Robyn Quin

Media matters in South Africa

Review of: Jeanne Prinsloo and Costas Criticos (eds.), Media Matters in South Africa (Media Resource Centre, Department of Education, University of Natal, Durban 1991).

Monitoring Standards in Media Studies: Problems and Strategies.

Over the past decade, attention has been given to media studies syllabus development and there is now considerable international consensus about the objectives of media studies. The objectives focus on the processes by which audiences can make sense of, then critique the media. This paper examines the outcomes of these initiatives for a group of 15-year-old students in the Western Australian government school system. Information is provided about a sample testing program which investigated the extent to which the students were meeting the media analysis objectives. The test items cover both print and television analysis. The results provide information about the general cohorts capacity to make sense of the media messages and about the performance of particular demographic groups. On the basis of the strengths and weaknesses revealed in the testing program, some adjustments to present teaching programs are proposed.

A genealogy of media studies

This paper seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The questions addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s? Secondly, how has knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject’s history? Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status of truth and becomes the accepted definition of what the subject is about?The theoretical perspective adopted in this study draws from both postmodernist critiques and sociologies of subject knowledge. It presents a critical sociology of knowledge that draws insights from both social historians of school subjects and the work of Michel Foucault. The study draws a distinction between knowledge as defined by formal educational authorities (articulated in syllabuses) and knowledge defined by those practising the subject (teachers and curriculum advisors).

Primary Media—Australia and Elsewhere: What's Wrong? What's Needed? What's In It For Me?

Abstract This article addresses the conditions which are necessary if primary media education is to flourish. An outline is provided of the key curriculum issues and of factors which are conducive to sound implementation. It is argued that there is no present example ofa comprehensive primary media programme in Australia or elsewhere, yet in the long term the goal is achievable. Some experiences have been gained which will inform the development of a systematic approach to primary media education. Some examples of such experiences are given.