Idealistic Ramblings on Applying our knowledge

As I have started to realize the inevitability of actually working in the next couple of weeks, I have been thinking about how to take what I have learned at GSLIS and apply it to a real life situation. We have talked about this throughout the semester, but this post is meant as a summary for me and a way to gather my thoughts before entering the real world (though I do still need a job).

For me, literacy is a concept that is easy to talk about in a classroom setting but can difficult to apply in a meaningful manner that produces tangible results in the outside world. Media literacy takes this idea even further because it is more difficult to define and certainly more difficult to apply. On the simplest level, literacy means being able to read and understand some material, but what exactly is media literacy. Is it the same? Can we substitute media in for books/reading and not change the meaning? Somehow, I do not think it is that simple. Media constitutes much more than one simple idea. There are a few big parts that most will agree on, such as TV, radio, and the Internet, but there are arguments over what it means to be able to interpret such mediums. Is a child media literate if they understand that a TV show is not real, but cannot comprehend the messages behind the ever-present advertising? I do not think so because, like general literacy, there is an element of understanding that must be present in media literacy. It cannot be the simple task of seeing some type of media and understanding its basic elements. The mind must be made to interpret those signals. The messages behind the show or the biases of the creators of a website are just as important as that basic understanding, perhaps even more so. The basic understanding must be there to enable the second part, but the second part is crucial for anyone, especially youths, to achieve.

So after that long preamble (or maybe just ramble, you decide), here is what I am taking with me from this class into the real world. Teaching is not just about test scores or getting into the correct college, but allowing students to reach that next level of understanding that forces them into making judgments based on a variety of factors, including their own thoughts and ideas. Literacy is not just a skill; it is a way to open minds to the endless possibilities in the world (wow, that sounds cliché, sorry about that). We can not only help students gain the basic building blocks needed to engage with media, but also help them take that next step of figuring out what to do with those building blocks.

So, this all sounds nice, right? But, Tony, I can see you saying (probably Ben), how do you plan on actually doing this in your job? Well, that is the 64 thousand dollar question (I am going to keep using clichés, I am done with school today and can do what I want). For me, it is about encouragement. Many adults simply refuse that youth, especially teens, have anything worthwhile to offer society. This contributes to the alienation felt by many teens toward the rest of society. In teaching such an abstract skill such as media literacy, it is important to remain flexible and allow students to focus on what is important to them, not to you or the greater society. Eventually, they will reach the level of sophisticated analysis and interpretation that we want, but if we force it upon them, this process can stall and may never get started again. I liked one of the weeks we were in the computer lab downstairs. We looked at several of the currently in vogue technologies and talked about ways to adapt them. Carol pointed out that it was not mastering the specific technologies that mattered because they will change all the time, but the way we think about using those technologies. It is the same for us in the real world. We cannot force students to think like us, but can help them think about the ways to use the skills we can teach, even if it is in a vastly different manner. I think that is the point I am trying to make here. Do not take out ideology about certain things and try to imprint it; teens will reject it anyways. Just teach them the skills and encourage them to find their own way. OK, that is enough of my unbridled idealistic rants for this post. I hope no one punished themselves and actually read this far.