This article focuses on media literacy and globalization, with the implication that these factors result in cultural homogenization and Eurocentrism. The author states that these processes establish a notion of what is normal, while marginalizing or eliminating the perceived value of possible alternatives.
A Eurocentric approach can reduce other cultures to mere caricatures that only touch on their superficial qualities. This process can leave the most important aspects of these cultures unexplored. Globalization and consumerism further complicate the matter, as students may come into the classroom with preconceived notions about what constitutes growth, development, success, and value.
This has caused me to reconsider how I acquire sources of information to be used for teaching. In an effort to make relevant connections between students and subject matter, it can be tempting to supply sources that are already in line with a student’s value system. This may inspire interest for the student, but it omits alternative perspectives.
While the article focuses on having students become media literate to combat the culturally corrosive effects of corporate-driven globalization, it doesn’t make the argument for the preservation and illumination of the important defining qualities of other cultures. It identifies and addresses a major problem, but doesn’t go far enough to develop a broad cultural education.
There are a number of media literacy exercises that the article suggests to use in the classroom. One exercise involves studying news feeds or commercials to scan for bias or intent. I think this is a great starting point in developing awareness for students. Other activities touch on comparisons between international media sources. This comparison is of particular value because it can be hard to spot coercion and propaganda without first seeing in directed towards a different culture, political belief, or movement.
These ideas will inform my teaching in a number of ways. On a basic level, the exercises that foster media literacy may be used without significant modification. Students need to understand just how at risk they are of manipulation if they remain media illiterate. To supplement these lessons, I would also draw on examples of successful propaganda from around the world. Documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis’ The Century of the Self, while likely too long and too complicated as a whole, provides some excellent insight into how manipulative the media can be. Short clips from this documentary would likely provide a powerful and informative message for my students.
The article warns against the representation of other cultures as becoming caricaturized, but could do more to make this relevant to students. A young child may come to class with this superficial level of understanding. Students must be lead to understand what insights and lessons can be gained from connecting with another culture on a meaningful level. It is one thing to gawk at the visual spectacle of a shaman, but entirely another to see how the shaman acts as a spiritual guide to community members with specific problems. Through such an endeavour, students may come to see a void in our own society, which could spark self-motivated analysis. This chain reaction of discovery is not attainable through media literacy alone.
Despite this criticism, media literacy is a crucial first step in the process of cultural education. For young students, it may already be pushing the limits of what they are cognitively capable of understanding. The complexity of the connections made through the lessons will certainly depend on the characteristics of the class. A set of lessons that expose the dangers of media illiteracy is extremely valuable without further any elaboration. However, if students do make the connection that their own society has faults and deficiencies that affect their lives, then there is potential for even more growth and learning to take place.
The idea of loss through globalization has parallels in nature, and this offers an excellent opportunity to create cross-curricular connections. The destruction of the environment, and particularly the Amazon rainforest, has much in common with the smothering pervasiveness of Western culture. As globalization encourages cultural homogenization, the beliefs, languages, customs, and dynamics of many cultures are at risk of being lost. In the Amazon jungle, plant and animal species are becoming extinct as forests are being cut down to make way for cattle farmers. American fast food chains can be found all over the world, and Coca-Cola is ubiquitous. Environmental destruction is not simply a parallel process, but intertwined with globalization. This is an important point to get across to young students.
To close out a set of lessons on media literacy and globalization, each student would be choose a country to investigate in this context. Students would be provided with a diverse selection of countries to encourage further exploration of differing perspectives. In this way, the class would come to understand that globalization has different effects that depend on the nature of the given country. Additionally, some similarities may be observed about the influence of the media in different regions of the world.
No matter what direction the lessons take, encouraging media literacy is a powerful method for encouraging critical thinking. Students are constantly encouraged to think critically, but the term is used so frequently that it has lost most of its power. By exposing students to the darker side of media, they will be naturally using their critical thinking skills as they become aware of how manipulative various forms of media can be. It may even provide students with a more fundamental understanding about the value of critical thinking in their own lives.
References
Richardson, G. (2000). Two Terms You Can (and Should) Use in the Classroom: Cultural
Homogenization and Eurocentrism. Canadian Social Studies, 35(1).
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