ReImagining Media Education

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Re-Imagining Media Education

• A work in progress
• Kym Stewart
• Simon Fraser University, Canada
• IERG

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Media Education in BC

• 1990s--Most provinces had some sort of mandated
  media education focus
• In BC
• Exists cross-curricular from K to 12 in IRPs
• 1/3 of all Language Arts curriculum should focus
  on media education

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BUT the REALITY is....

• Rarely is it seen cross-curricular
• Often relegated to sections of the Language Arts
  or computers classes
• No teacher-training programs
• Online program to be launched by CAMEO
• Few professional development opportunities
• Lack BC curriculum
• Lack community

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Obstacles

• Few teachers know about the media education IRP
• Few training opportunities
• 80 teachers 42 had training
• summer institutes, workshops, elective course
• no training related to their teacher-training
  programs

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Needs

• (64) Materials, videos
• (50) Lesson plans
• There are numerous lessons plans and books
  available
• (42) Pro-d days
• (38) School support

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My Journey to find a new way to teach media
education

• 2003 Media Risk Reduction (North Van)
• 2004 Tune Out Week- activities (Van)
• 2005 Tune Out Week - teacher (Burnaby)
• 2006- Media Detectives Pilot (Burnaby)
• 2006-2009
• Media Detectives- full year (Burnaby)
• Culturally Inclusive media Education (Haida
  Gwaii)
• District media education learning community
  (Prince Rupert)

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Media Risk Reduction(2003)

• Risk reduction strategy
• reduce media use reduce risk (bulling/aggression
  )
• North Vancouver School District
• Grade 2 to 6 students from 4 school
• (178 students total from 8 classrooms with
  varying SES)
• parent information meetings
• Lessons edited by teachers
• In-class programs 1-2 times a week for 6 weeks

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Typical Media Ed Lessons

• 1 media diary (parents and students)
• 2 heroes and villains
• 3 scripting and re-scripting
• 4 games and fair play
• 5 Tune out preparation
• 6 Media Tune Out
• LOOK AT PERSONAL MEDIA USE
• Written work, surveys, lectures, role playing
  and game development

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Results

• Students
• Enjoyed role playing, creating games
• Significantly reduced media use during TOW
• Teachers
• Surprise about media use
• Shocked at difference during TOW
• Fewer homework and bullying issues
• Parents
• Enjoyed TOW

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Limitations of Pilot Project

• Superficial media education
• Not integrated
• Add-on media fun time!
• Lacked sustainable teacher-training
• No follow-up or support
• Focused on reducing media, not understanding
  media use
• Problems with Methods
• Media diaries- recall
• Student interviews

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Where to go from there?

• Extensive in-class teacher training
• localized curriculum
• Create emotionally engaging and
  Non-confrontational lessons
• Integrated into subjects areas
• not an add-on
• Create deep understanding, rather than fun
  media-time

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Imaginative Media Education

• Focused on
• Disrupt the naturalness of our media saturated
  world
• Create an imaginative awareness of alternatives
  and choices
• Imaginative Awakeness !!

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Using IE for Media Education

• 2006-2009
• Burnaby Grade 3 class (1-2 times a week)
• 2007
• One month in Masset, Haida Gwaii Grade 3-4 class
  (Everyday 2-3 hours)
• 2008
• Pro-D days in PR (2 weeks, 1 week)
• Email contact

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Burnaby Media Detectives-in-Training

• Year-long unit on advertising
• Narrative- media detectives and Zayah
• Binary opposites- obnoxious and sly
• mystery-solve weekly cases
• Uncovering the natural!

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Research Methodology

• Classes are video taped or audio-taped (i-pod)
• Classroom teachers assist and teach
• Targeted students (6/24 in each of the two
  classes)
• Teacher codes for level of engagement
• Scale
• Open-ended
• Debrief after each class (audio-taped)

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Results thus far

• Students are engaged, excited and wanted to learn
  more
• Vibrating with excitement (case files)
• Made the normal seem unique and something to pay
  attention to
• Ads
• Found a way of focusing on oral language
  development
• Grade 2-3 example

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Haida Gwaii- Curriculum Development

• Culturally inclusive media education
• Haida culture
• 5 week lesson
• Narrative- Mouse Woman
• Binary opposites- chaos and control
• Storytelling
• Drama

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Methodology

• Video-taped focus group with grade 5 students
  regarding media
• Video and audio-taped in-class lessons of Grade
  3-4
• Interviewed students and teacher

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What was Introduced into the Class?

• Haida stories
• Topic of tricksters
• Opportunities to talk about clans
• Haida storyteller from school
• Drama and play
• Important for trying on new hats

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Researchers reaction

• Provided more room for success
• Gave students a real sense of accomplishment
• Challenged them in different ways
• Oral lg skills
• Let them play with language such as metaphors,
  rhymes, jokes

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Prince Rupert

• 9 teachers
• Self-selected (majority have been)
• 5 Intermediate and 4 high school
• One-on-one lesson planning
• Classroom involvement
• Blue goo

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Methodology

• Audio-tape planning sessions with teachers (1-3
  hours)
• Advertising
• Show me the good (human evolution)
• All Natives Basketball Tournament (creating own
  stories)
• Video-tape final presentation of students
• Student-led Feast
• Interview teachers
• Effectiveness of long-term commitment

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Researcher's analysis overall

• Subtle, not obvious
• Dynamic and dependent on teachers own level of
  engagement and enthusiasm
• Many teachers had social justice agenda

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Overall Teachers perspective

• Teacher realized that she did not need an
  in-depth knowledge of media studies the kids
  were the experts
• Teachers (Burnaby , HG, PR) talked about baby
  steps to describe media education not a magic
  pill
• Surprised by students capabilities (moving away
  from deficit model)
• Confidence to incorporate media education
• Without guilt about displacement anything else
  from the curriculum

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Where to go from here?

• Burnaby
• Continue with 2 teachers
• See how they can take it on their own next fall
• PR
• Continue support for the term
• Help create resources for the district