Dr. Sophia Tsuey-jen Wu

吳翠珍Associate Professor, Dept. of Radio and Television

Coordinator, Center for Media Literacy,National Chengchi University, Taiwan

E-Mail:tjwu@nccu.edu.tw

Presented at the MELL 2005 Annual Conference(MELL Concerto)

Tokyo, Japan,Feb.19-20.2005

The Coming and Be-coming of Media Education in Taiwan

拉麵學Ramenology

溫泉學Osenology

Literacy for the digital age

Vision of Media Education

Major projects 2004-2006

Status quo& challenges

Cross-cultural issues & proposed actions

Incipient Media Literacy Education in Taiwan

2003--Ministry of Education issued a white paper on media education policy

May, 2003--established the Media Literacy Education Committee.

Literacy for the Digital Age

1.Literacy is a product of history (or historical

specific)

2.The production of literacy is neither value-free nor naturally generated.

3.Many different kinds of literacy exist, and multi-faceted literacy capacity is a case of co-existence, not mutual exclusivity or substitution.

Literacy is distinguished by the following qualities:

Literacy for the Digital Age

4.Class distinctions should not be made concerning literacy.

5.All roads lead to literacy. Recent studies show that literacy can be acquired from various different social institutions, such as the family, sub-culture groups, organizations, the workplace, and particularly the media. Hence, the formal educational system should not be relied on exclusively.

Literacy is distinguished by the following qualities:

Literate Quality is Not Given

Three levels of literacy mastering 1. understanding denotation

2. examining media connotations 3. producing and access to media

The literate quality is not given but needs to

be taught through formal and/or informal

learning process.

Vision of Media Literacy Education

“Liberation” refers

1. to the intellectual ability to see through the

constructed nature of media and thus avoid

being framed by the media

2. to engage to use the media to express concern

about public affairs, and promote democratic

acculturation among the populace

The ultimate vision of media education

is to the liberation and empowerment

of the populace

Vision of Media Literacy Education

“Empowerment” refers

1. to an individual’s capacity for distinguishing,

selecting, and evaluating media and its contents

2. to encourage the public to produce content to

collectively establish community standards,

thereby elevating the quality of media culture

Substance of Media Literacy Education

1. Critical examination of media representation

2. Understanding media symbolic attributes and content

3. Understanding the concept of media audience

4. Analyzing media institutes5. Influencing and accessing

media

Major Projects for the 2004-2006

I. Information and Internet Sub-committee

Establish a media literacy education information logistics plan as a media literacy education information platform

II.Teacher Training and Teaching Materials Development Sub-committee

Establish a media literacy teaching material database and human resource databank to facilitate the compilation of relevant data and information.

Major Projects for the 2004-2006

III. Research and Development Sub-committee• Conducting Media Literacy Education Core Concepts

Construction Research Project (2004) • Survey on Media Education in Primary and Middle

Schools (2004)

IV. Community Outreach Sub-committee Adult-targeted media literacy TV program and

outreach programs and projects are designed to be implemented.

Challenges We Face Locally

I. Integrated curriculum is encouraged but not yet mandated

II. Teacher training and teaching materials development is not systematically supported

III. Lifelong learning participation is not well socially marketed

IV. Involvement of media industry and professionals is still in words not in action

The Status Quo of Media Education

Media education in Taiwan has prepared assorted offensive and defensive strategies, yet lacks thinking on listener/viewer citizens as subjects, thus causing the following problematic issues:

The Status Quo of Media Education

1.Lack of attention to audience/student taste and room for interpretation

This point is one about which most

teachers, trainers, and commentators on

media education find evident yet difficult

to act upon.

The Status Quo of Media Education

2. Lack of thick description of media behavior and discourse as cultural practice

overlooks the in-depth description of

media experience and practice at the

personal, and the sub-group/sub-

culture level.

The Status Quo of Media Education

3. Lack of encouraging audience participation in media production

•Media education must also be sure to teach

expression and communication.

•Learning media (treating the media as a

symbolic tool)

•Accessing media (treating media as civil

discourse).

Cross-cultural and Common Issues

1. Media education’s approach to knowledge

Individually interpreted practical knowledge inherent in

dialectical processes

vs.

Collectively domain knowledge cultivated in authoritative

learning outcome.

Action Proposed: Conduct a cross-cultural study on

Media teaching experiments.

Epistemology and teaching pedagogy of media education

Cross-cultural and Common Issues

2. Roles and teaching methods of media

educators

From “knowing what” to “knowing why.”

Reflection and reflexivity is the

foundation of examination upon which

media literacy is based

Action proposed:Develop facilitator/teacher training workshop model.

Publish trainer’s notebook (knowing what and why) and handbook (knowing how)of media literacy and education.

Encourage media teachers to reflect on and establish media education teaching methods out of knowing in practice, action reseearch can facilitate classroom teachers to gain substance and momentum.

Cross-cultural and Common Issues

Action proposed: Conduct cross-cultural investigations on the following issues of concern.What does the learner know about the media’s system of denotation? What experience does the learner have with global and local media, particular with new media such as mobile phone?What kind of procedural knowledge should we offer to link with the learner’s prior experience and other domain knowledge? What personal meaning do media education have on the learner?

3. The role of students

The complexity of individual media experience should also be explored

Thank You !

E-Mail ： mediaed@nccu.edu.tw

Website ： http://

www.mediaed.nccu.edu.tw