Television - a first teacher? : towards a media curriculum

Since the arrival of television in Australia, there has been widespread public concern about its potentially negative impact on the lives of children. The question of the relationship between viewing and attitudes, values and behaviour, has been the focus of clinical and field studies now for over twenty years. Given the complexity of the messages embedded in television programs, the sophisticated nature of their transmission and the highly variable contexts of their reception, no definitive conclusions about cause and effect were possible. However, there have emerged a number of well-supported trends and a growing body of knowledge about the role of the viewer and the processes of enculturation. This knowledge offers a sound basis for the development of Media Studies programs in schools with the aim of developing informed, discriminating and responsible young viewers. This paper focuses primarily on children aged approximately four to eight years for whom appropriate content and teaching strategies for media education have proved somewhat elusive. It sets out to draw together and to analyse the evidence about television's impact and from this to derive a rationale for educational intervention. Alternative constructs for media education are described and the models used in several programs compared and judged for effectiveness. From these analyses, a framework for the development of a media education strand in the curriculum of Tasmanian primary schools is suggested. A detailed curriculum is not described, but organising principles, learning processes and teaching strategies are outlined.