I really enjoyed reading Saunder’s article “Imperial Imaginaries: Employing Science Fiction to Talk About Geopolitics.” (2015). I am a big science fiction fan and to see how some of my favourite stories and movies can be used to support student learning got me really excited!
As teachers have to follow the Ministry curriculum, they don’t always have the chance to really focus on the world events (time factors as well as sensitive issues). As a result, many of our students do not have a good understanding of what is happening in the world around them. But they do watch movies, read books and play games that are within the genre of science fiction.
It makes a lot of sense..kids are big consumers of media from movies to games and as educators, we should use tools that are relevant to their lives to help them learn more about the world around them. Through viewing popular culture, we can teach them to not only enjoy the media they are consuming, but also look at it with a critical lense and apply it their lives.
So many of us enjoyed watching Star Wars as kids back in the 70s and 80s, and now our own students and children are watching the series as well. With a better understanding of science fiction as an educator, it is exciting to pass my learning onto the next generation. Not only to make them more critical viewers, but to also show them how media is very carefully, and cleverly, constructed; there is always a message. When I watched Star Wars as a child, I just watched for enjoyment, never would I have thought it could help me have a better understanding of international relations.
If I had the chance to bring in some of the these great movies and games into the classroom, not only would I help students understand the message of colonialism and international relations, I would also make sure we look at gender roles and how women are treated, along with how we reflect different races and their cultures. After last week’s class, I would make sure to deconstruct the media with the students. I would ask questions such as who made this media? How was it made? Who was it made for? and so many more. I would also make sure to ask, who is in the media - and who has been left out and why?
I think bringing in this type of popular media would be very engaging for our students. They would be excited to watch the media as well as have a better understanding of how media constructs their messages. If we teach them how to look at their media through a critical lense and apply it to their current world, I feel we will have better informed students who will be able to see how the world works around them. It will encourage them to be more aware of what is happening in their world and to be active global citizens.
As teachers have to follow the Ministry curriculum, they don’t always have the chance to really focus on the world events (time factors as well as sensitive issues). As a result, many of our students do not have a good understanding of what is happening in the world around them. But they do watch movies, read books and play games that are within the genre of science fiction.
It makes a lot of sense..kids are big consumers of media from movies to games and as educators, we should use tools that are relevant to their lives to help them learn more about the world around them. Through viewing popular culture, we can teach them to not only enjoy the media they are consuming, but also look at it with a critical lense and apply it their lives.
So many of us enjoyed watching Star Wars as kids back in the 70s and 80s, and now our own students and children are watching the series as well. With a better understanding of science fiction as an educator, it is exciting to pass my learning onto the next generation. Not only to make them more critical viewers, but to also show them how media is very carefully, and cleverly, constructed; there is always a message. When I watched Star Wars as a child, I just watched for enjoyment, never would I have thought it could help me have a better understanding of international relations.
If I had the chance to bring in some of the these great movies and games into the classroom, not only would I help students understand the message of colonialism and international relations, I would also make sure we look at gender roles and how women are treated, along with how we reflect different races and their cultures. After last week’s class, I would make sure to deconstruct the media with the students. I would ask questions such as who made this media? How was it made? Who was it made for? and so many more. I would also make sure to ask, who is in the media - and who has been left out and why?
I think bringing in this type of popular media would be very engaging for our students. They would be excited to watch the media as well as have a better understanding of how media constructs their messages. If we teach them how to look at their media through a critical lense and apply it to their current world, I feel we will have better informed students who will be able to see how the world works around them. It will encourage them to be more aware of what is happening in their world and to be active global citizens.