Tuning -- Four Modes Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TISZ1pAa7zc

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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.  

Reading Response 6

If you love something, it suddenly becomes interesting, entertaining, relevant, and extremely fascinating.  You are willing to do almost anything to learn more about this particular something; in short, you become engaged. 

This is what the public school educator needs to do in the creation process:  he or she needs to inspire this type of fascination for their subject in their students.  Hobbs states, “When the romance bond is strong and students are fully engaged in a topic, they are eager to delve into the precision stage of the process.  But without romance, the work involved to dig into a subject can make study seem lifeless and dull.”  I agree with the basic sentiment of Hobbs statement, but I disagree with the word “romance” being used to describe it.  “Romance,” in today’s culture is a fleeting thing.  True learning is not fleeting; it lasts.  If an educator truly inspires and excites his or her students, they will remember the experience, and what they learned.

For example, I still remember my mother reading to me from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia every night when I was younger.  I got so involved in the stories told within those pages that I became utterly passionate about learning to read, and that passion has lasted throughout my life.  Creating that passion in students is possible, and should be the goal and aim of every teacher.

However, one flaw in this rose-colored world—that is filled with creating passions and excitement in students—is the simple fact that everyone is interested in different things.   It is impossible to inspire passion in every student for every subject.  So, the question that needs to be addressed is, “How do you reach those students that are not interested in the subject matter you are teaching?”

The best solution is to find out what the students are interested in, and apply that to the subject matter.  Yes… it is true that you will not reach everyone, but you will reach most.  One idea for my own classroom would be to use video, Wii, or other virtual worlds to assist with the design for a production.  I would have the students examine the virtual worlds they play in, figure out what they like and dislike, and then apply it to a design.  Personally, I find design to be the least exciting aspect of theatre; for those students who feel similar to myself, this would hopefully draw them in and create some excitement and passion for creating their own world on stage.  I use this example because today I was in a kindergarten classroom, and the question I was besieged with was “What games do you play?”  If the students can connect what they love and are interested in to a subject they are learning about, it is likely that those feelings will be transferred to the subject.  

I do agree with Hobbs “ that when adolescents have communicative power, it is inevitable that they will say something that makes adults uncomfortable.”  It is also true that when you give adolescents power, you might not always be able to produce or show what they create outside of class.  However, that does not mean that they should not create it in the first place.  Yes.  There does need to be supervision, but give them boundaries and let them go.  What they create will inevitably teach them more than anything they would learn with you just talking at them. 

As for the Seeing and Writing readings, they could be used in any number of ways in regards to media creation.   I think they are all best used as starting points in a conversation, or for a project.  I personally would love to use the “Capturing Memorable Moments” essay as a way to introduce my students to the idea of documenting an important part of their life using media.  This could be done by amalgamating their facebook statuses, it could be done by making a photographic collage of a specific moment they remember, it could be done by making a film or a podcast documenting a traumatic moment…. the list could go on and on.  For theatre, I think my favorite idea would be to have the students experiment with sounds or images to enhance an important moment in a show.  This could be a good introduction to sound design and would help them understand the importance of moments in their own lives, as well as moments in the characters’ lives.   

Reading Response 5

Critical Questions.  What are they, and why are they important? The examples the text gave were:

Who is the author and what is the purpose?
What creative techniques are used to attract and hold attention?
How might different people understand this message?
What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented?
What is omitted?

The beauty of the above critical questions is that they are open-ended; this means that there is more than one answer to each query.  Because of that, interpretation can take place, and students will, more than likely, become personally involved or interested in what is being discussed.  These critical questions, when used in my classroom, would inspire debate, participation, and analysis.  Instead of just memorizing information, students would interpret and comment upon what is being presented and discussed.  Because there is no wrong answer, fear and uneasiness is reduced, and students become more willing to participate. My classroom environment will become open because the questions are open.

Each of the five questions presented will be used often in my own classroom.  For example, each question can and should be utilized whenever the class approaches a script, performance, design, or image.  Each of the above questions directly relates to theatre; and each question should be asked when creating, viewing, or critiquing a performance, because inevitably, asking those questions will enhance your experience, and that of the other viewers as well.  Instead of just scratching the surface of a production, students will begin to understand possible themes, motifs, and motivations that are embedded within the play; new worlds will open and suddenly the things they are studying will begin to connect to their own lives in powerful and dramatic ways.  For example, when studying Hamlet, students may find that they understand Hamlet’s actions because they too feel trapped in some way.   

Asking those questions will also bring other questions to the forefront; often, this will clarify what message you as a creator are trying to get across, or what message the actual creator is trying to express.  It can also highlight possible problems.  One example of both scenarios can be seen in the question, “What is omitted?”  A question that naturally follows that is, “Why was that omitted?”  Another question – “Was it omitted purposefully?”  And yet another – “What would have changed if it hadn’t been omitted?  All these questions are open-ended, and as they are discussed and answered in a class, ideas, opinions, and excitement about the text, performance, etc. will begin to flow.

I actually don’t think these questions need to be modified too much for the goals and requirements of a drama classroom setting.  I think they could be made a bit more specific, but other than that, they are excellent starting questions for almost anything in the theatrical world.

As for the “Seeing and Writing” readings, I think asking those five critical questions would be an excellent place to start, whether looking at the Homeplace essay, or the Restrospect images.  Those questions apply to both (as well as pretty much anything found in that book), and when answered will lead the students to a better understanding of what the author was trying to create, the things that they themselves infer, the power that media has in our culture, and the power that we can gain when we comprehend it.

In short, critical questions open doors because they are open.

Collective Intelligence and Judgment

­­­­­Collective Intelligence and Judgment

There are a few quotes from the text on this subject that I would like to share and address. The first gives and example of what “collective intelligence and judgment” actually is.

1.  “Like-minded individuals gather online to embrace common enterprises, which often involve access and processing information. In such a world, everyone knows something, nobody knows everything, and what any one person knows can be tapped by the group as a whole.”

Why would any school not want to tap into something that has such potential for learning and self –worth?  In a community where collective intelligence is admired and sought after, suddenly, everyone has value.  Instead of being the one child in the classroom who doesn’t know the answer, you become a valued member of the community because of the knowledge you do have.  And, another bonus is that the information those around you possess becomes easier to obtain because an environment is fostered in which open communication is key.

The second quote addresses one of the major consequences of the environment that is created by “collective intelligence.”

2.  “As players learn to work and play in such knowledge cultures, they come to think of problem solving as an exercise in teamwork.”

“Problem solving as a team” is an important and often necessary part of living and working in any number of jobs today.  We no longer live in a society (and in truth, never really have) in which you, and you alone are responsible to solve all the problems in your workplace.  Jobs require the ability to work with others, and if the truth were told, life in general also requires that same ability, as the text also stated. 

Which brings us to quote number four.

4.  “This focus on teamwork and collaboration is also, not coincidentally, how the modern workplace is structured—around ad-hoc configurations of employees, brought together because their diverse skills and knowledge are needed to confront a specific challenge, then dispersed into different clusters of workers when new needs arise.”

This is also what is needed in classrooms today: a focus on teamwork and collaboration.  I think, to a certain extent, this is already happening, but the traditional structure of a classroom is one in which each student receives their own homework, and then goes home to do it, on their own.   Schools are not teaching students how to work together as team, and therefore are not training them to work outside of school.   As the text states, “Unfortunately, most contemporary education focuses on training autonomous problem solvers and is not well suited to equip students with these skills. Whereas a collective intelligence community encourages ownership of work as a group, schools grade individuals.”  What could be further from most scenarios in the real world?

As a drama teacher, I think that collective intelligence and judgment is already a natural consequence of the subject.  Much of what you do in theatre is done as a community.  Whether it be putting together a scene in class, working on monologues in pairs, or producing a full-length show, collective intelligence and judgment isn’t just used, it is imperative!  When producing a full-production, I fully intend to use the individual skills and knowledge that my students already have.  Perhaps one will have passion for costume design, and another will love hair and makeup.  A third could be interested in the setup and configuration of the lights.   The list could go on and on. 

In short, as a theatre teacher, I would be downright idiotic to try and teach theatre without teaching the value of collective intelligence and judgment because those things are exactly what theatre is! 

In short, the CPMLE standards and the National Standards for Theatre Education go hand in hand.  They can easily be combined, and when they are, it quickly becomes apparent that each is enhanced by the other.  Both standards can often be fulfilled when teaching theatre, and in my opinion, the lesson is augmented when the Media Literacy standards are taught as well.  Three examples of how the standards go hand in hand are as follows:  

1.  MLE Principle 1:  Media Literacy Education requires active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive and create.
Theatre Education Content Standard #2:  Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and informal or formal productions

Media is all around us and is constantly sending messages; it is inevitable that theatre will send messages as well.  By teaching these two standards together, students will develop a greater understanding of what possible messages they are sending when they create a character using different acting techniques (which can and often do include media).  Often students are unaware of the messages they are sending when they are acting or participating in a production.  It is imperative that they are, at the very least, aware of this.  This awareness will enable them to create deliberate messages in a production, or create opportunities for different messages to be received by the audience.

2.  MLE Principle 4:  Media Literacy Education develops informed, reflective and engaged participants essential for a democratic society.

Theatre Education Content Standard #7: Analyzing, critiquing, and constructing meanings from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions

Media Literacy helps students prepare to engage and interact in a society constantly bombarded with media. Theatre teaches how to analyze, critique, and construct meanings that are found in media.  Could there be a more perfect combination?  I submit that there cannot.  Students today live in a world full of technology and media; they need to be able to interpret it, and theatre can provide a way to do so.  

3.  MLE Principle 6:  Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences toconstruct their own meanings from media messages.

Content Standard #1:  Script writing through improvising, writing, and refining scripts based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history

Media Literacy encourages students to use themselves and their experiences when constructing  meanings from the media around them.  Theatre encourages students to not only interpret, but to create new meanings.  These meanings will inevitably have media within them, as it is a part of each students heritage and culture.  

The list of how media and theatre are compatible (and often one and the same) could go on and on.  For theatre teachers in particular, combining the Media Literacy standards and the Theatre Education standards is exceedingly necessary because today, media is often incorporated into theatre productions...... and if not incorporated deliberately, someone in the audience will undoubtedly be using media at some point or another during a production.  By educating students using both standards, the students' resources will be doubled, and their knowledge expanded.  More options become available to them, and invariably they will end up enriching their own lives and the lives of those around them through what they have learned, and what they will create.