This statement resonates loudly with me. I have always enjoyed, and found great value in, reading books. The fact that an increasing number of young people believe reading books to be an archaic practice that can now be replaced by Google searches is a sad reality. This belief couldn't be further from the truth.
"Individuals are often not aware that they are being educated
and constructed by media culture, as its pedagogy is frequently invisible and
unconscious. This situation calls for critical approaches that make us aware of how
media construct meanings, influence and educate audiences, and impose their
messages and values."
It is a fact that everything we read, see, or hear is teaching us something. It is of the utmost importance that we take control of what we are being taught. It's not enough to pick and choose what we want to read and from which sources we choose to obtain our information. This is important, but we must also constantly question what it is that we are reading, and be on the lookout for any sort of bias or misinformation that may be hidden within the text.
It is a fact that everything we read, see, or hear is teaching us something. It is of the utmost importance that we take control of what we are being taught. It's not enough to pick and choose what we want to read and from which sources we choose to obtain our information. This is important, but we must also constantly question what it is that we are reading, and be on the lookout for any sort of bias or misinformation that may be hidden within the text.
"The ability for students to see how diverse people can interpret the same message
differently is important for multicultural education, since understanding differences
means more than merely tolerating one and other."
When I read this, it struck me as interesting, and something I hadn't ever thought of before. It reminded me of something I observed while coloring with my son. His father said, "Connor, do you want to use the yellow CROWN?" At first I had an image of the glittering adornment placed on a king's head, but of course I quickly realized that he was referring to a crayon (which I pronounce as a two-syllable word, CRAY-on). I can only imagine such miscommunications occur quite often amongst people of differing cultures and backgrounds, especially when it comes to viewing and deciphering messages in the media. As educators we must remain cognizant of this and do our best to assist our students in understanding these differences.
When I read this, it struck me as interesting, and something I hadn't ever thought of before. It reminded me of something I observed while coloring with my son. His father said, "Connor, do you want to use the yellow CROWN?" At first I had an image of the glittering adornment placed on a king's head, but of course I quickly realized that he was referring to a crayon (which I pronounce as a two-syllable word, CRAY-on). I can only imagine such miscommunications occur quite often amongst people of differing cultures and backgrounds, especially when it comes to viewing and deciphering messages in the media. As educators we must remain cognizant of this and do our best to assist our students in understanding these differences.
As I watched this video, I ached for Cameron. She seemed so uncomfortable from the very beginning, as if she had anticipated what the reaction of the audience would be before she even stepped out onto the stage. For nearly half her life, her value to the public has been based entirely on her looks. Never mind that she seems to be an incredibly intelligent and well-spoken woman, never mind that she was a mere child when she started having her photo taken professionally and was suddenly always expected to look a certain way. She talks about how it's hard to feel too sorry for herself, since she has, in her words, "won a genetic lottery". But I do feel for her. It was especially hard for me to hear her talk about how she has to think about what she looks like every single day, because I am able to relate so much to that. I can honestly say that not a day has gone by since I was 12 years old that I haven't thought about how I look. And as much as I'd like to say "beauty is more than skin deep", and "the important people in my life will love me for who I am and not how I look", and all of those cliche things, I simply can't stop worrying whether my hips are too wide, my stomach is too soft, or my skin is too pale. I love that Cameron showed her modeling photos next to her personal photos, which were taken at times when she hadn't spent hours having her hair and makeup done, but in which she appeared truly happy. I believe this supports Postman's "crap-detection" theory, because it helps to drive home the point that what you see in media is not necessarily the truth. Cameron is a gorgeous woman, but she does not wake up every morning looking the way she does in her modeling photos; that takes a lot of work, and a lot of technology.
A ‘‘media literacy’’ movement, in contrast, attempts to teach students to read, analyse, and decode media texts in a fashion parallel to the advancement of print literacy. Media arts education, in turn, teaches students to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of media and to use various media technologies as instruments of self-expression and creation. - I believe that this is the category that I would most likely fall into when it comes to media literacy in the classroom.
This photo perfectly shows that just because you came across it on an Internet search engine (or in a magazine, or saw it on Facebook), doesn't mean it's accurate! This is why it's imperative to be critical of everything we read or view in the media. And also, cheaters never win. ;)
Kellner, Douglas, and Jeff Share.
"Toward Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts, Debates, Organizations,
And Policy." Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
26.3 (2005): 369-86. Web. 30 Aug. 2015.
<https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/2005_Kellner-Share_TowardsCriticalMediaLiteracy.pdf>.
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