Saturday, March 5, 2011

Reflection about "Unlearning the Myths"

I have mixed feelings about this article by Linda Christensen.  I couldn’t agree with her more about most of what she writes.  At other times I think that no matter what the media portrayed she wouldn’t be satisfied with it.
I think Christensen is completely accurate when she writes that “most of the early information we receive about ‘others’ – people racially, religiously, or socioeconomically different from ourselves – does not come as a result of firsthand experience.  The secondhand information we receive has often been distorted” (126-127).  I think the author is right to point out that the media can have a significant influence on young people, and that it certainly conveys ideas about different groups of people.  Christensen also notes very astutely that it is painful to realize how much our worldview has been shaped by stereotypical patterns represented in the media we are presented with.  I also especially liked the way in which she encouraged students to have an impact on effecting how this media was presented to children.  “Instead of leaving students full of bile, standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, I provided them the opportunity to make a difference.” (137)  In my opinion, this is the absolute best kind of education.  Doing something with the knowledge that is taught is how to make education relevant, meaningful, and effective. 
One critique I have of this author is that she seems to hate all mainstream children’s media.  To be sure, a lot of it is stereotypical, and Christensen has every reason to point it out. However, the impression I get is that Christensen would have a problem with every TV program or movie.  I think Christensen should have offered examples of some media that did a good job portraying women, minorities, and other groups that are often stereotyped.   

3 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree with you more on everything that you wrote. I thought it would be a wonderful idea for Christensen to provide examples of media that in her opinion does a good job of portraying everything that she expects.

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  2. I really like when you said "Doing something with the knowledge that is taught is how to make education relevant, meaningful, and effective." This sentence ties everything together that we have talked about in class to how to be better teachers ourselves.

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  3. I did an extended comment about your blog for my blog post this week :) I just wanted to let you know!

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