The Last Post

Buckingham had many ideas, to say the least.  The reading was interesting, and though I quite appreciated the teaching strategies at the end, what I most liked about this reading were the areas Buckingham defined when describing the field.  It is those that I would look to and utilize in my own classroom.  I utterly loved the questions he asked after each designation. 

In general, I think it would greatly benefit any teacher and any classroom to take each of these areas and each of these questions, and then form activities and classroom discussions around each one.  The questions are beautifully structured in that they are open-ended, invite the students to think, and are likely to inspire immediate opinions in the reader or listener.

For example, under “Studying Representation”, the question asked about the category of “Presence and Absence” is, “What is included and excluded from the media world?  Who speaks, and who is silenced?”  Before class, I would find a number of images and advertisements (some could even be playing on computers or iPods) that lend themselves well to the above question.  The question itself would be written on slips of paper and given to the students as they entered the classroom.  Upon receiving the paper, they would be instructed to read the question and ponder upon it as they slowly and silently walked around the classroom, looking at the images and advertisements provided.  (Judge how long the class needs, as it will vary with each class.)  When finished, the students would be asked to sit and write an answer to the question asked on the paper.   When all have had time to ponder, split them into groups to discuss their answers.  Eventually, each group will briefly present their answers/what they feel is most important to the class.  They would be given large pieces of paper so that they could write down their thoughts or create a poster to help them with their presentation. 

This is just one example of what could be done with the categories and questions provided by Buckingham.  However, I would not recommend just using his categories and questions; I would find and teach my own.  And, it must be noted, that doing an activity for every question could take a lengthy amount of time.  I would choose what subjects I feel are most important and go from there.  I may also spend more time on one activity and subject than I do on another. 

As for his strategies on teaching, I love that, as stated, “Broadly speaking, they all begin by recognizing the validity of the fact that students already know about the media; and they all involve active learning on the part of the students.  Nevertheless, they also implicitly assume that there are things students do not know, and that they need to learn.”  I have to admit, I struggle to find fault with that statement.  However, one thing that I must point out is that in today’s world, students know more and more about media and technology—often they know more that the adults that surround them.  I would adapt his teaching strategies to give the students a chance to teach what they know, as well as explore what they may be unfamiliar with. 

However, all is not roses and cotton candy—I did disagree with some of what Buckingham wrote and described.  For example, I strongly disagree with the wording of some of Buckingham’s teaching strategy descriptions.  For example, when speaking about textual analysis, he states (after telling the reader in detail how the students should describe the text), “Only when this process of detailed description is complete should the students move on to the second stage of textual analysis, where they are invited to consider the meaning of a text.”  Why?  Why?  Why in the world would you wait to invite students to find meaning in what they see?  I recognize the advantages that can come from having the students describe what they see, but in my classroom, as stated above, I want to give the students the opportunity to teach, because when a student teaches, they will retain more information.  Only by finding meaning, and then by describing why it means something to them will they truly learn, and remember what they saw.  And, in the process of teaching about the meaning they find, they will describe what they see as well, thereby fulfilling the first step that Buckingham states is so essential.

In short, Buckingham provides an excellent starting point, wonderful categories and questions, and some good ideas when it comes to teaching strategies.  He also provides an excellent place to start when trying to teach Media Education. However, Buckingham is not God, and therefore, as a teacher, I will take the good stuff, and as for the rest, I will take it with a grain of salt.