Crises in Australian education, the push for educational technology and the medium-oriented perspective of Neil Postman

From teacher shortages to declining literacy, the Australian education system faces multiple crises. This paper turns to the work of Neil Postman, who started as a high school teacher but later turned towards communication and media studies, to provide an alternative account of parts of this crisis, especially those around the role of technology in education. In his early works, his concern is attached to the concept of education as a ‘subversive concept’ and then a ‘conserving concept’ – first aiming to create young people engaged in civic society, then aiming to preserve written culture against television. After a middle period in which he broadened his critique of technology, Postman made a late return to education, reviving democratic critiques against the technophilic version of education that elevated the economy and individualism over civic society. This paper connects these works together as a comprehensive technology-oriented critique of education, arguing that both the principles and application of technology in Australian education have corrupted the meaning and outcomes of education.