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Teaching Media Influence

Recently, there have been some discussions on the list serve asking other teachers “what text are you studying for Unit 4 Media Influence?” The important thing to remember with Influence is that it's not a text based unit. It's a unit that looks at the possible ways in which the media is said to have had some/little/no influence and to explore the studies, data and theories used to explain the effects. It's a densely theoretical unit that many students (and teachers!) can struggle with, and fairly so. It can be challenging to teach and difficult for students to grasp, however, it’s an area of study that is pivotal to understanding one of the most critical dimensions of media education: how do audiences respond to media texts?

The way you approach teaching Media Influence may take you a bit of time to plan. First and foremost the Study Guide is your first point of reference. You’re unlikely to be surprised by the end of year exam if you teach each of the key knowledge points. Yes, there are a lot of them and yes, they are complicated. But each of them build on the complex area of understanding the media’s influence and each of them are potentially on the exam in some form or context.

Here is one suggested approach that I use (again, this works for me in my class with my students… you really need to consider your own circumstances when you are planning your classes.) After picking apart the Study Guide to make sure my teaching plan will address all the criteria, I teach the theories, then I teach Audiences, then I look at case studies, then I look at a range of forms and texts as the study guide stipulates. Then I go back and look at these forms and texts (explained in more depth below) and look at each one through the 'lens' of each theory. It reinforces to students that there is no 'right theory', but that theories are just ways of trying to understand the ways audiences react - or do not react - to the media. For me, this is when the students start to ‘connect the dots’ in their learning. Then, of course, I teach regulation. This teaching plan takes approximately 4 weeks.

Let’s come back to the confusion over “texts”. As we know, one of the best aspects of the VCE Media course is that as teachers, we can decide the direction and context in which we teach the curriculum. Again, Media Influence is not a text based unit, but instead teachers should explore a range of media forms and texts in order to explore the idea of audiences being exposed to particular media. The term “Media Forms” refers to the more general areas of the media, like TV, film, radio, the Internet, computer games etc. Media texts are particular and specific media examples, such as shows like ‘Big Brother’, radio programs like ‘War of the Worlds’, magazines like ‘Cosmopolitan’, games like ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and films like ‘The Terminator’. This is perhaps where the confusion over “which text are you studying for Influence” has stemmed from. The idea is to explore the concept of Media Influence in a range of media forms and therefore through the texts those forms produce. Don’t focus on a singular text, instead tie in lots of examples of a range of forms.

Let’s look at a pretend teacher’s approach to the unit.

Mr. Smith has a co-ed class of mixed ability. He wants to teach this unit with clarity but also in a way that interests the students in what could easily become information overload. He thinks about what would interest them, what he sometimes hears them talk about. Mr. Smith decides to look at Media Influence with a focus on violent cinema and Internet gaming. Why is he looking at two areas? Because the Study Guide stipulates “a range of media forms and texts”.

Mr. Smith starts the unit by going through key terms and introducing the theories he wants his class to learn. He looks at approximately 5 theories, making sure they are theories that can be compared via their differences, for example, the Hypodermic and the Uses and Gratification theories that see media influence occurring in contradictory ways. He looks at other theories too and makes sure his students see that there is no 'right theory', but that theories are just ways of trying to understand the ways audiences react - or do not react - to the media. This discussion enables Mr. Smith to start teaching Audiences and different types of audiences, like children. The students consider how particular media forms and texts may influence audiences and this is where Mr. Smith introduces his two media forms of film and gaming.

From here the class learns about these media forms. Mr. Smith won’t be showing his students Saw 3 or play Grand Theft Auto 4 in class, but he will discuss the nature of these texts. He will ask his students to discuss the issues surrounding these forms and texts and perhaps look at some case studies in which the extent of these forms and texts have been connected to discussions around how audiences have responded (or not responded) to the media.

From here, Mr. Smith starts to teach regulation and classification. He looks at the current regulations regarding Australian media content, in particular looking at the classification of computer games and film. He also outlines the way the Australian media works and ties this back in to issues of Audience and discussions surrounding the need to ‘protect’ some audiences from particular media.