Post #1

Response to Richard Beach’s Teachingmedialiteracy.com: A Web-Linked Guide to Resources and Activities - Chapter One: Goals for Media Literacy Instruction.

This chapter begins by explaining that in the U.S., few states have adopted standards to support the teaching of media literacy. However, many other countries have meaningfully integrated media studies into school curriculum. The focus of these other countries is on worldwide communication. One example of this emphasis on global communication is a central question asked of students through Australia’s curriculum: “How do I make sense of and communicate with the world?” (Beach 2-3). This critical question struck me because I am not sure that in the U.S. we are asking our students to respond to the latter part of this question. While we spend a lot of time helping students to make sense of the world, too often U.S. citizens believe that the world will come to us. Rather than exploring ways to reach out to various parts of the world, we are content with studying and trying to understand various cultures, without realizing that it is increasingly important for our students to know how to communicate on a worldwide platform. This point is just one of many that could be used to support the need for media studies in the classroom.

For the remainder of chapter one, Beach provides his rationale for teaching media studies but not before quoting a school board member regarding teachers showing movies. The school board member explains that showing movies does not require talent. While it is true that showing a movie does not require talent, the critical thinking skills required for analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating various texts including visual texts certainly does require brainpower. I think that too often the showing of a movie is synonymous with teachers taking the day off. Perhaps this is so because many of us can recall viewing a movie in a classroom without receiving a statement about the learning objectives. Or, perhaps, our teacher was taking the day off. Either way, teachers are now left to defend courses where the writing, filming, and yes, even viewing of movies is essential. I am aware of one elementary school where showing a movie or video clip is strictly prohibited. Fast-forward to my experience teaching high school, and I wonder where students have developed their deep seeded misconceptions about various populations of people different from themselves. Clearly the media and those movies that are banned from the aforementioned learning environment had something to do with these notions. If teachers were encouraged to bring these texts into the classroom for study, not only would an understanding of various people and cultures occur, so, perhaps, would a desire to connect with others. As Beach explains, [s]tudying media representations of gender, class, and race (1.5.1) helps students recognize that these are social and cultural constructions that are shaped and influenced by media texts” (4). Therefore, it seems appropriate and responsible for public education to take on the responsibility of teaching students, “[. . .] how media texts mediate their perceptions of the world” (4). Implementing media studies learning standards in the K-12 curriculum would help students reach far beyond the simple study of worldwide cultures; it would hopefully encourage a global communication and collaboration necessary for success in the 21st century.