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Introducing second graders to media literacy.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

In this paper, we explore the impact of a five-week media literacy curriculum offered to three classes of second grade students (n=51) during March-April 2003. The curriculum included lesson plans pertaining to 1.) news media, 2.) media violence, 3.) advertising, 4.) gender stereotypes and fairytales, and 5.) media production. Analyses of students' weekly journal entries and videotaped verbal responses to the curriculum are included in this report. The findings suggest that individuals as young as seven-years-old, when exposed to a media literacy curriculum, can take a more critical stance toward mass media.

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Media literacy, often referred to as media education, is the ability to "decode, evaluate, analyze and produce" media in a wide array of forms (Aufderheide, 2001, p. 79). An interdisciplinary endeavor by nature, media literacy encourages inquiry-based learning and the development of critical thinking. Kurfiss (1988) describes critical thinking as what occurs when educators pose problems or questions as an entry point into a topic (such as media). In an effort to extend our knowledge of media literacy beyond University walls, we developed a five-week curriculum, offering lesson plans to three second-grade classrooms (51 students) in a rural, predominantly low-income, public elementary school in a New England town. Based on preliminary meetings with the school counselor, we decided that our five sessions, each 30 minutes in duration, would cover the following topics: 1.) news media, 2.) media violence, 3.) advertising, 4.) gender stereotypes and fairytales, and 5.) media production.

Theoretical Framework

Two philosophies of media literacy, the interventionist approach and the cultural studies approach, guided our curriculum development and pedagogical style. The interventionist camp constructs media literacy as an attempt to shield individuals (particularly children) from an army of negative behavioral, affective and cognitive media effects while emphasizing the development of critical thinking (Masterman, 2001). Meanwhile, the cultural studies orientation conceptualizes media literacy as an empowering tool through which knowledge and critical thinking skills are developed while acknowledging the pleasure derived from mediated experiences (Lewis & Jhally, 1998). The interventionist framework employs a top-down pedagogical style through which educators offer information, pose questions, and determine the desired outcomes of a media literacy program. However, the cultural studies perspective involves a student-centered approach, encouraging multiple sites of knowledge while emphasizing students' ability to interpret, negotiate and question the meanings of media messages (Christ & Potter, 1998).

Despite the contrasting versions of media literacy, both camps share common ground, leading us to believe that the perspectives can, and should, compliment rather than compete against each other. It should be emphasized that the general structures and overall goals of media literacy put forth by the interventionist and cultural studies camps involve "asking questions about what you watch, see, and read" (Hobbs, 2001, p. 25), thereby encouraging...