Participatory Culture and Media Literacy

             When reading “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21^st Century” by Henry Jenkins one aspect completely surprised me- but in a good-surprise kind of way! When reading about the Core Media Literacy Skills students should have, the very first discussed was that of the importance of “Play.”  As an educator myself, I have ALWAYS whole-heartedly believed in the importance of play- where as many teacher I have come in contact with completely despise it. 

            When reflecting on my elementary school experience, I never recall being able to simply “play” or “test-out” anything whether it be a new learning-based computer program or the snails we were to be studying in science. However, in college, all of that changed. Mostly all of my professors encouraged us to let our students “play” or “explore” when first introducing a topic. Through play, the students are able to get all of their initial curiosities out while beginning to form their own understanding of what is to be used.  I remember sitting in a teaching mathematics class as my professor dumped Cuisinaire rods (math blocks/manipulatives) out on every one of our desks. He looked at us and said, “Okay, now I’ll give you 10 minutes to play…” We all looked at him and he said, “I’m not kidding- get your jitters out now and go explore!” All of us 20-year-olds immediately felt tempted to put our hands on the blocks, before the professor even told us to, so can you imagine how hard it would be for 1^st or 2^nd graders to keep their hands off blocks right in front of them that they have never used before and expect them to sit through an entire lesson first?” – Impossible.

            Relating back to the reading from Jenkins, students gain so much knowledge and skills from something like “Play.” In the reading, for example, Sam and Willie absolutely love baseball cards. Off the bat (pun-intended) they are motivated, engaged and interested. The play motivated three different kinds of learning they practiced without even realizing they were in fact learning and strengthening core academic skills like using math to find bating averages, classifying the players based on scores, or even social studies through reading the locations the players lived in and wanting to figure out where on the map it was in location to themselves. Overall, the key of play promotes discovery, inquiry, excitement and engagement- the core principles behind what it takes to learn. If a teacher can make a student interested about a certain content/topic, they student is GUARANTEED to learn through engagement (Jenkins, pg 24.)

            In terms of Green’s literacy model, the “cultural” issue is what underlines the skill of “play.”  The ‘cultural’ dimension helps students apply operational factors as a way to enhance the learners’ ability to relate to the social world around them. Students are using operational strategies to receive and transmit the keyword MEANING as well as developing and understanding of content and context.  Students easily find more meaning in something they find interesting rather than something that serves of little interest to them. Relating to the baseball trading card example, Sam and Willie are able to receive and transmit the meaning behind the role of mathematics involved in trading cards and by practicing the specific math skills they develop a deeper understanding of the content (math) at hand through the context of trading baseball cards. Moreover, that “deeper understanding” or “deeper meaning” I mentioned comes from Sam and Willie’s ability to make the necessary connections from content to their every-day life and vis versa (Jenkins, pg 25.)

            Overall, I absolutely cherished this article by Henry Jenkins. I believe, unlike many educators, he was spot on when highlighted and went into depth about play as it pertains to a core media skill in the world of education.  It was very exciting and refreshing to read an article, by a professional, who see’s the true importance in an aspect of teaching AND learning like “play” as I do!

Jenkins, H.J. (2006)., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF