Literacy involves
gaining the skills and knowledge to read, interpret, and produce certain types
of texts and artifacts and to gain the intellectual tools and capacities to fully
participate in one’s culture and society ( Kellner
& Share, 2005).
Education goes so much farther than the brick
school walls and I believe it is the responsibility to prepare our students for
all aspects of life so that they can take active successful roles in our
society. We all want our students to be
successful but how to accomplish this is the core issue. Educators talk about 21st century
skill and a global society but in
today’s standard driven and result driven educational setting , the classroom
teacher must use creative ways to both meet the standards and still prepare the
students for the world outside the school’s walls. The student is made up of all facets of
their life; they come to school with predetermined ideas, problems, economic
differences and cultural differences. I
believe that education should celebrate these differences and give students
opportunities to explore their world. I
also think that this is an area that education today falls short.
Steven
Goodman shares this view and made this observation after working with urban
youth in an after-school project: One thing has struck me in my work is the odd
congruence between two very different systems; the system of global media that
wants young people to be spectators and consumers rather than social actors,
and a factory system of schooling that wants young people to be passive and
willing vessels for a prescribed set of knowledge and skills(Goodman, 2003). I think this is a statement every teacher
should read and search their own philosophy of which view they support. I support teaching students all the skills
they need to not just be vessels to absorb presented material but to question, analyze,
and make a judgment of the material presented before just accepting the
material. My discipline is Family And
Consumer Science and I have always shared these views. I always wanted my students to be educated
consumers and to question advertisers ads and claims but with the influx of
technology and media this needs to be revamped to give the students the skills
to not only view and accept the messages of media but to also question and analyze
and form a personal opinion about the message-media literacy.
It
is critical media literacy that will give the student these skills. Students today are bombarded with images,
audio messages, news programs, social media, internet ads, and commercials. Media literacy gives the students’ skills to
ask who, why and what is the purpose of the message. Business pay marketing firms millions to
promoted their message and without media literacy skills our students are just pawns
not informed consumers. They are not
prepared to go into society informed and able to make judgments based on their
own critique of the message. Students
are often much more familiar with social media, entertainment and the technologies
that they use daily, than is the teacher in many cases. I believe that a teacher can use this fact to
their benefit by giving the student a voice in explaining, sharing and
discussing their views, impressions and feelings within the classroom
setting. Teachers need to be prepared to
defend this view because there is no pedagogy for teaching media literacy(Goodman, 2003).
Another
movement that is being used to give students a voice is the use of digital
stories. I view digital stories to be a
valuable tool to give students a voice.
I think the use of a familiar format such as a story is a good method to
give the students a means to share who they are. The digital story gives students a way to
show who they are, their culture, their thoughts, and their world.
While
there may not be specific courses in media literacy I can see using the digital
story format in a FACS class that is discussing different cultures, friendship,
dating, and teen pregnancy. Students
would not only be learning about the specific social issue but also how to tell
their message. They would have to use
language skills to tell their story.
In
contrast to their traditional teacher-centered classes, students consistently
report that they feel more positive about themselves, their work and their community
(Goodman, 2003). I agree with this statement and find that
involving the student in the process of learning the results in greater satisfaction
and participation by the student.
Giving the students’ a voice in the topic, the message, the purpose of
the project not only helps them to be more involved with the planning and
execution but also lets them know that their opinion and views are important
and respected. This helps the student
build a feeling of respect and self-esteem.
In addition to letting the student have a voice I also believe that the
student should have an opportunity to try their voice outside the walls of the
school in the community. We are
preparing our students to be good productive members of society after school
and what better way to prepare than to practice. When students are giving opportunities to
practice in the community both the students’ and the community benefits. Students will learn that not all they hear
and learn in the community will be good but they can use the skills their media
literacy skills to evaluate, analyze and critique the message and form their
own opinion about the message. This is
just one example of how the media literacy skills are carried from the
classroom to everyday life.
In
conclusion I am excited about the development of this field. I can see many uses for these types of skills
in the FACS classroom. I think that
while core subjects are important , developing the person as a whole is also important. Media literacy not only gives the student a
way to critique media but can be used to analyze man aspects of life. Students are taught to question, analyze
research and then make a judgment all skills that are necessary to be
successful.
Work Cited
Goodman, S. (2003). Teaching
youth media: A critical guide to literacy, video production & social change.
NY: Teachers College Press.
5 resource links
I love that this teacher used making a digital story to teach how to
make a digital story.
Food styling and tricks to make commercials look good
examples of deconstructing media
messageshttp://www.cmch.tv/mentors_teachers/lp_nutrition.asp
Nutrition and media
how to make a digital story video.
