Want to Teach about SuperPACs? What We Can Learn from Stephen Colbert

The emergence of the SuperPACs in American politics is a major issue in the current election. SuperPACs, and the media campaigns they fund, also present a major challenge for media and democratic education. This article explores the issues surrounding SuperPACs and the rise of media in elections and politics in general, and presents some starting points for addressing these challenges in K-12 school curriculum and policy. Key areas addressed include: the need for more issues - centered and deliberative curriculum that engage students in examining the complexities of contemporary issues; a focus on media literacy in the social studies curriculum; and the potential for using popular culture, such as Stephen Colbert’s segments on SuperPACs, to engage students in current debates

The Need for Media Education in Democratic Education

Despite the potential for media and technology to act as a democratizing force and the challenges to democracy posed by partisanship and the explosion of political media spending, media education and the preparation of active citizens in schools is virtually nonexistent. This essay presents the case for revitalizing media education for the age of digital media as a tenet of democratic education and outlines an agenda for teacher education, curriculum integration, student engagement, and research

The need for media education in democractic education

Despite the potential for media and technology to act as a democratizing force and the challenges to democracy posed by partisanship and the explosion of political media spending, media education and the preparation of active citizens in schools is virtually nonexistent. This essay presents the case for revitalizing media education for the age of digital media as a tenet of democratic education and outlines an agenda for teacher education, curriculum integration, student engagement, and research

Young people\u27s response to The Response: The impact of political diversity and media framing on discussions of combatant tribunals

This article presents results of a study of the impact of political dynamics on group deliberations of issues presented in the short film The Response. We selected four groups of 18-22 year-old participants based on political views, engagement, and efficacy (liberal, conservative, and two mixed groups), and asked them to view and discuss issues presented in The Response related to the combatant status review tribunals held at Guantanamo Bay. We found the groups with mixed political views had higher quality discussions of the issues and a better understanding of the issues post-discussion – in particular the tension between national security versus individual rights and of the nature of the tribunals. We also found a significant number of conservative group members became more conservative in their views as a result of their discussion. We discuss implications for secondary and post-secondary education as well as for political polarization overall in society

Tinsel Town As Teacher: Hollywood Film in the High School Classroom

In one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the Civil War film Glory, Colonel Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick, orders a soldier under his command to be beaten for deserting the unit. The scene is reminiscent of films about slavery in which a white man with a whip inflicts bloody wounds on the back of a black man. Shaw later discovers that the soldier, played by Denzel Washington, deserted the regiment - the all black Massachusetts 54* - to search for a pair of shoes because the unit was ill equipped. Perhaps out of guilt, or sympathy, or to ensure military preparedness or some combination of these factors, Shaw then takes extraordinary efforts to provide shoes for his troops. Although this scene provides a powerful moment in the film and furthers the characters\u27 development, the real Massachusetts 54* was well equipped and did not have such supply shortages (Browne & Kreiser, 2003) and flogging was banned in the Union army at that time (Nathan, 2002). Does this deviation from the historical record matter? What are the implications for teacher practices with this film and others that present engaging historical narratives, but often with dramatic licenses

More Than Showing What Happened : Exploring the Potential of Teaching History With Film

In a world where students and the general public are likely to access historical information from a television program, film, or even video game, it is important to equip students with the ability to view historical representation critically. In this essay we present arguments for using film to engage students in rigorous and authentic social studies pedagogy and support these arguments with data and examples from our research over the past ten years. Our goal is not to promote film as the ultimate classroom source or as a replacement for a teacher, but to highlight how effective the use of film can be in engaging students in authentic intellectual work with important content and issues. If we have learned anything from our research on using film to teach about the past, it is that it is important to have a clear purpose for selecting a film, both justifying the use of time and presenting the perspective that the teacher wants to portra

A Virtual Internship to Prepare High School Students for Civic and Political Action

We explored the impact of participating in a Virtual Internship (VI) computer-supported collaborative learning simulation, on high school students’ (n = 43) development of knowledge and skills for critiquing the political media with which they engage. Second, we evaluated the effect of this intervention on students’ self-efficacy for using specific media strategies to take political action. Finally, we explored the epistemic (knowledge-seeking) and non-epistemic aims that students set for themselves while participating within our VI, which was designed specifically to address students’ epistemic cognition. Analyses of both the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that students: (1) evinced gains in knowledge about what “fracking” is and also knowledge about why it is a controversial topic; (2) evinced gains in self-efficacy for civic engagement—a key indicator to students’ likelihood for acting; and (3) were able to understand the politicized nature of a social media post, and therefore reported wanting to pursue knowledge-seeking goals to understand both sides of the argument and the trustworthiness of the information sources. We discuss these results vis-à-vis the literature on epistemic games, which can help students develop the knowledge, skills, and values of a profession

Media Literacy, Democracy, and the Challenge of Fake News

In this essay, the authors offer a context for discussions about fake news, democracy, and considerations for media literacy education. Drawing on media ecology and critical media studies, they highlight the longer history of fake news and how this concept cannot be separated from the media technologies in which cultures grow. They discuss current iterations of this phenomenon alongside the effects of social media and offer a preview of the special issue