Being Critical of Media - The New Literacy | Ep. 127

The episode of Falling for Learning Podcast delves into the importance of media literacy for children, the role of parents and educators in fostering a love for learning, and the significance of critical media literacy for children's development. It also emphasizes the need to empower children to engage with media and advocate for themselves in social conversations.

Takeaways
- Media literacy is a crucial skill for children to learn
- Encouraging children to ask questions and engage critically with media is essential

Chapters
- 00:00 The Importance of Media Literacy
- 09:24 Critical Media Literacy for Children
- 23:00 Empowering Children to Engage with Media

Transcript

0:00

Critical media literacy. This is a skill that your children need to learn so that they can be safe online. my guest today is Christina Johnson. She is a renowned educator Christina Johnson is a resource specialist teacher. She is also a first generation college graduate she even has two master's degrees. So she is highly skilled. I've worked side by side with her in the classroom with helping students of all ability levels to help them access the curriculum, engage with them and give them right on time feedback to help them feel like they can do well in our class. So I am so glad to have her. I've been wanting her to come on the podcast for a long time. We're in season three. I told her about this podcast and she kept putting me off. You know, she had lots of different deals we had to get in contact with her agent and finally the money came through and we are here. Thank you so much. The money came through, ch-ching! So let's get into it. So parents and educators out there, if you are not sure how to help support kids with the messages that they are bombarded with all the time, this episode is for you. We're gonna give you tips and strategies that you can use to make sure that your kids know what to do, know how to question, and know how to be critical of what they are consuming. All right. So Christina Johnson, can you please tell us what it is as a kid that really made you fall in love with learning? think of one definitive thing or person it would have to be my mother. She was a math girlie, a numbers girlie if you will, so she was really good with mathematics and that was never my strong point. However, she always approached it with a growth mindset in terms of like helping me to learn how to do math and she always taught me different ways to approach how I could learn and retain strategies with mathematics. And as we know, mathematics and literacy go hand in hand. And so for me, it was always just reading. And then I began to fall in love with reading. And she would take us to the library every day um after school. And to the point where I was a little like, I don't know if she just doesn't wanna be around us. Like, why is she just dropping us off at the library every day? But it was an opportunity for me to find books, find nooks in the library, places to just sit and read while my siblings got help on their homework, and potentially even intervention if necessary. So was really just looking at my parents and the way in which they love to learn and uh figuring out that a book was an avenue for me to go on a journey, even if I didn't have the money to do it at a young age. I love that. So it was really promoted at the home. And I mean, I think it's really good. Like I didn't even ask about like what kind of books you had at home, but I just know that different listeners out there, they may not have books, but even putting your child in a place where they can have a lot of access to books. The local library, for example, is a free resource. And just like back then, they do still now have tutoring at the library and all of that. Also, like online resources for tutoring as well. So it's a great resource to have and it doesn't, know, everyone can access it. It's not about how much money you have or anything like that. So that's great to hear. So what are those skills and strategies as a kid that you picked up? that you were really using as you progressed in your education. think that for the longest time I ran from being a teacher. I really felt like it wasn't the path for me. And so much of it potentially came from the fear of not having enough money to do some of the things that I wanted to do because I knew that travel was going to be a part of my life. And I felt like teaching would not give me the money to have the luxurious travel experiences that I wanted. However, it would give me the time to do so. And I just began to question at such a young age so many different things that I saw and that I read and I love to talk and I love to have conversations with folks. Strangers, I know stranger danger, however, I would have an opportunity to sit with someone new who I didn't know before, just coming up with different questions to ask them about their life, to ask them about their experiences. uh really led me, I think, to teaching because it gave me an opportunity to see people from a different standpoint and also it gave me an opportunity to meet new people through their kids and through their children. And even though I felt like having a child was not going to be the life for me when I was younger, I always had a uh good connection with the youth. And so I also started to work in Sunday school at my church. And so we did Sunday school and that really helped me realize that education was where I wanted to go. And that then led me into college and I was like, I gotta get out of California. So I went away. I did, I was ready to go. So I left and I went away to Clark Atlanta University, the illustrious. Shout out Big Up. CCAAU and in traveling and going there I had again the opportunity to meet new people from different walks of life and it really helped to develop just my love for questioning and love for learning about other people and during my time at Clark um we had to take a methods class towards the end before graduation. And in taking that class, I then realized so many people who were English majors were doing it because they wanted to go into teaching. And I was like, this is not what I want to do. I'm like, why is this coming up again? What, Laura, what are you saying to me? So I took the class, I fell in love with it. And the second thing that happened there was in starting a literacy club on campus, like the English club on campus, helping to found that. we actually partnered with a lot of the elementary schools in the Atlanta area and helped to develop curriculum for some of those students. And so in going into those schools, seeing how they were working, realizing I could do this every day, get to meet new kids, get to meet new people, even if it was the same child I was seeing every day, I was still getting an opportunity to meet that child, meet their family. and help them fall in love with learning the same way I did through books, through mathematics. And um that's really what led me into teaching. And even though time and time again, I have to renew my faith, Lord, whenever I see that check, Father God. But it's been great and it's been a joy. That's so wonderful. Yes, fellow Clark Atlanta University alumni. Love that. um So today we're really going to be, because we talk on the phone a lot. We have these long, in-depth conversations. And one thing that I really wanted us to talk to our parents and educators about. is about critical media literacy because we know it's something that is so unavoidable. When we, like when I was a kid, I think it was a lot easier for my parents to control what I saw and not just my parents, whoever, right? Like I'd have to go to the library if I want to read some racy book, you'll see me in that section of the library. Like, what is she doing? What is she picking up? Now it's like. in the palm of our hands and things are coming at kids at all places, right? You know, so it's, you you might be seeing them on YouTube watching something very sweet and endearing. And then an ad comes up that might be something different or they might move around a little bit, flick something real quick and it goes to something totally different. And you're now They're now watching something that is very inappropriate, that is teaching them something that is totally something we don't want them exposed to. And so the skill of critical media literacy is so important. So I do want to just say like, what is that, right? Some people might be like, what are you talking about? But it really is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and even create. um So analyze and evaluate media messages and then that lead, we also need to lead kids into actually creating their own media, right? Not just being a consumer, but also being someone who is a creator. And not to say they have to be a professional creator, but that is part of growing up. You may need to write a letter to someone, you may need to respond to something that's happening in the community. You may need to reach out to the community for help or to give them awareness about something that's happening. so creating is also a part of critical media literacy. Very much so. let us first talk about, questioning what they're seeing because again, just being a laid back consumer, right? And whatever flashes across the screen is what we accept. And this is just how it is. you know, this is how it is to be beautiful or this is how it is to be funny. or smart or whatever, all of these things are shaping the beliefs of the kids. So what are some ideas about helping kids to question even from an early age what they're watching or consuming? So I love that question really because um it stretches the range, right? From early childhood education into college. And it's something that we as parents or we as adults even have to consider for ourselves and what we're consuming. Like you said, it's very easy to be a laissez-faire consumer and just take in whatever is shown to us. um Particularly when playing or being around my nieces and nephews, I'm always asking them questions. I'm always asking them, what do you think about this? What are you watching? Why are you watching this? Tell me more about the show just to get a better understanding. And at times I might even watch the show myself or take them to go see one of those movies. Like one of my little nephews was really into Paw Patrol. And I was like, we're gonna see the Paw Patrol movie. I wanna see what all of this is about. And so. I'm trying to take more of an interest into what they like, but also in that whenever they are on the phone or whenever they're on their iPad, just, you know, sitting on the side, maybe doing something on my device, but also keeping an eye on that just to make sure that I'm taking a look at what they're doing. Because as we know, these kids will swipe fast on something because I've had it happen. I'm glad it happened where my nephew swiped fast on my phone. Next thing you know, I had to pay $100 in games. didn't even know it was out there. Because he just, yes, swipe, yes, yes. Just because he wants to get it off the screen so he can get back to what he was doing. But a lot of it, I believe, comes from just helping to develop and cultivate a love for questioning in children. If we can get them to create questions around... any and everything, it's really helpful to then translate that to technology or technological usage because yeah. I'm just going to pause for a moment because I know that certain kids go through a phase and I actually remember my brother. He's a little, you know, a little bit older than me, but I remember when he was in a phase where he just asked a bunch of questions and my mom was so annoyed by the question. And then I've met like different kids. They'll just be like, but why, but why so? But it is important to cultivate that. So just having that extra patience during that. That stage some kids aren't like that. You really have to draw it out of them and some kids are and they're gonna ask a million and one questions, so just Just pause give them the space and you know, it it is something that's going to help build them up. So You could say, okay, we'll ask questions, know, give them some time to do it and then say, okay, at this point, we're gonna hold that question till later or something, but give them the time to give them the time. Be patient, because it does get annoying. I just wanna say it does get annoying. It does. True, true, true. Okay, go ahead. much so. Very much so because I was likely that annoying child to my mom. And maybe my siblings weren't, but I was definitely that annoying child to my mom. And right now, like I have a niece who has ADHD. And sometimes her parents will say she can be a little too much. Unless she's never too much. I always tell her how, no, listen, sweetheart, your ADHD is your superpower. And I'm going to tell you how it's super super power. I'm going to show you how to use it. And those are learning moments for the parents, really, and also learning moments for the children, because you can help them to develop that patience that you also have to develop in yourself by helping them to learn how to wait their turn. You know, okay, you've asked me two or three questions right now. I want you to write some of these questions down. So give them a journal, because often as a teacher, what we find in the classroom is, the children will have a question that maybe they want to say, but they struggle to write it out. And that's also a way for a parent to see what does my child's handwriting look like? What does their spelling look like? What does their sentence development look like? And so then as a parent, I can identify early intervention to see, okay, yes, maybe they do need to go to this tutoring at the library as said, so so and so can help them with this. And then when I go to library with them, I can tell that person, I've noticed that they really struggle with spelling. Do you guys have any techniques, strategies that you do to help children with that? And then those are things you can also implement in the home. But I agree. I know I was annoyed. I know I'm annoyed today, because I will ask you 51 questions. It's about one thing. It's a joy of mine, but it's not everybody's joy. Yes, so yeah, developing the questions. I think also going back to that, um if we are not giving the space for the questions, right? And saying, you better stop asking me questions or whatever, then it does lead to them just accepting whatever comes for them. Like what they're watching, what people are giving to them or saying to them. and so it is towards independence. So I know it might be a little rough patch, but it's something that you need to know. Like this is just developmentally where they are. And it is a sign that they are thinking, right. And it's a sign of their intelligence. So just be aware of that. And, know, and, and, know, you could even tell them, okay, we'll ask questions at this point, right? Like give them a space for it. uh But it can be annoying but it's something that you need to develop and nurture even and certain kids You got to pull questions out of them because they might just be accepting So I feel like I'm more on the like I will ask you a lot of questions today out But when I was a little kid, I think I was more just like a royal follower So if you just tell me to do it then I'm like, okay And then I would kind of look at people who are asking questions like, well, that's what they said to do. So that's what we got to do. You know, and it's like, because I just didn't want to be in trouble and I wanted to be agreeable and I didn't want to make any waves, you know, so that and maybe and I think that's me at school, really. You like at a school persona and at home, I might be more like pushing it more. But definitely at school, it was like, no, that's what they told us to do. Let's do it. Like, that's what we're supposed to do. Why are you asking? Like, what are we questioning? Because that's what we're supposed to do. And again, that is such a dangerous place to be in now with all the things that are coming at kids. as they get older, who's represented and who made this? Like whatever you're watching, are people missing? Are there just older people? Are there just younger people? Are there just people of a certain ethnicity or race? Are certain people missing? We also need to be looking at who is creating things, right? Like who is the person who produced this or what company is this? What is the intention behind it? because sometimes we might be watching something like, this is just funny, but it actually might be something that's propaganda or might just be leading you to accept certain things that are usually not acceptable, but it helps to kind of like get you prepared for it. Like you just start seeing it online a lot, like, okay, so now this is acceptable because I've been seeing it, it's funny or whatever. So. That's what we really have to watch I really like what you said about watching what kids are watching because I know like even when I was a little kid there's certain things on that you know like the Simpsons it is like a kid show right like but you know it obviously has things that are for adults there too so as a kid you may not get it but then there's things like Beavis and Butt-Head that came out when I was a kid And that wasn't really kids, but it was animated. So you're like, it's animated. It's good. And it's like South Park, not. So you got to be careful. You do have to sit and watch like, what is this showing and what is it talking about? Because some things you could look at it like, yeah, this is a kiddie thing. But if you look a little bit longer, you're like, this isn't for kids at all. Right. Like it may look like it, you know, and they're actually promoting something totally different than I wanted my child exposed to. So you can't just like be a quick look over like, oh yeah, it's animated, just watching a kid show. So you do have to be careful. you as a parent may need to go, you as an educator like to see who created this, why did they create it, what ads are coming on with it, um and then start asking kids questions about it. Like who created this, why did they create it? Who is the audience for it? Is it for kids? Is it for, um you know, a variety? You you have to ask all of these things. What other things do you ask about when you're, kids get older and they're evaluating or being critical of what they're watching or reading? Because I really want to be clear, media is not just videos. or what's on television or movies. It's also what you're reading, right? It's all of those things. That's why it's so challenging, right? There are so many different things as we're going down the street, looking at the billboards, like all of this is media, all of it, you know, so. Very much so and I think that um as an educator I began to utilize the terms media and text interchangeably because we might ask the students what do think about this text and the text is an image and when I became a teacher I was like what do mean this is a text like they're not reading anything but then I began to learn that they are they're reading in between the lines of the images that they see they are thinking about who created it what time period was created in again, who is the audience for this? Would this be for a child in that time period? Would it be for their mom? Would it be for their grandparent? Would it be for the white man or would it be for the black man? You know, so on and so forth. And so as a high school teacher, of course, the questions that I might come up with in regards to text or media is very different in the questions that I would come up with for the early childhood, the two to four year olds that I used to teach. Still though, was able to come up with questions that were age appropriate for those children so that they could give me a response so we could have a question about it. And that's what I love most about education is it does not matter who I'm talking to. I can do something I love, which is create a question around something to spark a conversation ah so that we can talk about power structures. We can talk about the time period, what's happening. This is so important right now, especially with everything that's going on in our politics and our government. here in the US and abroad. It's important for our students to know that you cannot just look at something that's online and take it at face value. You have to create questions around the media that you are consuming. Why did this person decide to speak out? If this is a celebrity, if this is an influencer, how are they potentially gaining from speaking out about this? Is there a person in the background, like is there a person in the background that's pushing? this media that wants this group of influencers to speak out and create videos about that? How can that person gain from it? Again, following the money. I'm always telling the kids, let's track the money. Where's the money coming from? Who's the money going to? Let's talk about it. Because as a child, you know, talking about the money to a four year old is probably not something that they're considering or even care about. But maybe as a high schooler it is or even as an adult, you know, definitely is something that they want to consider. especially given that our high schoolers are so into content creation. You spoke earlier about content creating. And so we know that is an avenue for a lot of people to make money. And one of my close friends, we talked about, you know, opening up an account so that uh my nieces or my nephews would have money later for college. Because I don't have kids, so this is a way for me to, you know, help create an account for them later to go to college. And she said something that, sorry, she said something to me that really resonated. She said, I've come to the understanding that my child might not have to go to college. And I kind of was like, what? What are you talking about? What do you mean? Like, you don't want them to go? And she's like, it's not that I don't want them to go. They might not have to go because the jobs that are available now are not the jobs that we grew up with. You couldn't be a content creator. Well, maybe you could have, but the content was so different and it didn't reach as many people as fast. as does now. And so you said something earlier that really also touched me. uh When I was a child, and when a lot of my friends were children, their parents would, you you would hear, it's better to be seen than heard, or seen, to be seen and not heard. And so at home, oftentimes kids don't want to talk, right? This is an adult conversation. Why are you speaking? And so culturally, If you are around and having a conversation with an adult, with another adult and a child is nearby, that child speaking can be taken as disrespect. And so, you know, it's like you need to stay in a child's place, but having that child in and around that conversation and bringing them into the conversation, helping them to create questions, create thoughts around what you all are speaking about, even if it might be adult um content. is helpful to the child in the long run because again, when they get to high school, when they get to college, they can articulate their thoughts in whatever space they find themselves in. And so of course for me, my mom would be like, this is not a conversation that you ought to be having when I was younger, but her brothers would come around. And when I tell you, we would argue, we would argue down, okay, about like gender norms, all kinds of things. I told Uncle Norman like, no. No, that's not what I believe. don't think of, you know, women's places in the kitchen. We would have these arguments, but my mom would sit there and she would allow that to happen. And so then when I went into an academic space, I felt more comfortable to share my voice. And in the event that I wanted to create content, be it an essay, be it a poem or a painting, I had those critical skills, ah that thought process to create my own opinion. about something through whatever media or whatever text I wanted to. And so um it's really critical just for us as parents and as adults to bring our children into these spaces so that they can share their voices and learn how to share their voices and be critical about what voices they're hearing. love that. mean, it's so true that, you know, there might be, you know, a lot of questions, but you give them a time to ask questions. They could collect those questions, write them down, ask them, and then have a space for it. And then there's a time, right, that maybe you're not going to be in the adult conversation, but then later on, there is a space, like, you're going to be, you're able to talk during this time, and here's our time to talk, and here we can debate, and it's a safe place to do that. So... I mean, that's why we're talking about this. Like, what does it look like at home? And there might be particular times and places it doesn't work because, you know, that is part of education, like situational appropriateness. Not everything works at every time. Like you can't just jump in any time, but this is the right time. This is the right uh moment. um But again, remembering to give them that space instead of like, no, you're always going to be quiet because that's what you need to do. Right? Cause that leaves them open to be vulnerable later on when they're out in the world and you're not around to speak up for them. They're not going to know how to speak up for themselves. You have to give them that space at home to, to practice standing up and advocating for themselves. Right? And then sometimes you're being the devil's advocate because maybe em everyone in the house feels the same way about an issue, but they're going to be arguing against people outside that have an opposite. reason opposite. um And so maybe you're the devil's advocate. Well, no, people really shouldn't be able to, you know, you can discriminate against people when they go to different restaurants because of this. And then they could argue about it against it so they could speak up for themselves and they can learn how to articulate even when people aren't agreeing with them because that's another thing. Right. um So in the classroom, one way that it looks, we talked about discussion. Right? And it could be a debate. It could just be having different kids voice their opinion about something. em But when we think about creation, it could be about responding to something that's out in the media. Like we know that things go viral. People just, you know, cycle through a particular topic and everyone's talking about it. And that And that could be like, okay, so what's your response to this that happened? How are you gonna respond? And even though some kids have social media accounts, they're posting on social media, their parents allow that or, we obviously know sometimes parents don't allow it, but they're doing it anyway. But, you know, something like Canva allows you to create a social media post and it might just be in the classroom, right? But we're gonna put it up in the classroom. Like I'm saying put up, right? But of course it's like virtually we could look at it online. Different people's posts responding to a certain issue. So if they're younger, it might just live on Canva where you could look at it or your uh learning management system, Schoology or whatever you use, InGrade, whatever you use. And um the kids can have some posting about a particular controversial issue that everyone's talking about. um And obviously with social media, you could use certain accounts or certain posts as the exemplary, right? There's this post that someone has about in a reaction to this. So how are you going to respond? You could add on to it. We could talk about again, part like who does this? They respond to this and they talk about, you know, women, how it affects women, how it affects uh people who are poor, who does it not reflect and what are they missing? And as kids, they can say, well, they're not talking about how this affects kids or how this affects, and so they can add a response that talks about what people are getting wrong or what people are missing about a topic. Again, so important because our kids are gonna be voting. They're going to be shaping legislation later and becoming a part of the social conversation is really important, advocating for themselves. Because if you hear the conversation is dominated by a particular group and they're leaving out another group, then it's like that policy could be made based on, okay, well everybody... what we hear this dominant group always talking about this. And so let's make a policy about that. But here you left out kids, you left out uh older people in this conversation. So the policy needs to be to actually include these particular uh elements so that it can be inclusive of those groups as well.