Critical media literacy in an underfunded neighborhood school: How a university-school partnership can promote civic media by applying critical pedagogy

Biographical Sketch

Yonty Friesem is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Department at Columbia College Chicago and the Associate Director of the Media Education Lab. His work and research in media literacy focus on opportunities for improving social and emotional skills of students in formal and informal settings using production for civic media. For his dissertation project, he followed eight elementary teachers who were implementing media production in their daily teaching. Yonty's current work focuses on the evaluation of youth media through his Media Production Hive model. In addition to his scholarship and teaching, Yonty is an award-wining film producer and organizer of international academic conferences. He received his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Rhode Island and M.A. in Leadership and Policy from Tel-Aviv University.

Aram Ayalon has been a professor of secondary education since 1989, first in the State University of New York College at Potsdam and then in the department of Teacher Education at Central Connecticut State University. He has published and conducted research in the areas of multicultural education, teacher as a mentor, school-university partnership, and action research. He now serves as an elected official in the Town Council of the New Britain, CT. Born in a kibbutz in Israel, Dr. Ayalon graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Animal Science, and after working as a high school science teacher in Tucson, Arizona graduated with a Ph.D. in Curriculum Instruction from University of Arizona.

Type of Presentation

Individual presentation

Brief Description of Presentation

Dr. Friesem and Dr. Ayalon will discuss challenges and opportunities of teaching critical media literacy for 5-8 grade students in a Northeast public-neighborhood school that is underfunded and under constant threat of being closed by the city’s school board. The two-year-long case study is based on observations, interviews, students’ artifacts, and public records. It analyzes a critical media literacy initiative to teach media production as part of a civic engagement initiative to stop the school from closing.

Abstract of Proposal

Teaching critical media literacy can be highly challenging when a school has no resources (materials, curriculum, and professional development). While critical media literacy includes skills crucial for fighting inequalities, underprivileged socio-economic situation deprives students and teachers of the resources necessary for developing these critical media literacy practices. This case study showcases a partnership between a state university and a public-neighborhood school in a Northeast poor urban community. Due to budget cuts, the school faced a threat of being closed. Therefore, the partnership focused on a deliberative critical media literacy action to keep it open. The data was collected in 2016-2017 by Dr. Friesem and Dr. Ayalon, whose undergraduate students worked with the school staff and community members to advocate for the importance of the school. During that time, the researchers observed the critical media literacy course, conducted interviews with teachers, students, the principal, and community members, and analyzed students’ artifacts and public records. The study’s results show four types of challenges for teaching critical media literacy in an underfunded public-neighborhood school: technical issues, behavioral issues, access issues, and critical analysis skills. As a result, the case study allowed the researchers to develop a model of the school-university partnership to promote democratic and civic collaboration. During the presentation, conference participants will engage in a discussion about the affordances and limitations of critical media literacy in underfunded schools.

Start Date

2-24-2018 1:10 PM

End Date

2-24-2018 2:40 PM

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Feb 24th, 1:10 PM Feb 24th, 2:40 PM

Critical media literacy in an underfunded neighborhood school: How a university-school partnership can promote civic media by applying critical pedagogy

Teaching critical media literacy can be highly challenging when a school has no resources (materials, curriculum, and professional development). While critical media literacy includes skills crucial for fighting inequalities, underprivileged socio-economic situation deprives students and teachers of the resources necessary for developing these critical media literacy practices. This case study showcases a partnership between a state university and a public-neighborhood school in a Northeast poor urban community. Due to budget cuts, the school faced a threat of being closed. Therefore, the partnership focused on a deliberative critical media literacy action to keep it open. The data was collected in 2016-2017 by Dr. Friesem and Dr. Ayalon, whose undergraduate students worked with the school staff and community members to advocate for the importance of the school. During that time, the researchers observed the critical media literacy course, conducted interviews with teachers, students, the principal, and community members, and analyzed students’ artifacts and public records. The study’s results show four types of challenges for teaching critical media literacy in an underfunded public-neighborhood school: technical issues, behavioral issues, access issues, and critical analysis skills. As a result, the case study allowed the researchers to develop a model of the school-university partnership to promote democratic and civic collaboration. During the presentation, conference participants will engage in a discussion about the affordances and limitations of critical media literacy in underfunded schools.