How Can We As Educators’ Help Students Develop The Critical
Film and television texts are routinely used in Australian high schools where one can find students studying the film Gattaca or the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although some undoubtedly lament the pop culture intrusion and long for literary classics, thumbing through the study guides for these units quickly reveals literary merit. The Gattaca guide includes studying genre, narrative structure, themes, editing, and transitions (Simmons, 2003). The Buffy guide (Turnbull & Stranieri, 2003) addresses plot, diegesis, story arcs, and audience engagement. Some exemplary resources from publishers in the United States include the Media Focus and Media Smart series from McDougal Littell; both include effective instructional strategies based on clips from film, television, news, advertising, and other media.
In addition to analyzing and evaluating media text, media literacy focuses attention on media audiences, viewing young people as both consumers and creators of media messages. This is crucial when working with Millennial who are accustomed to living in a multimedia landscape. Media literacy recognizes the pleasure they derive from media texts beyond the classroom and values their exposure to popular culture texts as an important part of whom they are as individuals. As such it is completely consistent with scholarship that addresses adolescent literacy and the need to provide young people with opportunities to examine, explore, critique, and defend their media tastes and preferences (Brozo, 2002; Newkirk, 2002; Pitcher et al., 2007).
One organization that has recently advocated the integration of multimedia texts into the curriculum is the National School Boards Association (2007). The Association argued that students use words, music, photographs, and videos to creatively express themselves in online environments. Evidence suggests that the use of ICT such as wikis, blogs, chat rooms, and instant messaging appeals to students more than traditional school work and academics. The report recommends that “school districts may want to re-examine their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes”(p. 1).
In regard to media and technology, it can be said that Millennial are self-taught but not well-taught. How can we as educators’ help students develop the critical and academic literacy skills that are the foundation for success both in and out of school we believe that media literacy instruction is a powerful vehicle for addressing this challenge.
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