children are being exposed to, leaders in the school system can learn about student expectations in relation to what the school system is about and the interactions that take place inside of it. Understanding students’ perceptions caused by the media can be an important first step in countering any negative expectations in order to help students form more positive views of what the institution has to offer and the relationships that will be developed during the students’ time in the institution.
Furthermore, this study can be useful to parents. Often, parents express concern about what their children are watching on TV. My findings show what the Disney Channel portrays about education, as well as what specific Disney Channel shows have the most negative versus positive content in relation to this institution in the four coded series. Though I do not claim to know the specific impact that negative educational views have on viewers, this research could serve as a guide to concerned parents who would rather not expose their kids to such anti- educational messages.
Overall, the data collected in this study is relevant to numerous people and academic conversations. Parents can use this data to make more informed decisions concerning children’s viewing habits. School officials can use this information to address concerns about the school system, such as occurrences of bullying and student expectations about learning. Finally, this study can be used to better understand current societal perceptions regarding education, particularly the perceptions that are presented to, and influence, middle-school-aged children.
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APPENDIX
Appendix A: Coding list for discovering attitudes toward the school system.
Qualitative Information
All of the information below is referring to middle school or high school. No magic-related instances or homeschooling are examined.
1. Is the word, “school,” associated with a positive connotation? Specifically, is school viewed as effective or valuable? Is it considered a safe space for students emotionally and structurally?
Is it a place where students like being?
2. Is the word, “school,” associated with a negative connotation? Is it viewed as ineffective or not valuable? Is it considered an unsafe place for students emotionally and structurally? Is it a place that students dislike being at?
3. Is the word, “school,” associated with a neutral connotation? Is the word said in the sentence, but nothing positive or negative revealed about the system?
4. Are inferences (verbal or nonverbal) or comments made by students about the school system positive? Again, is the establishment a place where students like being? Is it discussed as being an effective establishment? Do students like, respect, and/or admire the leaders of the establishment? Do students enjoy and/or value work given to them by establishment leaders? Do the students feel safe?
5. Are inferences (verbal or nonverbal) or comments made by students about the school system negative? Is the establishment a place where students dislike being? Is it discussed as being an ineffective establishment? Do students dislike or have a low opinion of the leaders of the establishment? Do students dislike and/or not value work given to them by establishment leaders? Do the students not feel safe?
6. Are inferences (verbal or nonverbal) or comments made by students about the school system neutral?
7. What character is making each qualitative statement in this section?
Quantitative Information
All of the information below is referring to middle school or high school. No magic-related instances or homeschooling are examined.
1. How many times is the word, “school,” used?
2. How many positive connotations are associated with the word, “school?”
3. How many negative connotations are associated with the word, “school?”
4. How many neutral connotations are associated with the word, “school?”
5. How many positive inferences or comments are made about the school system?
6. How many negative inferences or comments are made about the school system?
7. How many neutral inferences or comments are made about the school system?
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Appendix B: Coding list for discovering instances of learning.
Qualitative Information
All of the school-related information below is referring to middle school or high school. No magic-related instances or homeschooling are examined.
1. What types of student learning are seen taking place (in-process of occurring) because of the school system (i.e. requirements/recommendations in class work and via homework)?
2. What types of student learning are seen taking place (in-process of occurring) outside of the school system (i.e. learning not required/recommended by the school)?
3. What characters are involved in each instance of learning in this section?
Quantitative Information
All of the school-related information below is referring to middle school or high school. No magic-related instances or homeschooling are examined.
1. How often does each type of learning take place because of the school system?
2. How often does each type of learning take place outside of the school system?
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Appendix C: Coding list for discovering the characterizations of educators and academic-minded students.
Qualitative Information
All of the information below is referring to when students are in their middle school or high school or when students are doing school work. No magic-related instances, homeschooling, or settings outside of the school-related functions are examined.
1. Are the school system’s educators seen in a positive way? Specifically, are educators seen as smart, helpful, encouraging, educated, honest, responsible, professional, just, nice, respected individuals?
2. Are the school system’s educators seen in a negative way? Are they portrayed as dumb, unhelpful, boring, weird, irresponsible, unjust, unprofessional, uneducated, mean, dishonest, people who are not respected?
3. Which students in the series value school related academics/academic performance based on their words and/or actions? Students fall into this category if they like school, promote what the school teaches, or if they strive to get good grades.
4. Are the students who seem to value school related academics/academic performance viewed in a positive way? Specifically, are they likes, respected, or admired? Do they have a high social standing that is recognized by various other students?
5. Are the students who value school-related academics/academic performance viewed in a negative way? Are they disliked, not respected, bullied, and stereotyped? Do they have a low social standing that is recognized by various other students?
Quantitative Information
All of the information below is referring to when students are in their middle school or high
63
school or when students are doing school work. No magic-related instances, homeschooling, or settings outside of school-related functions are examined.
1. How many instances are the school’s educators seen in a positive light?
2. How many instances are the school’s educators seen in a negative light?
3. How many times are students who like academics/academic performance referred to positively?
4. How many times are students who like academics/academic performance referred to negatively?
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Appendix D: Table 13
Full Results: Negative Views Presented by the Disney Channel about the School System
Connotations of the Inference/Comments
Views Word, “School” about School Total
Disingenuous 0 4 4
Disliked 33 9 42
Ineffective 5 3 8
Manipulated 2 4 6
Not Valuable 25 2 27
Unsafe 5 11 16
Physically 3 10 13
Emotionally 2 1 3
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Appendix E: Table 14
Full Results: Positive Portrayals of Educators
Positive Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Encouraging 1 2 0 1 4
Helpful 1 0 0 2 3
Respected 0 1 0 0 1
Smart 1 1 0 0 2
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 3 4 0 3 10
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Appendix F: Table 15
Full Version: Negative Portrayals of Educators
Negative Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Boring 0 1 0 1 2
Dishonest 0 1 0 0 1
Dumb 4 12 0 0 16
Irresponsible 2 1 0 1 4
Mean 3 11 0 1 15
Not Respected 6 20 0 3 29
Uneducated 0 1 0 0 1
Unjust 1 2 0 0 3
Unprofessional 4 13 0 14 31
Weird 1 10 1 0 12
Total 21 72 1 20 114
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Appendix G: Table 16
Full Version: Positive Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics
Positive Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Admired 0 4 0 1 5
Likeable 5 1 0 1 7
Respected 0 1 0 0 1
Smart 1 0 0 1 2
Total 6 6 0 3 15
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Appendix H: Table 17
Full Version: Negative Portrayals of Students Who Value Academics
Negative Wizards of A.N.T. Phineas The Suite Life
Portrayal Waverly Place Farm and Ferb on Deck Total
Bullied 5 17 0 27 49
Disliked 6 12 0 5 23
Dumb 0 0 0 1 1
Not Included 0 2 0 2 4
Not Respected 0 4 0 0 4
Called Derogatory Names 9 0 0 2 11
Total 20 35 0 37 92
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