Media and The Environment

Subject Area

This activity is designed for the advanced and general English programs at the third and fourth year levels (ENG 3A/3G, 4A/4G), and also the fourth year English Media Studies course (EMD 4A/4G).

This unit can be integrated into an ENG 3/4 level course as a media component. The teacher may wish to reduce the demands of the independent assignment to satisfy time constraints, or to assign it as the Independent Study portion of the course.

Learning Outcomes

Teaching, learning and evaluation will focus on the student’s ability to:

• Identify and describe aspects of environmental philosophy;
• Evaluate concepts and principles of environmental philosophy in opposition to business, civic and media responses to contemporary environmental issues;
• Extend and creatively develop ideas through research, writing and the use of electronic technology.

Classroom Development

1. Introduce students to the basic principles of media studies (See the overhead accompanying this activity). Prepare materials which will illustrate each principle from an environmental perspective.
   
2. Have students study this background material and initiate discussions based on it (See “Suggestions for Activities” below).
   
3. In groups of 2-4, have students develop and prepare practice materials to familiarize themselves and their peers with concepts (See “Suggestions for Activities” below).
   
4. Research and compile materials on a student-selected environmental issue with attention to the way it is presented in the media (See “Suggestions for Activities” below).
   
5. Analyze and assess information.
   
6. Compose, draft, revise and finalize a project for presentation based on research materials.

Suggestions for Activities

1. Be prepared. When you say “Media” to High School students, visions of camcorders dance in their heads. The most difficult and significant job of a Media teacher is to redirect students’ thinking towards an evaluation of the media. If you are not already teaching a Media class plan your arsenal with care, and with the assistance of all resources at your disposal, organize your artillery to address the implications of each principle with your class.
   
   
2. Prepare materials in as many different media as possible to illustrate each “key concept.” Try to ensure that all examples deal with environmental issues and concerns. Try to capture at least one example of Environmentalism being manipulated for commercial gain.
   
   
3. Bring the “key concepts” (a selection of which are listed on the accompanying overhead) along with illustrations to students’ attention. You may wish to break the class into groups to study specific examples and explain how each concept is illustrated. Another device would be to introduce the key concepts and then have students indicate on paper how many concepts can be applied to each example, which it best illustrates, and why. (If students notice that the first “key concept” presented on the overhead is applicable to every example you have, celebrate. Impress on students above all the fact that “all media products are constructed,” and that understanding intentionally is one of the major goals of Media Studies.)
   
   
4. Using a variety of media should give you an excellent opportunity to show students how “form restricts content” in the media. If necessary, take time to (re)introduce to students to the way such forms are produced and the specific restrictions of each. Consult resources for video presentations and handouts, if time permits.
   
   
5. Continue preliminary exercises by having students seek out their own illustrations of key concepts, and come to class prepared to explain orally and/or in writing how each key concept is demonstrated in the piece they have selected.
   
   
6. A good exercise for television and photojournalism can be done in two 75 min periods in which students are required to prepare a mock-up for a photo, or a shooting script and story board for a minute-long commercial. Make sure that they get your approval before looking at a camera or camcorder, and that every aspect of the process is scrutinized by the teacher or a class designated “Producer” to help students to realize how many decisions go into even the smallest aspect of media.
   
   
7. Independent Study—This can easily be condensed or enlarged depending on time constraints. It could be done briefly as a class exercise or enlarged into the major Independent Study portion of the term’s work. If you wish to use it as a major project, you may wish to review Terpstra’s Independent Learning for models of contracts, logs, and other aspects of the Independent Study model.
   
   
8. (a) The independent portion of students’ study can be successfully approached in several different ways:
   (1) media—specific coverage of environmental issues. For example, “How Environmental Issues are Presented on Television;”
   (2) coverage in several mediums of a specific issue. For example, “Media Coverage of the Controversy Surrounding Location of Toronto’s Waste Disposal Site;”
   (3) media specific coverage of a specific issue. For example, “Newspapers’ Response to the Great Diaper Controversy.” Teachers should assist students to focus and direct larger topics.
   (b) Students select their topic and approach, then submit proposals for approval. Teachers advise and assist students in adjusting the scope of their projects. Emphasize that students must direct themselves not merely to the collection of material but to the placing of it into an evaluative context.
   (c) Direct students to collect all possible material related to their project, then analyze and evaluate the intention and bias of each piece. Note that camera angles and techniques can be of particular importance in photographic and video material. You may have to cover these separately on an informal basis if a student new to Media Studies or photography has selected a video project.
   (d) Through student-teacher interviews, assist the student to arrive at conclusions about his/her material and put it into a comprehensible format.
   (e) The product should be assembled so as to illustrate and support the conclusions reached by the student. Depending on the demands of time and the nature of the class, this product might include video, or take the form of a photo-essay, newspaper, taped “radio” broadcast or formal essay (accompanied by Media materials). Your Art Department may have some of the new technology such as video “toasters” for the computer manipulation of video which can aid a student producing a sophisticated product. It is important to assure students that the use of technology is not a prerequisite for this project. The ability to analyze and evaluate ideas and to present them in a coherent format is far more important.

Timing

Allow up to 10-75 min periods. The independent portion of this project should ideally be completed in no more than three (3) months.

Resources

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. New York: Viking Press, 1973. This text is one of the seminal works of Social Studies, Media and Cinema studies at the Post-Secondary level. It would provide an excellent background for a teacher new to media studies. It may also be useful for advanced students.

If you are new to Media, textbooks can be useful references. In common use in Ontario are:
Andersen, Neil. Media Works. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Carpenter, Donna; Smart, Bill and Worsnop, Chris. Media Images and Issues. Don Mills: Addison-Wesley, 1989.
Duncan, Barry. Mass Media and Popular Culture. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
Krieger, Ernest and Ungerleider, Charles. Television and Society: An Investigative Approach. Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1985.

Excellent resources can also be located through:

• The Association for Media Literacy
  Barry Duncan,
  40 McArthur St.
  Weston, Ontario M9P 3M7
  phone: (416) 394-6992, fax: (416) 394-6991
  
• Mediacy : The Newsletter of The Association for Media Literacy.
  c/o Derek Boles, editor
  4003 Bayview Avenue, Apt. 214
  Willowdale, Ontario, M2M 3Z8
  phone: (416) 224-5220
  
• Terpstra, John. Independent Learning. Ontario Ministry of Education, 1987.

Cross-disciplinary Links

This activity may be paired up with the Geography activity on the Rondeau Provincial Park Deer Herd Controversy contained in this curriculum document. As an Independent Study project, the independent portion of this activity could also be expanded to become an acceptable combined project for students taking EMD (English Media Studies) as an extra credit or in English 3A/4A in conjunction with Environmental Studies in Geography (GNS 3A, 4A/3G, 4G), Geography World Issues (GW1OA), Environmental Science (SEN 3A, 4A/3G, 4G) or Art. The level of instruction required can vary considerably depending on students’ background in media.

Overhead:

KEY MEDIA CONCEPTS

• ALL MEDIA ARE CONSTRUCTED.
  
  
• MEDIA CONSTRUCT REALITY.
  
  
• MEDIA HAVE COMMERCIAL IMPLICATIONS.
  
  
• MEDIA ALWAYS HAVE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS.
  
  
• MEDIA CONTAINS SOCIAL MESSAGES.
  
  
• AUDIENCES NEGOTIATE MEANING.
  
  
• FORUM RESTRICTS CONTENT IN MEDIA.
  
  
• MEDIA EMBODIES AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES.
  
  
• MEDIA TRY TO CONTROL SOME ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE.