School performance: the 4th grade exams in television news

Abstract

Within the framework of a mode of regulation of the educational system based on the ideology of performativity through an intensified school work, this text focuses on the recent experience of reintroducing the exams in the 4th grade in Portugal. We analyze the voices of children, parents, and teachers found in television news pieces (2012-2015), seeking to understand how they position themselves and how they deal with the exams. Their words reveal that the examinations greatly influence the school and family life, and demand cognitive and emotional effort on the part of these actors, aiming at the preparation of pupils who are able to deal effectively with performativity at an earlier age.