This is a media literacy/media mindfulness refresher presentation for those working in faith formation, catechesis, and religious education as well as Catholic Christian parents and teachers and anyone interested in integrating media literacy within the context of culture, education and faith formation

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Media Literacy &
Media Mindfulness
Evangelization Encounter 2013
St. Thecla’s Retreat House
Sr. Rose Pacatte. FSP
© Daughters of St. Paul

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What is media mindfulness/media
literacy to you?

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The media: love them or hate them
they are not going away

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From the Constitutions (Rule) of the
Daughters of St. Paul
 25. There are two main types of media formation and education
projects important to the Daughters of St. Paul.
 One is the formation of professional and religious communicators
and apostolic opinion leaders to use media for the work of
evangelization.
 The second is the education and formation of the audience to
critically discern the messages communicated through traditional
mass media and emerging forms of social communication. (1984)

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What is media literacy?
What is media mindfulness?
Media literacy education provides a
framework and pedagogy for the new
literacy needed for living, working, and
citizenship for the 21st century.

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Life skills…
Media literacy education paves the way to
mastering the skills required for lifelong
learning in a constantly changing world
E. Thoman and T. Jolls, 2004

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Media Literacy
 Means teaching and learning about media.
Values, and the critical skills necessary for
living in the 21st century.

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Quest for meaning
 Media education is a quest for
meaning. Much of the value of a quest
lies in the search itself as in the
achievement of the goal.
 Chris Worsnop in Screening Images

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Media Mindfulness
Media Mindfulness is media literacy
education in the context of faith formation.

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Media Mindfulness
Media mindfulness expands media literacy
education to include
teaching, learning, and forming those with
whom we share faith.

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Media Mindfulness
Media and popular culture are considered
within the context of Gospel or biblical and
community values in addition to the
human and democratic values that
characterize media literacy.

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Media Mindfulness
Media Mindfulness develops an
understanding of the power of media and
how they influence our lives and faith.

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1. Become media literate
2. Make media the subject of
catechesis
3. Advocate for pro-social media
4. Make media
5. Use media in catechesis

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What Media Literacy is NOT
 Media 'bashing' is NOT media literacy, however media
literacy sometimes involves criticizing the media.
 Merely producing media is NOT media literacy, although
media literacy should include media production.
 Just teaching with videos or other mediated content is
NOT media literacy; one must also teach about media.
 Only looking for good messages or “bad” messages;
media literacy is about understanding and making
meaning

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What Media Literacy is not, cont.
 Simply looking for political agendas, stereotypes or
misrepresentations is NOT media literacy; there should
also be an exploration of the systems making those
representations appear "normal.”
 Looking at a media message or a mediated experience
from just one perspective is NOT media literacy because
media should be examined from multiple positions.
 Media Literacy does NOT mean "don't watch;" it means
"watch carefully, think critically."
 With thanks to Renee Hobbs, Chris Worsnop, Neil Andersen, Jeff Share and Scott Sullivan

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Strategy:
Inquiry, i.e. asking questions
 Theological reflection:
 Listen
 Reflect
 Dialogue
 Act
 Media Literacy:
 Access
 Analyze
 Evaluate
Communicate/Create

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Ways to Help
Young
Children Mind
the Media
Pre-K through 2nd Grade

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What’s your current strategy for
helping young children mind the
media?
Not in my house you don’t?!
Turn it off!
?

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What is your attitude toward the
media?
The Church’s attitude:
“The media are gifts of God”
What does this mean in practical terms?
The media are a garden and
a mine field… so…

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Media Mindfulness
Media mindfulness is a strategy based in media literacy that uses
inquiry (asking questions) to
 Become aware
 Establish communication
 Talk about what matters: values
 Involve the child’s moral imagination

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Media Smart Family
1. Talk to your children from the day you bring them home from
the hospital so they will know that communication in your
family is normal. As a family therapist once said, “Talking
about unimportant things at home opens up the possibility
to then talk about important things.”

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Media Smart Family
2. Articulate your human and Gospel values, those ideas, and
ideals that guide your life, such as
honesty, community, fidelity, and, faith and love.

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Media Smart Family
3. Talk about your values as you watch television with your
children, the same way you would as if you are reading a
book with them. Ask questions: do you think that was a
good thing for that character to do? What would you have
done? What was the right thing to do?

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Media Smart Family
4. Place the television and computer in a central place in the
home, not I bedrooms.

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Media Smart Family
5. Make a contract with your children and teens about
television, the Internet, cell phones, and other
devices. Visit www.safekids.com for ideas.
Remember, you have to sign the contract, too.
(The Media Smart Family (English & Spanish – and
Portuguese) is from “Our Media World: Teaching
Kids K-8 about Faith and Media”

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The Mommy Bar
The “ticker” crawl or bar running during daytime
cartoons for young children on the Cartoon
Network for mothers watching TV with their kids
A researcher in New York wondered if this could
be harnessed to promote the educational value
of television
(“The Mommy Bar” slides are from Shalom Fisch, PhD;
Media Kids Research and Consulting; Teaneck, NJ)

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The Mommy Bar
From recipes, jokes and ads to the kinds of
questions and comments that parents use
when reading a book to a child

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The Enhanced Mommy Bar
 Infer emotions: He looks surprised! How do you think he feels?
 Encourage child to participate (counting, spelling)
 Evaluate characters’ actions and on screen events: was that a
good thing to do? What do you think he should do? If that were
you, what would you do?
 Comment: Hmm. See what happens when he cleans his room?
 Suggest specific comments or behaviors
 Label: that’s a dog
 Ask the child to retell the story
 Relate life to stories; connect to life; tying to kids lives: that’s like
when we went to grandma’s house and had ice cream on the way

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Before you choose & after you
watch

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 The Bible: It’s all true and come of it actually happened
 Age (concrete/abstract thinkers)

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41. + Vademecum
List 3 ideas you can take away with
you as ways to help young kids mind
the media
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