The Child s Rights, MediaLiteracy & New Media

Transcription

1 The Child s Rights, MediaLiteracy & New Media Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuğba ASRAK HASDEMİR Gazi University Faculty of Communication İstanbul-2014

2 Media literacy: Why and How?

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4 The interest in media literacy education has been developing in the U.S. and Europe since at least the first quarter of the 20 th century. For the case of Turkey?

5 For the case of Turkey it can be argued that the studies and discussion on media literacy have been encouraged by the project to include media literacy course into theelementary school curriculum.

6 Official actors in this story The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTSC) & The Ministry of National Education(MNE) Beside elaborating the related information, documents and official websites, the interview with the authorities of the MNE and the RTSC to have information about formal prospect drawn for this course

7 Brief history of media literacy course In The Platform to Stop Violence established in 2004, The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTSC)suggested for the first time that the media literacy course should be included in the curriculum of the elementary schools.

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9 The RTSC mentions about two steps of media literacy: the first is the ability to use the technology to access media content; and the second is about not only understanding the content but the ability to evaluate it.

10 For this purpose, the Council contacted with the Ministry of National Education (MNE) The Cooperation Protocol between The Radio and Television Supreme Council and The Ministry of National Education on media literacy course

11 The elective course on media literacy was added to the curriculum by the MNE, The course was planned to be taught at the 6 th, 7 th or the 8 th grades of primary schools. Only for the term, the course was advised to be taught at the 7 th grade in five pilot schools.

12 On 31 August 2006, Syllabus for the Media Literacy Elective Course in the Elementary School was accepted by the MNE-Board of Education. According to theprotocol, the MNE-BE has been obliged to determine who taught the course and which of the schools were appropriate for this course.

13 As a consequence of the cooperation between the RTSC and the MNE-BE, the cadre to educate teachers in media literacy course was formed. At this sequence, Educator Training Program was conducted in Ankara at 7-10 September 2006.

14 At July 2007, 103 teachers, selected by the MNE-BE from across Turkey received inservice training within the Educator Training Program in Ankara. Following year, 83 teachers received this training in Van.

15 Main course materials ( ) The kit on media literacy contained only Handbook and Guidebookfor teachers,there was no student book. The reason explained by authorities of the RTSC not accustom students to memorize, but to help them think freely and express themselves and to make the media literacy course different from other classic courses.

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17 Units of the course ( ) Introduction to Communication (communication, the process and content of communication, types of communication), Mass Communication (mass communication, mass media, the relation between communication and mass communication),

18 Media (media, the main functions of media, the economic aspect of media, media and ethics, the concept of media literacy, its purpose and significance), Television (television as an effective mass medium, television broadcasting in Turkey, types of television programs), Family, Child and Television (the habit of watching television, the negative effects of television, the analysis of television programs, warning signs),

19 Newspaper and Magazine (principal notions about newspaper, the importance and comparison of news and pictures in the newspaper, the applicatione.g.newspaper preparation, types of magazinesand their characteristics), Internet (the features and functions of the Internet, the points to be takeninto account by the Internet users)

20 Certain criticisms and recommendations C: The source books has been prepared with the notion of protecting the child from the media. R: For a critical literacy, students should be informed about the organization and mechanism of media. In this way the student may acquire the necessary skills to decode, criticize and contextualize printed and visual information and messages in the media.

21 C: The content of Teacher s Handbook is not suitable for student-centered education. R1:Different materials such as newspapers, radio and television news and the Internet can be used in this course. It is suitable forsupporting the students to participate actively in the course through observation and research. Also students should be encouraged to create their own media products as a part of the course.

22 R2: As stated by the curriculum development expert in MNE-BE, the syllabus and source books of the lessons are controlled and renewed for every five years. The course materials of the media literacy should be rewritten in the light of the criticisms. Certain units of the syllabus and source books should be renewed and enlarged e.g. the unit on Internet as a more referred medium by youth.

23 C: Time allocated to media literacy is not sufficient to elaborate issues augmented over the time in relation to media. The media literacy course can be elected by the students at the 6 th, 7 th, and the 8 th grades of primary schools, but these students can take this course only once during these years. The course duration is 40 minutes a week.

24 R1:Instead of one course, it can be taken for two or three years consecutively. R2:As suggested by a member of RTSC, media literacy education is not limited to the students of primary schools, it can be part of preschool program.

25 C: Teachers competency on the issues of communication is called into question. At the beginning, it wasdecided that classroom teachers who had graduated from communication faculties or communication high schools and who work in the system of National Education as well as social science teachers could teach media literacy course.

26 According to the data of the MNE-BE, there are only 812 classroom teachers graduated from faculties or high schools of communication in the cadres of the Ministry of Education Media literacy coursesall over the country are taught by teachers not directly educated in the discipline of communication

27 R1: Graduates of communication faculties or high schools can be employed, with the requirement of having pedagogical formation, to teach media literacy courses. R2:In-service training on the issue of communication should be provided to the teachers who currently give this course.

28 Table 1. Number of students taking elective courses at the 6th grade Years All elective courses Media literacy

29 Table 2. Number of students taking elective courses at the 7th grade Years All elective courses Media literacy

30 Table 3. Number of students taking elective courses and at the 8th grade Years All elective courses Media literacy

31 Table 4. Number of students taking elective courses (5th-8th grades) and media literacy (6th-8th grades) Years All elective courses Media literacy

32 Table 5. Number of students taking some courses on new media Years Computer (5th-8th grades) Communication Technologies (7th-8th grades)

33 Units of the media literacy course ( ) Television Television ve Family, Child and TV in two units (13 class hours, %39,5) Radio one unit (3 h., %8) Newspaper and Magazine one unit (3h., %8) Internet in one units (approximately %14)

34 According to a research concerning internet usage of youth in 25 European countries including Turkey, of the children at the 9-16 years, nearly all the children are online min. once a week (93% ), more than half of the children (60%) are online everyday.

35 Frequency of internet usage Everyday or almost everyday Several times a week Several times a month Less frequently

36 Another reserch from Turkey

37 With the decision of National Board of Education (23 May 2014) The curriculum of the media literacy course was renewed and a student s book was prepared Units: 1.Media as the medium of entertainment 2.«I ask question directed to media» (Media as the source information) 3.

38 Units Media as the medium of entertainment, I ask question directed to media-media as the medium to have information, Let s think about it-media as the medium to have information, My media-media as the sphere of participation. Throughout the book, some practices related with the old as well as new media were made.

39 Last but not least Inthe story of media literacy course in Turkey, it can be said that vision, content as well as the elective status of the course need to be questioned and necessary changes should be made by taking into account the criticisms., e.g. To enlarge the units related with new media; New student s book aims at active participation of the student, this not an easy but attainable task for the media literacy course in Turkey

40 Thanks for your attention