Handbook on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and

Visual ArtsPart I:

Historical and Theoretical Foundations

Renee HobbsTemple University, Philadelphia PA

Irrepressible Communicators

Since the days of Sumerian clay tablets, we have created:

• 32 million books• 750 million articles and essays• 25 million songs• 500 million images• 500,000 movies• 3 million videos, TV shows and

short films• 100 billion web pages

New Literacies or Media Competence?

Felini, D. (2008). Crossing the Bridge: Literacy between School Education and Contemporary Cultures.

Parallel Worlds: Understanding the Gap between School and Media Culture

1. Fatigue v. Amusement

2. The Primacy of the Image

3. High Culture v. Popular Culture

4. Control v. RelativismFelini, D. (2008). Crossing the Bridge: Literacy between School Education and Contemporary Cultures.

Meaning Making and Photography

Mendelson, A. (2008). The Construction of Photographic Meaning.

Context of Presentation

PhotographerInstitution

Culture

ViewerCulture

SubjectCulture

“While it seems that meaning ultimately lies within the viewer, it is the end product of a cascade of events that began before the photograph was taken” (p. 34).

Mendelson, A. (2008). The Construction of Photographic Meaning.

Meaning Making across Media Forms

Context of Presentation

AuthorInstitution

Culture

ReaderCulture

SubjectCulture

Visual Learning is Central to Multimodality

Reading visuals in the Middle Ages: there are a multiplicity of forms and demands

Brice Heath, S. & Wollach, R. (2008). Vision for Learning: History, Theory and Affirmation.

Visual Learning is Central to Multimodality

• Visual forms push readers to make connections and complete the text: this is rooted in biological aspects of the perceptual system

• Videogames are highly social simulations that rely on user engagement and attention to contextual detail

Brice Heath, S. & Wollach, R. (2008). Vision for Learning: History, Theory and Affirmation.

Performance, Children’s Theater and Drama

Woodson, S. (2008). Constructing, Performing and Reading Representations of Youth and Childhood.

It is important to distinguish between culture as textual and culture as performative. Performances are embodied and collaborative ways of knowing.

“Performance, unlike text, appears and disappears to be replaced by memory and drawn from memory. And since individuals construct reality differently, performance highlights the slippage between the real and the perceived” (p. 39)

Multimedia Production as Composition

Bruce, D. (2008). Multimedia Production as Composition.

Connotative meanings of “production” & “composition”

Weaknesses of stage-based process models based on industry training paradigm

Video composition can use a recursive process similar to writing

Historical and Policy Perspectives on Media Literacy in England

Bazalgette, C. (2008). The Development of Media Education in England: A Personal View.

• Role of the British Film Institute in the development of media literacy as a specialist subject in secondary education• 1970s high school film courses morph into GCSE, A level and O level courses in Film Studies and Media Studies• Content: Hollywood studio system, marketing in music industry, gender in teen magazines, technical and creative aspects of media production• Concepts: audience, institutions, languages, audiences, representation

Making Media Literacy an Entitlement for All

Bazalgette, C. (2008). The Development of Media Education in England: A Personal View.

• Government looks carefully at the relationship between print literacy and media literacy • Moving to integrate ML into the elementary curriculum• Tension about focus on “moving image education” among ML scholars & literacy educators• Curriculum materials and staff development for teachers reach 1 million children annually• De-regulation of British broadcasting creates new visibility for media literacy

Making Media Literacy an Entitlement for All

Bazalgette, C. (2008). The Development of Media Education in England: A Personal View.

Rapid changes in technology create a danger that literacy education will “become dominated by ‘creativity’ at the expense of the other two C’s. The ease of access now afforded by digital technologies makes this temptingly easy… learning in this area needs to be underpinned by cultural breadth and critical skills” (p. 49)

Cultural Critical Creative

Defining Educators’ Responsibility

• Parental concerns about offensive language, sexuality, violence and age-appropriateness in books, movies, and other educational resources

• School district policies limit the use of film in the classroom

Frey, N. (2008). Censorship and Censorship Policy: The Impact of Teaching Literacy through the Visual Arts.

Protectionism Empowerment