Section 1 -
Media Education: Definitions, A Conceptual Framework
The framework presented in table 1 is taken from the same UNESCO report on media education referred to in the previous section. It argues that this framework, substantially influenced by proposals from the British Film Institute about approaches to media education, represents to some degree an international consensus about the learning that media education should promote. A policy paper based on the report (Buckingham, 2001) follows the model with a list of questions which usefully problematise aspects of the framework. Student teachers could be offered the list of questions to discuss, and present possible answers.
Table 1: Key Aspects Of Media Education
| Media Agencies |
Who is communicating what and why?
Who produces a text; roles in the production process; media institutions; economics and ideology; intentions and results. |
| Media Categories |
What type of text is it?
Different media (television, radio, cinema, etc.); forms (documentary, advertising, etc.); genres (science fiction, soap opera, etc.); other ways of categorising texts; how categorisation relates to understanding. |
| Media Technologies |
How is it produced?
What kinds of technologies are available to whom; how to use them; the differences they make to the production process as well as the final product. |
| Media Languages |
How do we know what it means?
How the media produce meanings; codes and conventions; narrative structures. |
| Media Audiences |
Who receives it, and what sense do they make of it?
How audiences are identified, constructed, addressed and reached; how audiences find, choose, consume and respond to texts. |
| Media Representations |
How does it present its subject?
The relation between media texts and actual places, people, events, ideas; stereotyping and its consequences. |
Looking at the model:
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To what extent is this model sufficiently comprehensive — or indeed unnecessarily elaborate? Should it not be extended (for instance, in the light of technological change) or can it be further simplified?
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To what extent does this model ignore questions about cultural or aesthetic value? How might media education address such questions?
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Should a model such as this also specify the skills or competencies students are expected to develop? In what terms might this be achieved?
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On what basis should we evaluate or assess students’ understanding of these key aspects? How can we identify evidence of progression in students’ learning?
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What are the specific difficulties in evaluating students’ creative production work in this respect? How does ‘theory’ (or media analysis) relate to ‘practice’ (media production)?
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How do students acquire these conceptual understandings of the media? How do they relate to their existing knowledge and understanding?
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To what extent is this conceptual model unduly rationalistic? How far, and in what ways, should media education also take account of students affective relationships with media?
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What can be learned in this respect from observing independent groups of young people teaching and learning from each other?
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And, perhaps above all, how do we know whether media education actually makes any difference?
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Index
Media
Introduction
- Media Education - Definitions, Context, Key Concepts
- Key Issues
- Media Literacy In The UK
- Media Production
- Possible Approaches
- Resources and Reading
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