Negotiation

Jenkins states three questions that I believe are the most important thing we as teachers can take away from this article. They are as follows:

“How do we ensure that every child has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant in the social, cultural, economic, and political future of our society?

How do we ensure that every child has the ability to articulate his or her understanding of the way that media shapes perceptions of the world?

How do we ensure that every child has been socialized into the emerging ethical standards that will shape their practices as media makers and as participants within online communities?” (Jenkins).

These three questions are a great starting point for a media curriculum. They focus on the students’ needs for the future and help us to assess the information we teach.

As such, we have been given many tools to help us as educators, including many studies (a few of which Jenkins used in his article) and, most importantly, access to the same media as our students through the use of the internet. The internet can be used as a wonderful tool in the classroom for research and education through websites, images, video, and other sources. However, part of our job as teachers is to help students to use this tool properly and intelligently. We have to educate them in the area of participatory culture.

A major component of participatory culture is negotiation. This skill is essential in not only student’s online use, but also is practical in everyday life as they deal with friends, family, coworkers, and other acquaintances. The article defines negotiation as “the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative sets of norms” (Jenkins). Part of negotiation is learning how to be patient and see issues from another’s point of view. This is vital in a world where online communities bring together people from many different countries and cultures. An American sitting in his living room commenting on a video could come in contact with a Japanese teenager in Tokyo who is offended by something the American has said. This does not mean that the American did anything wrong (although that is still possible), it just means that there could be a disconnect between the two different cultures. It is important for both parties to try to understand the other and not lash out at the other. By trying to understand each other and working to find a solution, the two groups are showing empathy and a willingness to work things out.

Working on this skill helps to fulfill the last of the three questions Jenkins poses. As educators, we can provide activities and situations to the students to help them work through issues in a positive way. One such scenario to help students develop these skills is called the Cultura project. This web forum connected youth in North America and France. By answering simple questions they were able to better understand the views of the other group (Jenkins). Another suggestion was to hold debate-like forums. These forums would be more flexible than a debate, however, and would allow students to change and mold their views as they listened to the other group, allowing for better and more efficient problem solving (Jenkins). I want to use this particular idea in my classroom, as I think it will be quite effective.

By addressing cultural difference issues in the classroom, we can help our students to learn how to better negotiate, a skill that will help them in many areas of their lives.

Reading Response 1: CPMLE and Theatre Standards

Looking at how the national standards for Media Literacy Education (MLE) and Theatre Education intersect, one can see clear parallels between the two fields and how they can be used together. As a future theatre teacher I intend to use media in my classroom as a way to communicate ideas and to help educate about different art forms.

One thing that is made quite clear in both standards is that we must encourage critical thinking about different works. “MLE teaches students to ask the specific types of questions that will allow them to gain a deeper or more sophisticated understanding of media messages” (CPMLE, 1.1). In theatre we do similar types of analysis with playscripts and developing characters, as is outlined in national standards 9-12.8 (detailing how to study theatre, film, and television) and 9-12.3 (covering designing and producing as well as realizing artistic interpretations). To achieve these standards in theatre we can utilize media in our classroom to help inspire this critical thinking. This can be done through the use of video or musical clips to help students understand an idea in a script or to see different interpretations of a script. An example of this could be watching several different versions of Hamlet to see how different directors might interpret the work. However, as the MLE standards state, simply showing media in the classroom is not the equivalent of actually teaching MLE. As well as exposing the students to the different forms of media we must also educate them about those forms and encourage critical thinking concerning what they have seen. Media in the classroom is not just a fancy trick for teachers to use, but a useful resource that, when used correctly, can enhance the learning and understanding of students about the material we are teaching as well as the world around them. As we teach analysis in the classroom, we educate them about how to analyze and interpret what they see in their lives.

The use of media within actual shows also can help students to understand concepts or themes within the production. Perhaps a student could find a song or put together a collage of pictures that helps them describe their character as an exercise to fulfill the theatre requirement covering character analysis. Exploring different kinds of media will not only help to increase the students’ understanding of their characters and the situations they are in, but they will also increase their ability to relate to different types of media that they may not have been exposed to before in this capacity.

My father told me growing up that acting was a combination of movement and speech. A similar thing can be said about theatre, that it is a combination of visual and aural art. When comparing the two areas, one finds that they are closely related. Media includes television, music, visual art, writing, and other forms of communication. Theatre utilizes many of these art forms to help communicate ideas to the audience. The theatre standards encourage students to learn about different forms of media as it relates to their studies. It is important to educate students about these forms to help them understand their work in theatre as well as to understand what they see in the world around them.