Liz Thoman and Media Literacy
by Christine L. Pollock



Kids First Jan. 2005 Newsletter
URL: http://www.kidsfirst.org/nl/

"Incorporating media literacy is not about adding more to already bulging school days, but about increasing efficiency and relevance," observes Laurie Harrington, a reading specialist in Western NY with a masters degree in literacy. Harrington understands the message of media literacy, a 30-year pioneering leader in media education, Elizabeth Thoman.

While teaching high school in the 1970s, Thoman created the magazine Media&Values which laid the foundation for the development of media literacy in the U.S. and from which emerged the Center for Media Literacy in 1989. The Center's website offers a treasure trove for educators since it assembles some of the world's best resources for media literacy education as well as an online store with excellent resource materials.

The goal of media literacy is to give children skills to access, evaluate and understand media for themselves. In the report, "Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World," Thoman and co-author Tessa Jolls point out that, "The challenge for the teacher (or parent) is not to provide answers, but to stimulate more questions."

Thoman suggests that teachers don't need to purchase expensive materials to teach media literacy. "They can integrate the media literacy into their existing curriculum." For example, if English teachers are focusing on point-of-view, they can analyze editorials from newspapers or discuss the Sunday morning political talk shows. Teachers can easily teach critical thinking using everyday media examples.

Harrington incorporates these ideas in her classroom and achieves encouraging results. "Kids become excited about lessons and learning, which every teacher loves. But, over time, their thinking does become more evaluative and critical, which is the larger goal."

An article from the CML web site demonstrates the incorporation of media analysis into a literature lesson. An English class compares a television commercial to a short story they are studying. The kids in the classroom dissect the commercial using the "Five Key Questions" that Thoman says can "change the world."

For more detailed explanations of these five key questions, download CML's Free MediaLitK™. The questions can be used with any subject.

Key Question #1: Who created this message? This question addresses the core concept that "all messages are 'constructed.'"

Key Question #2: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? Is it color? Music? Camera angle?

Key Question #3: How might different people understand this message differently from me? Each individual's circumstance and history gives them a unique perspective on how they view the world.

Key Question #4: What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in-or omitted from-this message?

Key Question #5: Why is this message being sent? Ex: Who is going to profit from the message shown? What is their purpose?

At first, asking these questions for each piece of media will take some time. Then it becomes second nature and students will begin automatically filtering the various media messages they receive.

According to Harrington, teachers will know they are using a relevant mix of media and traditional texts when they see their students applying what they have learned from these media literacy lessons to other areas of their lives, such as social studies, science, and even in their personal media selections. This integration may give teachers an extra incentive to keep finding ways to meld media literacy into their curricula while meeting their state curriculum demands.

Today, the biggest challenge is to train teachers to give children the life-long skills of media literacy. Thoman urges teachers to investigate organizations designed to aid the professional development of teachers in this field.

Just as a teacher might join a social studies or English association, Thoman recommends joining an association for media literacy such as the Alliance for Media Literate America, a national membership organization for teachers of which CML is a founding member and of which CQCM is an organizational member. AMLA's mission is "to stimulate growth in media literacy education in the United States by organizing and providing national leadership, advocacy, networking, and information exchange." Through AMLA, teachers can network, attend local conferences, or even attend national conferences such as the National Media Education Conference 2005: Giving Voice to a Diverse Nation on June 25 - 28, 2005 in San Francisco, California.

In our ever-changing world, dealing with media is an ongoing learning skill. Thoman advises parents to begin educating their children in media literacy right when they leave the maternity ward. Parental attitudes and philosophies mold children into today's media culture. Parents need to instill a sense of turning the TV off as well as on. Limit time in front of it. "Be imaginative," Thoman says, "Put the TV in the closet or drape a table cloth or 'blankie' over it if you don't have a closet. Let the TV take a nap, just like you let your child take a nap."

Children who view media together with their parents critically, and discuss what they see, will begin to reflexively assess media. As a KIDS FIRST! Juror this is something that I have found to be true. When we began evaluating KIDS FIRST! titles, the children and I repeatedly checked the questions on our KIDS FIRST! forms as we analyzed the films. Now, five years later, all of my regular kid jurors instinctively evaluate the media using the key questions without my even having to mention them.

Thoman is full of praise for the KIDS FIRST! Junior Film Critics club, a six to ten-session course in critical viewing skills for children, ages eight to thirteen. "The club is a terrific project teaching children to analyze media," Thoman enthuses.

The Online Juror course is another KIDS FIRST! Program which provides children with media literacy skills. Parents and teachers who would like to teach media literacy while receiving free DVDs, videos, CD-ROMs and other media for their home or classroom, can train online to become KIDS FIRST! jurors. Information on both of these programs can be found at http://www.kidsfirst.org.

After thirty years in the field of media literacy, Thoman plans to continue with teacher training and consulting and has a vision for research-based curriculum writing. Her far-reaching goals are attainable with the help of committed parents, teachers and professionals. Working together, we will teach children to navigate through media in a healthy way. All of us at KIDS FIRST! extend our extreme gratitude to Liz Thoman for her conscientious pioneering work in this field. Without her relentless efforts, media literacy would not be the visible issue it has become today.

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