Although this was taken from the introductory to the article, it really made me think. This is most definitely a true statement and I am a perfect example of it. As a teacher and also a former student, I had never heard the term media literacy before trying to determine what graduate program I was going to venture into. With that being said, after being being enrolled in the class just one week I can already verify that this information is crucial for both teachers and students. It is something that needs to be present in classrooms and honestly something that I paid little to no attention to prior to starting this class.
“Literacy involves gaining the skills and knowledge to read, interpret, and produce certain types of texts and artifacts and to gain the intellectual tools and capacities to fully participate in one’s culture and society.”
I love this statement and mere definition of literacy. This not only explains that one must obtain literacy skills to be able to read and interpret texts, but also one must encompass literacy skills to be able to function within their society’s culture. Literacy is much more than text and I feel as if some students and teachers only associate literacy with text and how that text is interpreted. In reality students need the “big picture. They need to encompass literacy full circle, both the text and the intellectual tools.
”… engaged teachers must expand the concept of literacy and develop new curricula and pedagogies.”
Following up on my last statement and quote selected from the text, this is exactly what I was trying to emphasize in my explanation. In trying to convey and allow students to grasp the “big picture” of full circle literacy it takes teachers that believe and are passionate and consistent in what they are teaching. Not only in what they are teaching, but how they are going to teach it. The curriculum of the subject matter is important, but the way it is presented and translated to students is the key necessity in embracing the true meaning of what is being taught.
Ted Talk
When
Cameron Russell spoke on pictures and how they are not an actual of a person,
but rather a construction built by a professional. They can be manipulated.
This made me think of the students (girls mostly) but boys as well, who have a
body image problem due to the images portrayed in magazines and television commercials
/ adds. Hearing her speak out about her flaws as a model herself and her
unhappiness in being a model at times was very encouraging and inspiring. She
is a walking talking example of how the media can affect the lives of people on
both sides of the spectrum. The viewer and also the salesman.
Cameron Russell’s Ted Talk supports Neil
Postman’s “crap detection “concerns by presenting the example of the two photos
taken on the exact same day, one of which was used by the media and the other
which was for personal use. This model is exposing herself to ensure and to
educate others of the media’s power over not only pictures, but essentially, in
some cases human life.
If you have ever turned on a television at some point and time, if even just for background noise, you have been scarred by this commercial. This commercial, although for a very good cause, uses the advertising technique of emotional appeals. It makes almost all of us (admit it) a sucker and softie. No one with a heart wants to see an animal mistreated… and throw in the sentimental heart break music with those pouty, lonesome, and sad puppy pictures and let’s face it- you’re feeling really bad and guilty. Whether you donate or not, we’ve all thought about it. If you haven’t pondered donating you can at least admit that it made you feel horrible enough to change the channel. Once again, not that this is not for a good cause, but here is yet another perfect example of how the media uses techniques to entice viewers to donate money. This emotional appeal aspect is something students can be educated on, as well as, other techniques to ensure that in this case, before donating money they have looked at the media and information from all aspects and have made an educated decision based on their findings when researching and analyzing the ad or deal.
Sources:
Postman, Neil. “Bullshit and the art of crap-detection.” Annual convention of the national council of Teacher of English, Washington, DC. Vol 17. September 1969
TED Talks. “Cameron Russell: Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model.” YouTube.YouTube.16 January 2013. Web. 31 August 2015
