Saturday 13th February 2021
The Covid-19 Pandemic has emphasised just how vital media are to our education, work, public health, community, and leisure. Yet media education continues to be at risk as part of a wider attack on arts and humanities. The event brought together media teachers from across primary, secondary, FE and HE for reflection and dialogue about what our subject is, how we teach it, and what we think it could be.
The aims of the day were:
1. To learn from our colleagues with different levels of experience and working in different educational settings
2. To celebrate our teaching achievements after almost a year of working in incredibly difficult circumstances
3. To enhance a sense of community between primary, secondary, FE and HE media educators
4. To bring together ideas about what we want our subject to be and make plans for the future
We will be following up on the themes, issues and ideas raised throughout the event so please watch this space. In the meantime, please keep the conversation going by joining The MEA, joining our group on Facebook and following on Twitter as well as the conference account and the hashtag #MediaEduFutures.
Teachers Talking: What Could Media Studies Be?
10.30-11.15am Introduction
Welcome and housekeeping – Dr Victoria Grace Walden, University of Sussex
Media Education Today – UK Perspectives
Dr Steve Connolly, Chair of the MEA and Senior Lecturer, University of Bedfordshire
Michelle Thomason, MEA Board and PhD Candidate, Bournemouth University’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching Practice
TeachMeet Sessions 11.30am- 1.30pm
Each session was introduced by a provocateur, followed by 5 presentations from across media education sectors.
A. Critical / Creative Media
Provocateur: Prof. David Gauntlett, Canada Research Chair, Faculty of Communication and Design, Ryerson University, Toronto
Presentations:
How Does All This Theory Get Me A Job? (Dr Paul Dwyer, Director of Student Enterprise, University of Westminster)
Three Ways to Bond Students to their Case Studies (Nicci Bonfanti, Media Teacher and Coordinator, Rosebery School)
Media Diet Assessment: Merging Theory and Practice (Dr Emily Contois, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, The University of Tulsa)
Pupil Film-making in an Ordinary Classroom (Victor WA Lane, Guernsey LEA)
Thinking Critically? (Dr Keith Perera, Assistant Headteacher St Paul’s Catholic College/University of Sussex)
B. Curriculum – The Big Picture
Provocateur: Dr Michelle Cannon, Lecturer in Digital Arts and Media Education, UCL
Presentations:
Media Literacy: Statutory Guidance (Kirk Campbell, Head of Sixth Form, Teddington School)
How Case Studies Nearly Killed My Subject (Steve Roberts. Head of Media, Clevedon School)
Media Arts in Australian Primary Schools (Amanda Levido, PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology)
Media is ‘Social Media’ (Colin Riggs, Head of Media Studies, Marsh Academy (11-18))
C. Media Studies and Digital Pedagogy – Pandemic Reflections
Provocateur: Dr Victoria Grace Walden, Senior Lecture in Media, University of Sussex
Presentations:
Creative, Critical and Culture: How Can we Shift Focus to Technology as a Tool? (Justyna Skowronek, Media Studies Teacher at The Langley Academy)
Teaching Radio Production and Journalism through Online Teaching – Learning and Challenges (Dr. Swati Bute, Associate Professor, Jagran School of Journalism & Communication, Jagran Lake city University, Bhopal, India)
Media Making Out of the Classroom – Best Practice in a Pandemic (Lucy Brown, London South Bank University)
Community Collaboration during the Pandemic (Dr Claire Henry, Senior Lecture in Media Studies (Digital Media Production), Massey University, New Zealand)
Zooming Cinematically: Making Movies Remotely (Joseph Kraemer, Towson University, USA)
2.30-3.30pm: Plenary: What Could Media Studies Be? Panel
Dr Becky Parry – Lecturer and Programme Director of MA Digital Literacies, Culture and Education, University of Sheffield
Bethan Thomas – Deputy Director of the Faculty of English, Media and Literacy, Subject Lead for Media Studies at St Cyres School, @mediaeduchat
Samantha James – Subject Lead for Media Production at Barton Peveril Sixth Form College
Wayne O’Brien – Doctoral candidate in Education at Bournemouth University, author of ‘Studying Videogames’ (Auteur 2008) and teacher at Smestow School, Wolverhampton
Claire Pollard – Programme Leader PGCE, Goldsmith and Editor, Media Magazine @MediaMagEMC
Prof Mary Krell – Professor of Creative Media and Director of Teaching and Learning (Media, Film and Music), University of Sussex
Dr William Merrin – Associate Professor Media and Communication, Swansea University
Mark Reid – Head of Education, British Film Institute @bfi
3.45-4.15 Breakout Rooms with a collaborative Padlet
Wax and wane: Each person offered 1 complaint about media studies as it is currently, 1 positive or idea for the future
The reflections from this session have been captured in the Padlet below
4.15-4.45pm Plenary: Overview of Group Discussions and Closing Remarks, (Dr Keith Perera, Assistant Headteacher St Paul’s Catholic College/University of Sussex)
Conference Organiser
Victoria Grace Walden, School of Media, Arts and Humanities, University of Sussex
With the support of the Media Education Association (MEA)