I teach Media Studies and I'm proud!
So the time of year is upon us when exams are just about over and the wait for results begins. Alongside that, is the wait for the inevitable slating of exam results and comments about Media Studies being a Mickey Mouse subject. We all know it's coming...and most of us know it's pretty unfair. After years of studying and revision, then weeks of exams, A Level students won't be congratulated on their results but told that exams are getting easier and that subject content is being dumbed down. You'd think as a nation we'd be pleased when our children do well...
I know many of the people reading this blog will be students who have either studied Media at A Level or are currently at University studying a related subject (hello to you!). These students know it is not easy to get an A grade in any A Level regardless of the subject. Media Studies is no exception. If it were easy, everyone would be getting As when in reality, it is a tiny proportion of students who get A or A*. One particular challenge is that it changes all the time. 10 year old case studies are not acceptable here and as a teacher you have to be constantly aware of what is happening in the world and how it is changing us as consumers and producers of the media. Sit down and copy from the text book? No chance, the textbook was probably already out of date the day it was published!
But it is the constant change in the media that keeps the subject fresh and means that students can bring in their own experiences and examples. This is one of the reasons why students enjoy the subject - the films and TV programmes they love are discussed and thought about in a different way. Every student engages with the media every single day, which means every student is able to say something about it. Whether they are able to relate that to relevant critical theory is another matter and that is the thing that seperates an A* from an E.
Theory you say? You have to know about theory in Media Studies? Contrary to popular belief, we don't just watch TV and read magazines all the time. You have to put your knowledge and examples into a theoretical framework and it's not just Barthes and Propp, we look at contemporary theories and ideas too. With the development of Web 2.0 and the use of new technology, new ideas are being developed and thoughts about what the subject should contain are changing all the time.
But it's not all about theory. There is practical work too. People often think coursework is the easy option but anyone who has ever developed a media product over several months will tell you differently. There are interpersonal skills such as communication and team work, skills of analysis (whilst using a wide range of subject specific terminology), practical skills such as the use of photoshop or final cut pro and skills of evaluation. The work students produce each year is often varied (it's certainly not all fantastic!) but there will always be someone in the group who inspires me. The pride that students feel when creating something from scratch and the enjoyment they get from being allowed to be creative is something I will never tire of. It is just a shame that this kind of work is so undervalued by the current government.
One of the most infuriating things about the perception of Media Studies is that much of this perception comes from the media itself. Although this article from the BBC News website is now a little dated, it makes some good points about why Media Studies attracts such criticism in the days after exam results are published. In additon to this, recent events such as the phone hacking scandal show us some of the sinister dealings going on in the media. Of course we don't want to encourage people to look at the media too closely, who knows what other dark secrets will be found out?
Undoubtedly, studying the media enables weaker students as they are able to write about things they love but that doesn't mean it's easy. The subject attracts a wide range of students with different abilities and all of them have to work hard to achieve the grades they do. As for it being a Mickey Mouse subject, I would have thought that a study of gender in Disney films or a look at the domination of global conglomerates is a perfectly valid and important case study to undertake.
But it is the constant change in the media that keeps the subject fresh and means that students can bring in their own experiences and examples. This is one of the reasons why students enjoy the subject - the films and TV programmes they love are discussed and thought about in a different way. Every student engages with the media every single day, which means every student is able to say something about it. Whether they are able to relate that to relevant critical theory is another matter and that is the thing that seperates an A* from an E.
Theory you say? You have to know about theory in Media Studies? Contrary to popular belief, we don't just watch TV and read magazines all the time. You have to put your knowledge and examples into a theoretical framework and it's not just Barthes and Propp, we look at contemporary theories and ideas too. With the development of Web 2.0 and the use of new technology, new ideas are being developed and thoughts about what the subject should contain are changing all the time.
But it's not all about theory. There is practical work too. People often think coursework is the easy option but anyone who has ever developed a media product over several months will tell you differently. There are interpersonal skills such as communication and team work, skills of analysis (whilst using a wide range of subject specific terminology), practical skills such as the use of photoshop or final cut pro and skills of evaluation. The work students produce each year is often varied (it's certainly not all fantastic!) but there will always be someone in the group who inspires me. The pride that students feel when creating something from scratch and the enjoyment they get from being allowed to be creative is something I will never tire of. It is just a shame that this kind of work is so undervalued by the current government.
One of the most infuriating things about the perception of Media Studies is that much of this perception comes from the media itself. Although this article from the BBC News website is now a little dated, it makes some good points about why Media Studies attracts such criticism in the days after exam results are published. In additon to this, recent events such as the phone hacking scandal show us some of the sinister dealings going on in the media. Of course we don't want to encourage people to look at the media too closely, who knows what other dark secrets will be found out?
Undoubtedly, studying the media enables weaker students as they are able to write about things they love but that doesn't mean it's easy. The subject attracts a wide range of students with different abilities and all of them have to work hard to achieve the grades they do. As for it being a Mickey Mouse subject, I would have thought that a study of gender in Disney films or a look at the domination of global conglomerates is a perfectly valid and important case study to undertake.
I'm sick of reading articles defending media studies and feeling like I have to justify what I teach (why should we have to defend our subject?). It's about time media studies got the respect it deserves. There is no such thing as a 'soft subject' and we do our children a real disservice suggesting that there is.
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