Notes to presenter:
The Media Education: Make It Happen! presentation is part of an awareness program that includes this PowerPoint workshop, a facilitator's guide with handouts, and a companion booklet. These resources are available free to download from <www.mediaeducationweek.ca>
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Much of the information in this presentation is from the Media Education: Make It Happen! booklet. The booklet was made possible through the collaboration of the following organizations:
Media Awareness Network;
Canadian Teachers’ Federation;
Association for Media Literacy; and the
Canadian Association of Media Education Organizations.
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The purpose of this workshop is to give teachers an overview of what media education is and to offer a starting point for bringing media literacy lessons and activities into the classroom.
We’ll begin with a snapshot of young people’s media environment;
we’ll answer the question, “What is media literacy?”;
we’ll examine media education approaches that include key concepts and a framework for deconstructing media; and
we’ll look at practical ways for integrating media education across the curriculum.
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We’re going to start today with a warm-up activity that will illustrate the powerful influence media images have on us. This alphabet has been created from parts of well-known brand logos. See how many of the brands you recognize.
Corporate branding is just one aspect of media to which we are exposed. However, we are familiar with branding from an early age. Babies as young as six months can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties can be established as early as age two, and by the time children head off to school most can recognize hundreds of brand logos.
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For young people, who often spend more time interacting with media than they do with parents, teachers and even friends, media can be a powerful influencing force.
Cumulatively and unconsciously, the media messages kids absorb help to shape their perceptions of what is normal and important, cool and fun, or scary and unappealing.
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Canadian kids are very active media consumers. In 2003, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation conducted a national survey of more than 5,700 students, in Grades 3 to 10, about their media use. The study showed the following:
75 per cent of children watch TV daily;
almost half (48 per cent) of kids have their own TV set;
60 per cent of boys in Grades 3-6 play video or computer games almost every day; and
42 per cent of kids watch videos or DVDs several times a week.
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Canadian students are also among the most wired in the world. In 2005, Media Awareness Network surveyed more than 5,200 students about their digital media use and found the following:
94 per cent have Internet access at home and the majority have high speed connections;
37 per cent have their own Internet-connected computer;*
41 per cent have an MP3 player; and
22 per cent have webcams on their computers.
(*Twenty per cent of Grade 4 students have their own access. That number climbs to 51 per cent by Grade 11. This is significant because students with their own Internet connection spend twice as much time online as those who share a connection.)
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Most of this generation can barely remember a time when e-mail, instant messaging, online music, Webcams, text messaging and cell phones were not part of their lives.
While many adults struggle with new technologies, teens and children embrace them, learning intuitively or from their peers. They multi-task effortlessly through the complex mix of sound, graphics, text and images. With new technologies comes empowerment. Suddenly kids have become managers, creators and distributors of information. They access what they want, when they want it. (Next Slide)
As kids interact with media, they absorb a large portion of their knowledge about the world and their perceptions of themselves and others.
In order to be literate in this media-rich environment, young people need to develop knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills. In other words, they need media literacy skills.
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Media literacy is commonly defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media. It’s the process of becoming active, rather than passive, consumers of media.
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Media literacy can include the following:
being able to recognize bias and stereotyping in the media
and the differences between media violence and real world violence;
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...being able to “read between the lines” of junk food advertising and
to understand the difference between entertainment and food marketing online;
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...to question the connections between the fashion, music, film and sports industries, and their own self-esteem and self-image;
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…understanding how newscasts are constructed, what makes a lead story and what the challenges are that journalists face as they try to meet daily news deadlines; and
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…being able to produce media texts for social or political engagement.
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Media education is the essential tool in helping kids acquire media literacy skills. It is the process of teaching and learning about the media so that the learners acquire media literacy knowledge and skills. (Next Slide)
Media education includes the following:
learning hands-on production techniques;
recognizing how the various elements of a specific medium convey meaning; and
thinking critically about media issues and media influences.
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Canada has been a pioneer and world leader in the development of media education. In the late 1980s, Ontario became the first educational jurisdiction in the world to mandate media literacy as part of the English curriculum, largely due to the work of secondary school media educators with the Association for Media Literacy. By 1999, media education was a mandated part of the English Language Arts curriculum across Canada.
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Educators may understand the importance of developing critical literacy skills in their students. However, integrating media literacy into the classroom can seem overwhelming, whether it is being done formally or informally.
Teachers needn't be apprehensive. Here’s why. First of all, media are a part of life all kids enjoy and share. It’s a stimulating and relevant topic for them – something they all have an opinion about and enjoy discussing. And they love the power that comes with understanding that all media productions – be it a drama or documentary, news report or advertisement – are constructed with a viewpoint and for a reason.
As teachers, you know that interested, engaged children are the departure point for effective learning.
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Media is something that most of us have in common. While students may have more familiarity with certain kinds of media (such as video games and the Internet) it is also quite possible that teachers and students will have shared media experiences. (Next Slide)
Because media literacy is based on the process of enquiry, it isn’t about having the right answers. Rather, it’s about asking the right questions. Here are some examples.
Who is the audience for a media production and why?
From whose perspective is a story being told?
How do the unique codes and conventions of a specific genre affect what we see, hear or read?
How might different audiences interpret the same media production?
Whose interests are being served?
The teacher as a facilitator and co-learner in a student-centred learning process is not only the model for media education; it has also become an accepted new critical pedagogy.
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Once considered a “frill” or “add on” subject area, media literacy outcomes are now integrated into the core curriculums of every province and territory, from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
As teachers introduce media literacy lessons and activities into their classrooms, they can meet many learning outcomes and expectations for their students. (Next Slide)
And finally, because it is multidisciplinary, media education can be easily integrated across many subject areas (including Language Arts, Health, Social Studies, Visual Arts and ICT). We’ll be looking at examples of how this can be done later in the presentation. (Next Slide)
Most media educators use key concepts of media literacy as a foundation for examining media and popular culture. They provide a theoretical base for all media literacy programs and give teachers a common language and framework for discussion. The following key concepts are from the Ontario Media Literacy Resource Guide.
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Media are constructions.
Media products are carefully constructed. They are created with a purpose and from a particular perspective using specific forms and techniques.
Media literacy works toward deconstructing media products. It takes those products apart to show how they are made and explores the decisions and determining factors behind them.
In addition, each medium has its own grammar and shapes reality in its own particular way. Different media will report the same event, but will create different impressions and messages.
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Audiences negotiate meaning.
We all bring our own life experience, knowledge and attitudes to media we encounter. Each of us, in our own unique way, makes sense of what we see and hear.
Media literacy encourages us to understand how individual factors such as age, gender, race, and social status affect the way we interpret media.
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Media have commercial implications.
Most media production is a business and must therefore return a profit. In addition, media industries belong to a powerful network of corporations that exert influence on content and distribution. Questions of ownership and control are central to understanding media, since relatively few people control what we watch, read and hear in the media.
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Values and ideological messages underpin all media.
Explicitly or implicitly, mainstream media convey ideological messages about values, power and authority. In media literacy, what or who is absent may be more important than what's included.
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Each medium has a unique aesthetic form.
Each type of media has its own special grammar and technological bias and shapes reality in unique ways. Therefore, different media might report the same event but create different impressions and different messages.
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A practical framework for deconstructing media products and messages is the Media Studies Triangle, a multiple perspective model developed by Eddie Dick for the Scottish Film Council.*
The sides of the triangle represent three broad conceptual areas, within which we can ask questions to deconstruct a media product and its messages.The double directional arrows show the inter-dependent aspects of media.
The Text side refers to the media product we want to deconstruct.
The Audience side is whoever is watching, reading or hearing the media product.
The Production sides refers to whatever goes into the actual making of the product.
(*This model is available as a handout in the workshop guide.)
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We’ve chosen a popular media text, the Donald Trump reality TV show The Apprentice, to illustrate how this framework can be applied. As we’ve said, media education isn't about having the right answers – it's about asking the right questions. When analyzing and deconstructing The Apprentice, we can ask students a series of questions based on the three areas identified in the Media Studies Triangle.
(Note to presenter: If time permits, go through the answers to the questions on the next nine slides during the presentation. If you are short for time, you may choose to give the participants the Media Education Framework: Deconstructing The Apprentice handout for the answers and delete the corresponding slides in the presentation.)
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Starting with text, we can ask these questions.
What kind of media text is this? Is it a magazine, video, t-shirt or poster, for example?
The Apprentice is a television program that appears on the NBC network.
In what ways does this media text tell a story?
The show follows the tribulations of 16 candidates vying for a job with the Trump organization.
The contestants are eliminated one by one by Donald Trump.
The one remaining contestant wins the job.
What type or category of story is it?
It’s a reality TV show.
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Does it follow a formula?
Yes.
Each week, two teams of contestants compete in a sales or marketing task.
The team that wins is rewarded for its victory, while the team that loses meets Trump and his executives in the boardroom to explain the failure.
At the end of each episode one person from the losing team is fired.
What are the media conventions used?
The show uses these standard reality TV conventions:
the confessional – people speak directly into the camera, sharing their perspectives;
the task – contestants compete in a task in which the winner is rewarded; and
the showdown – the climax of The Apprentice is a showdown between a group of people with one person being eliminated.
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What are the characters like? Are there any stereotypes?
Typically each season starts with eight females and eight males in their twenties and thirties. Generally well-educated with backgrounds in business, the characters are presented in stereotypical roles similar to those found in soap operas: the villain, the flirt, the hothead, the “all-American” and so forth.
What values are being promoted?
The show promotes corporate values of power, money and prestige. In the world of The Apprentice, happiness is portrayed solely as having the best of everything.
How is this done?
The values are communicated each week during Trump’s prologue to the task and are reinforced by the criteria by which contestants are judged. The winner is the team that raises the most money or has the most successful marketing campaign.
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Whose point of view do the values represent?
As the host, Donald Trump comments on whether people are successful and at the end of each episode he fires someone.
Are my values represented?
Answers will vary.
Why or why not?
Answers will vary. People may answer that other values, such as fairness, compassion, loyalty and creative spirit, are not represented or are represented only superficially.
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These are some questions regarding audience.
Who is the target audience for this media text?
The show is aimed at 18- to 49-year-olds, who make up a very large segment of the adult population.
How can I tell?
A simple way to identify the target audience is by observing the ads that are aired during the commercial breaks. In the case of The Apprentice, there are also product placements and each task has a brand sponsor.
How and why does this media text appeal to its target audience?
Answers will vary, but the show appeals to its audience by building on its desire for financial and professional success, by using the popular formulas and conventions of reality TV, by including the element of competition and Trump, who embodies the American dream of financial success.
How does this media text appeal to me?
Answers will vary.
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What things do I like and dislike about it?
Answers will vary. Some people may like the reality factor and the conflicts that arise. Others may dislike the program’s corporate values or Trump’s personality.
In what ways do people use or consume this media text?
People primarily watch this program for entertainment, although some business schools are using it as a text in the classroom.
How would I change the media text to make it more enjoyable?
Answers will vary, but may include:
changing the formula or format of the program;
including audience participation; and
giving viewers different ways to access the program, such as through cell phones or the Internet.
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Questions regarding production can include these. Who produced this media text, and for what purpose?
The Apprentice is produced by Mark Burnett (best known for Survivor) and by Donald Trump. The show is produced for NBC to attract viewers to sell advertising.
How can I influence the production of this kind of media text?
Answers will vary, but could include these:
refuse to watch it;
write to the sponsors and producers of the show or NBC; and
participate in online environments dedicated to the show, such as fan sites, message boards and blogs.
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How is this text distributed or sold to the public? Who profits?
The show is broadcast on television. NBC purchases the show from the production company, which makes a profit, and then the network sells advertising to produce revenues. Spin-off profits include DVDs of previous seasons’ shows, merchandising products, tie-ins, product placements and advertising on The Apprentice Web site. Episodes were available through iTunes following the original broadcasts.
How was the text made?
Contestants’ experiences are videotaped while they share accommodations and perform tasks, so that they can comment on events and on their experiences. The footage is then edited down to fit an hour time slot.
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What production techniques are used?
They include the following:
hand-held camera work to heighten the reality;
dramatic and comedic music; and
juxtaposition of shots to add meaning to subplots, such as editing the show to foreshadow future conflicts or to highlight a moment that will be referenced later.
What rules and laws affect the media text?
The running time for an hour time slot is 60 minutes, including commercials.
Producers must acquire the rights to use all copyrighted and distinctive images and sounds.
The show must follow Canadian broadcasting codes. (The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Canada’s broadcast regulator, is the body that monitors industry adherance to the codes.)
How could I create a similar media text?
In this era of inexpensive digital equipment and the means to self-distribute over the Internet, people can create a video text and potentially reach a mass audience.
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As we’ve seen, a television show such as The Apprentice can be deconstructed using this framework. You can also apply it to a wide variety of media texts, from a simple running shoe advertisement to more complex texts such as a televised political debate. You can even use this triangle to deconstruct a shopping mall.
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Now that we’ve looked at frameworks for deconstructing and analyzing media, let’s look at practical ways to make media education happen in the classroom. (Next Slide)
Discussions and projects related to media lend themselves to many key learning objectives and outcomes, such as watching, listening, reflecting, writing, organizing ideas, expressing personal opinions, engaging socially and politically, and developing critical thinking skills. (Next Slide)
One is never too young to begin learning about media. Many of the topics that media education addresses, such as gender stereotyping, junk food advertising, body image and violence, are central to healthy development and can be addressed in the primary grades. (Next Slide)
Learning expectations for media literacy outcomes can be found in English Language Arts for most provinces and territories. Media Studies and Language Arts have much in common, including the study of aesthetics, the examination of genres and the use of language and symbols.
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Media education is a critical component in Social Studies. Themes can include media representation and the role of media in promoting cultural identity. Teachers can explore the use of the Internet for research, including access to uncensored information and alternative news sources. Students can also learn to distinguish bias, misinformation and propaganda in online content.
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Lifestyle choices and healthy relationships are central to Health and Personal Development courses. Media and popular culture can provide a framework for discussing junk food advertising, alcohol and tobacco use, sexuality and body image, media violence, diversity and gender representation.
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In Family Studies, students can compare television's construction of the family to families in the real world.
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Information and Communications Technology (ICT) programs, which traditionally focus on technological training, can be broadened to include search, citation and assessment skills, and critical thinking about broader issues such as electronic privacy, copyright, intellectual property rights, plagiarism and the cultural, economic and social impacts of technology.
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In Global Studies and Civics courses, media education can contribute to students' engagement as informed citizens. Global Studies teachers can explore these issues with students:
the representation of developing countries in news media and how sensational stories and images can fuel western views that people in developing nations are helpless victims; and
the democratic access to media technologies
A Civics class can examine these connections between media and politics:
discussions about “spin” and sound bites;
media styles of politicians; and
the influence of media ownership on political reporting.
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The arts open all kinds of doors for media education. In Visual Arts one can study photography and film as art forms and as a means of journalistic communication. Digital manipulation and special effects offer new realms of creative potential, as well as a starting point for discussions about the ethical issues surrounding photo alterations.
Music classes can examine issues such as value messages, gender representation and celebrity culture in music. Students can explore how the "business" side of music influences which artists are hot and which are not. Students can also create their own music texts, from laying down audio tracks to creating their own music video.
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Stereotypes are prevalent in the media young people consume. In anti-racism programs, students can examine the way media portray different groups in our society to help understand how stereotypes function in popular culture, the conditions that give rise to them and how these portrayals can influence our perceptions of others.
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Media education can also provide a new doorway to learning and success for students who don’t normally excel in traditional academic endeavours. Experienced media education teachers report that students who have traditionally remained silent in class often become engaged and animated during discussions around media.
Students who are visual learners can excel in the visually enriched environment of media studies.
Students who are motivated to create a video storyboard and script may not realize that in producing them, they are learning to organize ideas, write and communicate.
Media studies also allows kids who benefit from a “hands on” approach to learning, as they have the opportunity to create their own media.
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Now we’ll look at ideas to help you start integrating media literacy into the classroom. As you begin, keep the following in mind.
Keep it positive! Playing on negative themes will be counter-productive to helping students develop critical thinking.
Avoid moralizing. Kids will reject messages if they feel they are being “preached to” instead of being empowered to reach their own conclusions.
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Keeping up-to-date on young people’s media culture is important. A great way to get to know media your students enjoy is to start the school year with a quick class survey. Ask your students to create a list of "favourite“ TV shows, movies, video games, music, Web sites and so on.
Not only does this process help you get to know your students, it also provides tremendous insight and direction for media literacy studies.
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To familiarize yourself with youth media, visit the environments kids like. On television, watch this programming:
Music channels (i.e., MuchMusic and MTV)
Entertainment programs (i.e., eTalk and Entertainment Tonight Canada)
Sports (i.e., TSN and Sportsnet)
Cartoons (i.e., Teletoon and the Comedy Network)
In your community, check these out, any of which may make for an interesting field trip, where students can deconstruct these environments as they would a media text.
Independent music stores and video stores
Vintage and independent fashion stores
Comic book stores
Malls
Online, explore these technologies:
Instant messaging technology (i.e. MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger)
Social networking sites (i.e. Piczo and MySpace)
File-sharing sites and programs (i.e. YouTube and Kazaa)
Kids’ favourite Web sites (refer to the handout List of Canadian Students Top 50 Favourite Sites)
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Take advantage of “teachable moments” in the news. When an event grabs the attention of the news media, bring it, and all the excitement and debate surrounding it, into the classroom to analyze and deconstruct.
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The hallways and classrooms of our schools can also provide teachable moment opportunities. Corporations know that schools are a powerful environment for promoting their names and products.
According to a 2006 Canadian Teachers’ Federation study, Commercialism in Canadian Schools, one-third of schools have advertising in or on the school, with higher rates in secondary schools.
Educate students about the issue by holding a "logo-free day" at your school
or do a "commercialism walk-through" in which students make lists of the corporate logos on display, including soda machines and sponsored educational materials.
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Use annual events and celebrations to highlight specific media issues.
For example,
events such as Earth Day can be used to examine how environmental issues are promoted or absent in mainstream media.
Classroom activities for International Buy Nothing Day can focus on raising awareness of students’ spending habits and the impact of mass consumerism on global culture and the environment.
Discussions around TV-Turnoff Week can be a jumping off point for students to log and examine their own TV viewing habits.
Occasions such as the start of the school year, Christmas and graduation can provide great opportunities to address media themes associated with these times. Messages of consumption and consumerism, for example, can be explored in relation to all these occasions.
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Put kids in control of media, literally. It’s empowering for young people to see their own productions, hear their own voices and project their own viewpoints.
Getting students to create simple media texts such as posters, photo essays and slideshows, and storyboards can be a great way for them to start thinking about the connections between text, producer and audience. When students start to create more complex texts using audio and video (such as commercials, newscasts, PSAs and podcasts) they will gain insights into the decisions and the process that no amount of reading can provide. (Next Slide)
As well as developing production skills and critical thinking around media issues and content, young people need to be educated about the importance of voicing their opinions as media consumers and informed citizens. Teach students about the mechanisms in place in Canada to make formal complaints about media content. It’s equally important to encourage them to speak out in support of good-quality entertainment and positive advertising. (Next Slide)
Negative stereotypes of young people in the media can be challenged if students become active in promoting more positive and balanced portrayals. The Media Toolkit for Youth is a resource on the Media Awareness Network site that’s designed to help students understand what drives the news industry, why youth stereotyping happens, and how they can access the media to make their voices and issues heard.
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Parents are important partners in helping kids better understand media and in promoting media education in schools and communities.
Encourage parents to take these steps:
learn more about media influences on children and teens;
talk to kids about what they're seeing, hearing and playing, and discover what they enjoy and why;
talk to teachers and parent councils about the advantages of integrating media education into classes;
identify media professionals in the local community and invite them to visit schools and parent meetings; and
organize a parent workshop or information evening to raise awareness of media issues.
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Teachers can become active in promoting media education in their communities by joining their provincial media education association. (A list of provincial media education associations is available as a handout in the workshop guide.)
For more information on media education and how you can make it happen, visit the following Web sites for current information and resources:
Media Awareness Network, <www.media-awareness.ca>;
Association for Media Literacy <www.aml.ca>; and
Concerned Children's Advertisers <www.cca-kids.ca>.
(A list of media education resources is available as a handout in the workshop guide.)
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