Week Two: Justifying film, television and media studies in the curriculum

The following are the 7th Grade OUTCOMES for students at Richfield Middle School:

Demonstrate ability to read with accuracy and fluency

Expand vocabulary through reading, listening, and speaking

Increase comprehension of written materials through a variety of strategies

Strengthen ability to actively read and interpret a variety of literary works

Develop and strengthen expressive, narrative, and research writing skills

Actively demonstrate understanding of writing as a process

Apply standard English conventions in formal writing

Demonstrate ability to locate and cite information in reference materials

Strengthen ability to communicate effectively through listening and speaking

Develop awareness of how to evaluate accuracy and credibility of sources


On the surface, it seems that the curriculum developers at RMS primarily hope their students to improve their literacy skills in print media. The curriculum primarily asks teachers to use books as texts and the writing is to be done on paper. However, I believe that the curriculum should introduce students to the skills they will continue to use later in their education and later in life. It seems many of the outcomes discussed here involve the retrieval and evaluation of information: research. While it is still relevant for students to be able to use libraries, encyclopedias and dictionaries to find information, training students to use online resources will afford them the most relevant and important skills for future research projects, formal or informal.

Therefore, the definition of "reference materials" (above) could be expanded to include online resources. The last outcome, "evaluate accuracy and credibility of sources," is an incredibly important skill to have when doing internet research, and without that outcomes direct application to online sources, students may not be able to apply it to that avenue. The process of research is fundamentally different than it was ten or twenty years ago, and we must give our students the skills to keep up with the retrieval and evaluation of information.

I would also seek to expand the definition of "literary works" (above) to include film and television texts. Because we seek to teach students to "actively read and interpret" printed texts, I imagine we want to encourage our students to actively think about and analyze all the "texts they come into contact with, not be passive recipients of information and narrative. By including film and television in the curriculum, we teach students the importance of being actively involved in our environments. In addition, any analysis skills students learn in relation to film and television can only strengthen, not take away from, the skills we want them to apply to printed texts.