01/28

In “Critical media literacy is not an option,” Kellner and Share argue that literacy needs to be reformed into different ways that allow students to critically analyze texts beyond traditional scripture and instead allows them to engage with “popular culture” and “different audiences.” “Teaching Social Studies with Video Games” presents the argument that students should be able to translate students social experiences into an academic way so that they can be more engaged and interested in social studies (p. 33). Neys and Jansz argue that political video games can influence a player’s “social facilitation” because it asks them to interact with the content. In “Creating Critical Play,” Flanagan argues that games are a way for different meanings of political and social issues to be discussed.

I found the first article to be the most interesting. During grade school I only learned about European culture and History which did not make sense because my school was predominantly Latinx. I always found social studies boring because I could never relate to any of the issues or information we learned about and I think media literacy can be a big start to changing that sense of ‘otherness’ for students of color. Instead of only teaching students about the hundreds of years of white history, students of color can learn about their own ancestors and how they can change injustices in their own communities. This change can be accomplished by training teachers in media literacy and implementing a curriculum of diverse history.

What do you think are some topics that would be beneficial for middle school students to learn, through media, that would actually prepare them for college?