Responsibility & Morals

“How might you engage your students in reflecting on the media using disciplinary tools that you are familiar with?”

Right from the get go I want to talk to my students and discuss the different morals and standards represented in the media. Together we will discuss that we have the ability to choose our own morals and standards and cannot chose them for others. At the same time that means that media cannot choose them for us. I like the activity on page 110 that has the students come up with a Venn diagram of two famous people and discussing risk and responsibility with the examples of their two celebrities. By having students discover the principles of risk and responsibility they will see their own risk and responsibility within their artform. I would love to then gear the conversation to risks and responsibilities we have in our theatre department. I would ask if we should do certain shows and split the class into two sides one that is focusing on the risk and the other focusing on the responsibilities. By having both together as a class we can come up with the pros and cons of each, and at the conclusion of the activity we will be able to declare where we stand and why.

Students will understand why we choose to view and produce that which we do if we address it with a moral compass rather than a moral panic. They, just like adults, want to know the reasons why or why not. They need to be told the positive and negative consequences, not just a person telling them no, without reason or explanation. With this, we need to direct our students with the disciplinary tools that Hobbs suggests. I liked the example of the lesson that Hobbs did using the scary maze YouTube videos. By asking the students what they thought and felt rather than telling the students that they are harmful and bad, the students were able to discover that by themselves. Even if kids felt that they were totally innocent and just humorous, they were able to see the reactions of their classmates that it did affect. The key principle is to put the responsibility on the students. If their art affects others negatively then they need to man up to the fixing of the situation. By telling the students that, they will know their boundaries. We can’t expect them to know that without guiding them, because the media seems to have no boundaries now a days, and that is all that the students know. Along with video and TV media, our students are faced with online media where others not only post personal things about themselves but about others. Hobbs’ diagram on page 136 is very helpful in helping students realize that whether they like it or not, there are 3 different types of people that they are “performing” for online: the author, the audience and the subject. Very often online, other people are the subject and they are soliciting others without permission to the audience, which is usually the entire internet world. If our students realize that there are others that are experiencing our posts and that it affects them, we will be more conscious of our responsibility and not run the many risks of offending, affecting, exploiting and thrashing. We need to just teach and remind rather than chastise and guiltify our students. They need to be taught in order to change bad habits that this higher technology has created. I will make it my goal to inform, teach and constantly remind my students the relevancy of morals and responsibility.

Application in Evaluation

In this reading of Digital and Media Literacy I found the five critical questions the most helpful resource in helping my students understand media to its fullest. These questions are all intriguing and help us not only put our analyzing caps on but also our creating caps on. As we are able to analyze why an artist/author made the choices they did and why, we discover the principles and concepts needed in order to create our own works of art. Asking the five critical questions in discussion form are very helpful, however, in order to use these questions to promote change of thought and action I believe application upon these questions is needed. Therefore, in my lessons I want to have activities where we both explore the author’s work, delve into the depth of it through conversation and discussion and then get on our feet and create a form of media inspired by that author’s messages, meanings, and representation.

On page 66 there is a worksheet that helps students to come up with answers to the following five critical questions:

1. Who is the author and what is the purpose?

2. What creative techniques are used to attract and hold attention?

3. How might different people understand this message?

4. What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented?

5. What is omitted?

This worksheet has the feel of busy work. Rather than using the worksheet itself I will use other activities that incorporate the same thought process that is used to its fullest because the students will be actively creating so they will come up with answers not just for answering’s sake but because they need and want to in order to create something they enjoy. An example of this idea would be used in a reading of the crucible. I would break my students up into five groups. In each group I would give them a scene from The Crucible and a historical resource from the time period in which it was written, regarding the red scare and the McCarthy trials. The students’ goal is to find the parallels and connections between the scene they have and the information on the time period in which it was written. They then are asked to present a presentation of the meanings and messages that are within the scene inspired by the historical resource. After each presentation one of the five critical questions could be asked if they weren’t presented thoroughly in the presentation.

Doing this, it helps the students feel like they get to ask and answer questions; the questions that they feel are important. Giving them these generic five questions and telling them to roll with them would give off the mundane “I have to do this and I have no choice” feel. By doing that the media they are experiencing loses its relevancy. Modifying of these questions in creative and student-based ways will help them feel like creators rather than minions that have to get what we, the evil rulers, force them to understand. I would use the Seeing and Writing readings in the same vein as The Crucible but rather than using a historical resource to back up the meanings I would have them use their own personal experiences, media they are familiar with, and events in history that affect them. Their analyses can be accomplished and should be through different forms of assessment such as: performance, papers, creative writing, activities, and readings of like material. The principles discussed by Hobbs are great starting points and pave a great path of application and understanding. My goal is to make it so it is not the end all and be all, for when it is set as such learning becomes laborious and pointless.

Play and Simulation-- the best of both worlds

This article massively changed how I perceive play. I have always known that play works better than lecturing, memorizing, and reading alone but I never connected the dots on why this was so. Jenkins’ definition of play has showed me why. His definition of play is, “the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving” (pg. 22). He goes on to say that most of our favorite activities, hobbies, and games are very challenging. After we finish a certain level of accomplishment within them, we say that it was fun. However, while we are doing a task within our activity it may be difficult, trying, and challenging. This is what brings the “fun”, or as Jenkins calls it, engagement. He goes on to argue that we are learning more from our enjoyed activities and forms of play than we would in a studious activity in which we are not invested. It is the passion and the drive that gets us through the trying aspects of a difficult task so that we are able to accomplish the task, enjoy it immensely, and then doing it repeatedly to receive the same fulfillment, if not more.

Now the question is how do we implement this in our classrooms? Jenkins suggests that we create environments that promote risk taking. Very often, we want to hear facts from the students and by so doing, we do not allow them to think and come up with solutions and answers that differ from us. One activity that he suggests is asking “what would happen if…” questions in history. I would take this further and use these questions in all subjects. By weighing out the endless possibilities and the actions/decisions made, we are able to fully engage our minds and become creators rather than regurgitators. Another suggestion involving media is using videogames that stretch the mind in coming up with strategies, reinforce dedication, and the passion comes because the worlds are interesting, engaging, and exciting. A textbook makes the ancient world seem dull and a certain way that we will never now rather than one that we can imagine and create. This need to be creators and doers can be fulfilled as, “educators tap into play as a skill…encourage(ing) free-form experimentation and open-ended speculation” (pg. 24). We have the technology and media available as endless resources, it is our role to change past traditions and plan more effectively.

Simulation goes hand in hand with play. It is, “the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real world processes” (pg. 25). In the story about Colin, this teenage boy learns about social classes during Caesar’s time in a way that goes deeper than a textbook answer. He has personal experience in knowing how it feels to be at the different classes because he received outcomes by being close to the Senate and by not being close to them. The other example of Railroad Tycoons shows us the knowledge one gains from the need to play a game. In order to play the game and succeed in it one must know how to use graphs, charts, spreadsheets, and maps that workers in that field of work know how to use. In our education systems, shouldn’t we provide students the opportunities to learn key skills and knowledge through simulation? Not always is it possible to have students do the actual work their desired profession would do, but if they have a simulation in which they could make mistakes and not put themselves and other in danger or affect the work in a negative way that would disrupt the harmony of the job, it would be perfect.

Jenkins states, “Young people are learning how to work with simulations through their game play, and schools should build on such knowledge to help them become critical readers and effective designers of simulation and modeling tools” (pg. 27). Along with this, I believe the students should have hands on work that is practical after their simulation done with computers and other technology conducive to the project at hand. If this is done then students will not only know how to think in many different ways and thoroughly but they will be able to actively work on their feet. If something goes wrong, they can’t change the situation by a click of the button or starting over. They will need to learn problem-solving and adjustment skills.

In closing, I want to express my only hesitation about these simulations. By having them all on a computer, I feel like the people skills, practical skills, and hands-on techniques may be lacking. If I were to spend so much of my time creating, a play on-line I would know the process of how to do it in real life but I wouldn’t know exactly how to see everything out. The time process and work process is different through a video game than in real life situations. With that being said however, I would much rather have these simulations than what we have now in education. The classes I grasped onto the most were those that allowed me to experiment, engaged my mind, and made me the creator of my projects and work. As we do this, while using the media that surrounds us, our students will be prepared, ready, and willing to step out into the work field.

The Standards and Principles that shape individuals

I was intrigued by how similar the Core Principles of Media Literacy Education were in conjunction with the national standards in Theatre Education. Overall, the main goal for both Media Literacy Education and Theatre Education is to inspire, cultivate, and aid students in becoming free critical thinkers and process oriented creators of media and art. Within this standard are the sub goals that are catered to the different subjects but looking at the main principles of the standards it is obvious that they go hand in hand in “build(ing) and reinforce(ing) skills for learners of all ages.” (NAMLE)

First of all in Media Literacy’s 1st core principle they state that “Media Literacy Education requires active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive and create.” This principles correlates with Content Standard 7 in Theatre Education which is, “analyzing, critiquing, and constructing meanings from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions.” By teaching and expecting the students to put forth active inquiry, analyzing, critiquing and critical messages they are able to not only understand media and performance in the various art forms that they come in but they are able to create and perform theatre, media and art so that there understanding is put into action. In this first core principle it is clearly stated that “simply using media in the classroom does not constitute MLE (Media Literacy Education).” The theatre education standards also prove that it isn’t enough to simply use theatre or perform but to “construct social meanings from informal and formal productions” by challenging and invigorating the mind.

I also found similarities in MLE’s 5th principle and TE’s 1st and 5th standard. MLE’s 5th principle is, “Media Literacy Education recognizes that media are a part of culture and function as agents of socialization.” Like wise Theatre Education’s standards 1 and 5 are: “Script Writing by improvising, writing, and refining scripts based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history” and “Researching by evaluating and synthesizing cultural and historical information to support artistic choices.” Both subjects are striving to integrate our various cultures whether they be past or present into media and performance. By connecting back to our roots and by using our communities and cultures we are able to gain from our community and give back to our community as well. Both TE and MLE recognize the importance of allowing and encouraging our students to use their personal experiences , cultures and influences that are in their lives. It is very difficult to write and create on things that we don’t connect or know in one way or another and we as teachers have much to learn from our students, their cultures and their personal experiences.

In closing I wish to share the last principle of MLE, “Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages.” Each of the theatre standards add to this final principle by providing students with the abilities to use their skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages through playwrighting, acting, directing, researching, comparing, analyzing and understanding. Each of the theatre standards are active standards to the principles from MLE that were created to shape and cultivate students to become well-rounded, hardworking, inspiring individuals that impact this world to grow in mind, heart and soul.