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Feb
21
While Ohio Governor Ted Strickland takes aim at wholesale education reform, here’s an idea from the New Mexico state legislature that the Ohio legislature should pursue. I’m even going to send it to my state representative with a request that he introduce and support it.
From the New Mexico Independent:
This year in the New Mexico Legislature, lawmakers plan to introduce a “media literacy in schools” bill.
Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, is the sponsor of House Bill 342, which states that all public middle and high schools must offer a media literacy elective. With the passage of such a bill, students can learn to think critically about the media they listen to, watch, read and create.
Young people spend an average of six and a half hours per day with some form of media, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. This research is evidence of the critical need to empower people to negotiate the media messages in their lives.
One solution is media literacy education. Just as literacy refers to the skills related to reading and writing, media literacy refers to accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating media.
Any state that expects that one of the demographics it’s going to attract and retain is people interested in the public schools of that state, must include media literacy in its state’s education curriculum in order to demonstrate its present day and future-thinking mindset. The days of not having an e-mail address for communicating with others – as a baseline, minimum example – are going the way of the full service gas station. Especially in the age of a president who uses a Blackberry.
So – how about it Ohio legislature? House Speaker Budish? Chancellor Fingerhut? Superintendent DeLisle (check out this link – did you know the ODE has a blog?)?
Media literacy as a requirement of Ohio public school education. I like it.
Here’s the NM bill.
Major hattip to Cara Lisa Powers at By Any Media Necessary.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:11 pm February 21st, 2009 in Education, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics
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14 Responses to “Ohio legislature should intro media literacy education requirement”
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Not a bad idea, though I’d rather they start with an economic literacy requirement…
I’ll bet politically savvy Ohioans can pretty quickly come up with a list of the counties that will insist that “Fair and Balanced” is an accurate representation and a real short one that will deal with the monied interests in the press.
I’d say that what you propose will quickly turn into a propaganda play that will dwarf the actual one in the media. I have a real clear memory of a Civics teacher that had enough trouble
notwith that without state encouragement. Maybe politics was calmer in 1969? Sure…Strike out “not” in the next to last sentence, please.
Hi Chuck – done.
Cursor slippage, post v preview
It’s bad enough to bring counter arguments without being illiterate in them.
Thanks
Jill,
I’m sceptical that we need coursework in surfing the web, facebook, or use of a TV remote.
The problem is literacy in general. If the PS were doing a decent job at civics, history, and economics, the Fox v MSNBC/CNN/NYT goes away.
Culturally, we’re just leaving too much to the TV and web. If our kids are spending hours watching “Rock of Love”, “I love New York”, or any of the other prostitution audition shows, don’t expect them to be able to compare and contrast the policies of Obama, Wilson, and Mussolini.
And if we’re going after Moneyed Interests in the Press, didn’t some billionaire just drop $250 mill on the NY Times? On suspects that he’s going to get coverage that represents value for his money.
@tmbd
I share your concerns. Media literacy really isn’t about watching TV etc., promise. I’ve been involved in a heavy debate on this in a listserv but am trying to get some links to offer that explain it better.
I will idly note that at least one state (Oregon) still has only full-service gas stations. My spouse grew up there, and had to adjust to filling his own car when he moved out-of-state.
On-topic, I certainly support having an informed, critical populace. Considering the omnipresence of media in everyone’s lives, the ability to understand its motivations, accuracy, or reliability is important. (Frankly, I just want more critical-thinking skills in general!)
I think it’s great to have so many comments on this topic – it’s only going to continue to be in our discourse.
Here’s a link to the New Mexico project:
http://www.nmmlp.org/
It’s got a lot of info to browse.
Re OR gas stations, this is true unless you happen to have a Commercial Cardlock account.
For those scratching their heads:
It is safer
Employment
Elderly, handicapped, and etc ensured of service
Re: Mandatory Full Service Gas Stations
Employment, yes. At what cost? And who pays?
Re: Media Literacy
Left unsaid in this discussion is the matter of the fact that many public schools aren’t even getting the basics right. Reading and adding first, then maybe we talk about media literacy…
Our school textbooks are stripped of controversy in order to portray neutrality. University professors who teach freshman level courses in the humanities have remarked to me how unequipped the new freshmen are to engage in analysis and debate. If these freshman articulate a viewpoint, it may be that they are parroting the viewpoint of a high school teacher, and they have a difficult time conceiving of an alternative viewpoint, since the carefully neutered textbooks would hardly present any views that would contradict the teacher. Our K through 12 school systems build an expectation that students are to regurgitate what’s presented to them in class in order to get an “A,” so they learn to accept whatever is presented to them. We shouldn’t wonder, then, if the youngest of voters accepts without challenge what the various media present.
Illiteracy.
Innumeracy.
Legislating remedies in the form of media literacy and financial literacy.
What this tells us is that the educational basis is not there in the first place, and it may be a systemic problem. First of all, the subjects are not taught or broached. Second, the system does not teach people to be independent thinkers and questioners, but rather it programs them to fit in to an acceptable P.C. world view. Third, it seems to marginalize thinkers more now than in prior centuries.
The pendulum is poised now to swing back. We’re coming into a golden age in which balance will be achieved again, and the challenge will be to recognize, to be aware of the balanced state and figure out how to maintain it, and still be developing.
I agree that media literacy education should be part of the curriculum in Ohio. My action research project for my M.A. at Teachers College, Columbia University was the implementation of a media literacy unit of study I designed with the focus on media in times of war (post-WWII to current Iraq War). The students were significantly more engaged and their newspaper reading increased over the month long period of study. Media literacy improves critical thinking and literacy at the same time. This was a limited study in a public school in Brooklyn, NY (predominantly Caribbean-American students in 11th grade)completed last year.