Critical Media Literacy Exploring Values in Popular Music

1
Critical Media LiteracyExploring Values in
Popular Music

• Presenters
• Nancy L. Douglas
• Maysam Beydoun

2
Critical Thinking

• Lipman -Thinking that facilitates judgment
  because it relies on criteria, is
  self-corrective, and is sensitive to context

3
Critical Literacy

• Green - Developing ways of seeing through texts,
  their descriptions of cultures and worlds, and
  how they are trying to position you to be part of
  these cultures and worlds

4
Examining our own beliefs

• Dr. Douglas, Assistant Professor
• Maysam Beydoun, Middle School Language Arts
  teacher
• Lydia Falk, graduate student and mother of 2
  boys, one teenage and one pre-teen age

5
Guiding Principles

• 1. Young people are far from being the gullible
  consumers of popular culture adults often make
  them out to be. They accept or reject music, ways
  of dressing, and other trends according to their
  own background experiences, values, and the
  surrounding social milieu.

6
Guiding Principles, cont.

• 2. We wanted to provide an environment in which
  the students would be able to freely exchange
  their ideas about various artists. Focused
  discussions were teacher facilitated but not
  teacher led. We were careful not to interject our
  personal likes or dislikes.

7
Guiding Principles, cont.

• 3. There is a risk in asking students to critique
  artists whose music gives them personal
  enjoyment. We told the students that they didnt
  know what we wanted to hear and that we expected
  them to be truthful in their responses.

8
Surveyed Students

• Their favorite musical artists
• Their least favorite musical artists

9
Included favorite and least favorite

• Britney Spears
• Jennifer Lopez
• Pink
• Destiny's Child
• N Sync
• Linkin Park
• Nelly

10
First day

• Female artists
• Listened to songs
• Read and reflected upon lyrics
• Viewed images of artists

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
First day, cont.Journaling
We gave the students the option of using their
own values to think critically about the artists.
Specifically, we asked them to a) compare the
artists lyrics with their images, b) identify
values suggested by the artists lyrics and
images, c) compare their own values with the
values suggested by the artists lyrics and
images or discuss the influences these artists
were having on adolescents.
21
Second day

• Whole class discussion of journal questions

22
Third and Fourth days

• Process was repeated using male artists

23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)
34
Fifth Day

• Essay writing assignment was given
• Reviewed prewriting techniques

35
Essay Directions

•  
• Read the choices below. Select one question to
  answer in a five-paragraph essay. Think about our
  class discussion, what you wrote in your
  journals, and choose the question you are most
  comfortable with.

36
Essay questions

• 1) Compare and contrast Pink, Britney Spears,
  and Destinys Child, or just two of these
  artists. Think about their images, their song
  lyrics, and anything else you may know about
  them. Tell how they are alike, how they are
  different, or both.

37
Essay Questions, cont.

• 2) Compare and contrast Linkin Park, NSync,
  and Nelly, or just two of these artists. Think
  about their images, their song lyrics, and
  anything else you may know about them. Tell how
  they are alike, how they are different, or both.

38
Essay questions, cont.

• 3) Who is a better role model Pink, Britney
  Spears, or Destinys Child and why?
• Support your position with the images they
  project, their song lyrics and anything else you
  know about them.

39
Essay questions, cont.

• 4) Who is a better role model Linkin Park,
  NSync, or Nelly and why?
• Support your position with the images they
  project, their song lyrics and anything else you
  know about them.

40
Essay questions, cont.

• 5) Which celebrity or celebrities do you relate
  to? In what ways do you specifically relate to
  them? Use specific examples from their images and
  song lyrics to support your answer.

41
Essay questions, cont.

•   6) Think about the core values integrity,
  respect for self and others, responsibility, and
  honesty. Which of the celebrity(s) seem to stand
  for one or more of these values? Support your
  answer with information about the celebrity
  including images and/or lyrics and anything else
  you know about them.