Monday, July 1, 2019

Reflections on NAMLE Part 1

It was not a regular last week of school - far from it. From Tuesday June 25 to Sunday June 30, I was at the National Association for Media Literacy Education's conference in Washington, DC. It meant that I had to miss Grade 8/SK Graduation, as well as the last day of school (and first day with my new principal) but I gathered a lot from my attendance at this event. You'll see several articles here or on the AML website (www.aml.ca) about my thoughts. This post is my focused, day-to-day report of my time spent.



Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (9:15 am)

Strategies for Equity in Early Media Literacy
Vivian Vasquez, Faith Rogow, Jamie Naidoo with Lisa Guernsey

 Summary:

This panel invited three highly regarded professionals to comment on skills and strategies that we should try to develop in early media literacy.

3 Key Points:
  1. From Faith - Framing is important to understand (as frames can shape and change viewer understanding, depending on what you choose to focus on) and in addition to this, disposition is important; you have to WANT to fact check or be curious.
  2. From Vivian - Students can understand dominant and oppositional readings of media texts (like the Canadian example provided of the book "Froodle") and by paying attention to student identity, teachers and students can reposition their cultures into various texts.
  3. From Jamie - Librarians are media mentors, not just matching up books with readers but connecting students to suitable media and we need strong school libraries and public libraries to make this happen.

So What? Now What?

There are several next steps that I've already taken. First, I want to get to know Faith Rogow better. So much of what she said was quotable and notable, such as the description of the past's dominant analogy of media literacy education for children being a medical one, pathologizing use and demonizing screen time as a public health scare, that we need to move away from.  Faith lives in a state near the Canadian border, so it shouldn't be too difficult to arrange to see her again in person. Second, I was happy to hear Vivian mention a Canadian example and made a point of talking with her more in depth. I was even more delighted to hear that she has some distinctly Canadian roots - she taught with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board before working at American University. She promised to connect me with her colleague (who still teaches in Peel DSB) that she mentioned during her panel.

Visual / Social Media Artifacts





Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (9:55 am)

Flash Talks: Developing Adults' Skills in Media Mentorship
Conni Strittmatter/Dorothy Stoltz/Pamela Hamlin, Sabrina Burroughs, Peggy Ashbrook, Denise Champman

Summary:

Four, ten-minute long talks explored various ideas on how to help adults help children become more media literate.

3 Key Points:

  1. Librarians can be media mentors, even the resistant ones once they realize that their existing job mirrors these new goals just with media technology - to program, curate, and advise.
  2. From Peggy - Be deliberate in your questions and conversations with children so that they realize that they do have answers (e.g. instead of answering an inquiry immediately, ask "What do you think it is? What makes you think that?" or even prompt with an odd question that helps children articulate their hypotheses, e.g. "Is [this found creature] a dog?") and help students understand what and how their drawings and photographs tell others.
  3. From Denise - Everything is about story and every day is a way of being; we need to re-story the dominant discourse and examine the implicit messages given (which can be done, at least in teacher education programs in Australia when Dr. Chapman runs them, by making the teacher-candidate the protagonist in their media mentor, illustrated with memes and tweets among other things).

So What? Now What?

I have to reconnect with Dr. Chapman, who was such an engaging and entertaining speaker - it was hard to take my eyes off of her and she molded the room like a potter with clay during her time on the stage. It's a shame she is all the way in Australia! I want to talk with her more in depth about digital blackface and how to consider representation without appropriation. I also really want to make the science and media connection in my school's class lessons much more explicit. Peggy was inspirational with the way she wove media literacy and science literacy together.

Visual / Social Media Artifacts



Monty Python and Pokemon memes to describe student responses

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (11:00 am)

Policies and Research for Equity in Early Media Literacy
Diana Maliszewski, Carrie Sanders, Sara Schapiro, Katya Vogt

Summary: 

This panel involved several national and international guests to provide insight on how to advocate for movement forward with early media literacy.

3 Key Points:

1. From Diana - Ontario has had media literacy as part of the curriculum since the late 1980s (despite having a conservative provincial government in power at the time) and these gains (including the 2006 K-8 strand for Language Arts) are due to a lot of advocacy on the part of the AML, a grassroots organization.
2. From Katya - The Ukraine needed media literacy and they delivered. They've done follow-up quantitative and qualitative research that demonstrates that these media lessons have positively enhanced their population; for instance, they've shown their communities can distinguish propaganda and hate speech more now after having lessons.
3. From Sara - PBS is trying to work on microcredentials so that educators all over the United States can pursue qualifications to enrich their media literacy education efforts.

So What? Now What?

It is difficult to comment on how effective this conversation was, as I was directly part of the process. I have to give credit to Carol Arcus, vice-president of AML, for providing me with three pivotal historical documents that made me sound much smarter than I am about the Canadian context; one of these documents, "Media Education in Canada: The Second Spring" by Neil Andersen, Barry Duncan, and John Pungente SJ was requested by the pre-conference organizers to be added to the group folder as reference. I will need to check with AML to see who has the distribution rights to this article. 

Visual / Social Media Artifacts



Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (12:15 pm)

Molly of Denali: Inside Peek at new TV show featuring Information Literacy and Inclusion
April Wang

Visual / Social Media Artifacts

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (1:00 pm)

Tips and Techniques for Classrooms, Libraries, and PD
Chelsea Attwell, Conni Strittmatter/Dorothy Stoltz, Diana Maliszewski

Summary: 

Three round-table sessions offered in-depth lessons and questions/answers. Participants chose which of the three talks to attend, and then chose a second one at 2:00 pm

3 Key Points (from Diana's talk)

  1. Very young children are capable of talking about complex media ideas when given a strong but simple definition that they can use as their foundation.
  2. Don't label media as good or bad (for it shuts down discussion); probe the "interesting" parts and let them come to their own conclusions.
  3. Use materials and media that they are familiar with (such as costumes, toys, or online games) to launch critical media literacy discussions.

So What? Now What?

I was somewhat surprised by some of the reactions and push-back I received at my definition of media. One said that it was too broad and diluted the meaning of media beyond recognition. She said that clothes or houses could not possibly be media, despite my explanation about the very specific way my outfit was constructed by me for them to create a particular message. (Hubby explained afterwards to me that my media literacy approach leans on semiotics, a branch of philosophy which is the meaning conveyed through human-made things. My daughter also reminded me of McLuhan's "medium is the message" and how it shapes our attitudes.) Another participant was adamant that screen time is bad for children under a certain age (I agree, but I would say that it's not that the media in and of itself is "bad", but the use of it). [I've edited this post to cite the person who developed this idea: Sonia Livingstone - thanks Neil for mentioning it.] During the second round, someone else suggested that a lesson or presentation was not an example of media because it wasn't mediated. I realized that debating the definition I use was going to get us nowhere and I moved on. Having said that, everyone was quite engaged and happy exploring and re-purposing the toys and costumes. The loose parts led to some very open-ended, creative play. I was particularly captivated by Rachell and Sabrina, who tinkered with passion. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to see or hear the other two round-tables. Twitter reaction to Chelsea's talk was very positive and buzz-worthy!

Visual / Social Media Artifacts


Playing with a Koosh Ball

Masked participants!

Advertising the con hashtag and my Twitter handle!

Exploring balance with loose parts

A new combo hat!

Thanks Rachell for permitting this "new hero" photo on here!

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (2:45 pm)


Interactive Whats, Whys and Hows
Lisa Guernsey and Sabrina Burroughs

Summary:

This brainstorm session was a whole-group discussion on prioritizing resources and policies that would help an equity agenda for early media literacy education.

So What? Now What? 

There is a Google Document that exists of this conversation. I must say that after three presentations in one day, in a new city, my brain was pretty fried. My own next step is to find the document and re-read what was said. I vaguely recall hearing that they really wanted to seek out international connections and partnerships - that would be us, the AML, among others! BIG thanks to Lisa and the team for organizing a great pre-conference event!

Visual / Social Media Artifacts:


Chelsea, Lisa & Diana (with Lisa's framed book)

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1 comment:

  1. Lisa NobleJuly 1, 2019 at 8:23 AM

    Oh my gosh! Your head must have felt it was two sizes too large! I really appreciate your so what, now what process. Looking forward to the next instalment. I'm always amazed at your bravery in putting yourself out there in this kind of context. And yes, for the record, I do still love your definition of media. A sock I have knitted conveys a completely different message than a store bought one.

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