The relationship between media and teaching is a really interesting one to learn about and to think about. Even though I want to be a teacher, before this course began I never really thought about the ways I’d incorporate media within my courses. However, given the fact that we live in a society that is so media-saturated, it has been invaluable for me to start reading about the different relationships between media and teaching. It has also been really important for me to start thinking about the different ways I would want to use media in a classroom and as a pedagogical tool.
As this week’s readings note, many teachers are still focusing on simply getting students to master technology or simply using technology to support their curriculum. My education has proved this point to be true. Throughout elementary school, all my exposure to media involved learning to use different sites of media (such as the internet or the television) in order to get information out of it. For example, we would simply learn to use the internet to research certain topics in order to write papers. However, we never learned to critically engage with media and critique the different media we were exposed to. We also never had a chance to learn how to use different sources of media in a constructive manner that would promote social justice. Even now, in my third year of university, my professors tend to avoid using technology or use it very minimally. Some use the discussion board function on WebCT but as Domine notes in Chapter 3 of “Rethinking Technology in Schools” these ‘discussions’ end up being a series of unrelated points that are all responding to the teacher.
The way in which many teachers in my experience have used technology and media is especially disappointing because of the powerful ability of certain media to transmit positive messages and work towards a world of social justice. One website I regularly visit Feministing which is a blog that deals with various issues related to sexism is an example of how media can be used in a way that promotes social justice. Below is a video that one of the commenters on Feministing recommended. It is another example of the way media (such as You-Tube) can be used in a way that promotes social justice (like anti-racism).
Another blog that I have recently discovered which I think has particular value for me as a future teacher is the blog Anti-Racist Parent. There have been recommendations of multicultural books that are truly multicultural as opposed to being typical stereotypes of various ethnic groups. Below is an example of one of the books recommended on Anti-Racist Parents. It is titled “This Jazz Man” and it is by Karen Ehrhardt.
http://thisjazzman.com/Evite-small-jazz-man%20copy.gif
These readings inspired me to think of different ways in which I’d try to combine media and teaching in my future as a teacher. One thing I’d be very interested in doing was trying to have a media literacy unit in which we could all try to think critically about Disney movies for example which often can have many sexist, racist, classist and heterosexist idea embedded within them. This could be as simple as brainstorming different characteristics between boy and girl characters within Disney or thinking about whether Disney portrayals are accurate. While none of these ideas are concrete yet, it’s been incredibly refreshing to be inspired to think about the different ways I would want to combine media with teaching.
Below is a picture of some Disney characters that we could possibly critique in class.
http://costumzee.com/view/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/disney-princess.gif
Tags: disney, Media, Media Literacy, pedagogy
