Human and Abilities

To me, good and effective teaching involves many different concepts. A good teacher is able to identify with their students, which makes students feel comfortable. Good teachers understand that not all students come from the same background and this may affect how students act or their involvement in school. This brings me to my next point, which is that good teachers get their students involved. They are able to use technology or different ways of teaching to peak their students interest and increase participation. Good teachers also create useful lesson plans. Whether using backward design or another method, good teachers create plans that help students learn the objectives for the unit. Lastly, good teachers encourage their students and help them grow as learners and as people. Since we first talked about what makes a good teacher, I have expanded upon my definition. I learned that it is not just one thing that qualifies a person to be a good teacher. Simply being intelligent is not enough. There are many different qualities that make a person a good teacher and the more a person has the better of a teacher they will be.

In regards to the Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure, this course has definitely prepared me for these standards. Specifically, I understand how children grow physically and emotionally. I know that there are different stages of development and not all children grow the same. Also, I understand that children learn differently and that one way of teaching will not fit all of my patients. I also know how to plan a lesson, which in speech pathology is useful because I could create a plan with objectives for my patients to reach. I have learned how to test for progress because I did that when we created a lesson for the class. Lastly, I learned how to connect with other individuals and future teachers/SLPs because I had to work with different classmates throughout the semester! Overall, the most significant thing I learned this semester is that nothing is cut and dry, especially not people. People have many layers, emotions and circumstances that shape how they are. When working with children, it is my job to understand why they are the way they are. Then, I can help them be the best version of themselves.

For the job market, I will prepare my online identity by first cleaning up what I have posted. I have had social media since I was young so there are things I have posted that may not appeal to companies looking to hire me. Also, I will possibly continue my blog. However, if I do this it would still be a professional/school oriented blog. I will document things I am doing and learning in my classes as well as in my clinicals. This will show companies the knowledge and experience I have developed from school.

One topic that I found interesting this semester is how women are portrayed in the media. Women are often under-represented and portrayed as sexual, feminine objects in the media (Collins, 2011). They are put into very stereotypical gender roles when they are represented. This is not only on television shows but also across many different media platforms. This has an affect on girls’ self-esteem and the way they view themselves. As children are developing, what they see has a large impact on them. In our society, the media is all around and almost always accessible. What girls are seeing needs to be changed to help them be confident, successful individuals.

In our Module 2 online work we read about how gender roles and occupations are portrayed in the media. The University of Southern California conducted a study that we looked at about key findings in gender roles. The study found that female characters are less prevalent across media compared to male characters (Class 10/9). Women were also seen wearing sexy attire 36.2% of the time in prime-time shows whereas this number was only 8.4% for males. On television commercials, only 14% of females were shown as authority figures, whereas for men this number is 70% (Furnham, 1999). Also, women were more likely than males to have thin bodies and be referenced as attractive. In prime-time programs, women were rarely in high-ranking professions. The under-representation, sexualizing and stereotyping of women happens across media and is a serious problem that affects young women.

Women are under-represented in media but when they are portrayed we often see images like those below. This is because women are more likely to be represented for their body and clothing in media than men (Collins, 2011). Women are sexualized and objectified. The portrayal of women this way gives young girls who see this media the idea that what is important about them is the way they look. The result of this can be detrimental to young girls. When girls see women on television that are the thin-ideal image, they are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body image and invest in their appearance (Grabe, 2008).

Not only do girls think less of them selves physically but also mentally. It has also been found that girls’ self-esteem suffers because of the way other women are portrayed (Collins, 2011). Girls put themselves down because they think they are less than the images they are seeing. Viewing sexually objectifying television predicted the self-objectification of college women a year later and viewing appearance focused shows predicted girls would be less satisfied with their appearance a year later (Grabe, 2008). There has been a decrease in advertisements that are stereotyped on sex in the Western world (Furnham, 1999). However, until there is a larger change these negative effects will still happen to girls.

When looking at research in this area, though, it is important to note that white women were primarily the ones studied and women of color were often excluded (Grabe, 2008). This means that if the studies were done using women of color there may be different results. Also, in South Korea women are not under-represented (Collins, 2011). However, they were still stereotyped. Also, the longitudinal studies were only over the period of one year. Researchers should look at data to see how the effects of viewing certain content can affect girls as they grow up and go into adulthood. Longer studies would likely give more conclusive data. Although I only covered studies that conclude negative affects of media on women, there were also studies that found media had a positive effect on women. This was only found in .05% of the studies, but is interesting nonetheless (Grabe, 2008). Lastly, I focused only on women but men are also affected by gender roles and stereotypes in the media.

When teaching, it is important to look at children for who they are as individuals. Some children need more guidance than others. In Module 2 we watched, read and discussed about how when working with children, the best way to be is authoritative. Authoritative adults have strong discipline and parental involvement. This way, whether male or female, children have a positive example to look up to outside of the media. Another difference educators will encounter besides sex is children with unequal childhoods. For online work we watched “Interview with Lareau (Unequal Childhoods author)”. From that we learned that it is important to remember how children are brought up will affect them. Boys and girls self-esteem may suffer not only because of media but also home life. Educators should be prepared to work with children who are brought up many different ways.

The first video I have attached below shows positive ways women were presented in the media, but also how the media failed women. It also highlights how media failed men, which is something I did not touch on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=596yX2dOFaE

The next video I have added shows how media have presented, objectified, and sexualized women in multiple media outlets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNzaHPe7os0

Finally, the third video shows the media bringing light to stereotypes. They look at how the phrase “like a girl” is used and perceived by children of different ages. It promotes confidence in women and is a great advertisement for women of all ages to see and be empowered by.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

In conclusion, the way women are being represented across media is continually in a sexual, objectified light. They are not only being under-represented, but represented in a poor manner. This can have negative affects on the way girls see themselves and their self-esteem. There is bias in the data looked at because it only focused on white women. Also, some studies should be looked at longer before drawing conclusive results. There are some positive advertisements aimed at changing stereotypes women face and the way girls see themselves. Overall though, the media needs to change its portrayal of women to help change women’s portrayal of themselves.

References

Collins, R. L. (2011). Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and Where Should We Go? Sex Roles, 64(3-4), 290-298. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9929-5

Furnham, A. & Mak, T. Sex Roles (1999) 41: 413. doi:10.1023/A:1018826900972

Grabe, S., Ward, L. M., & Hyde, J. S. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3), 460-476. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.460

Technology has a large impact on teaching and learning. In the technology in the classroom video titled “Wilmington Dixon”, the teacher Ms. Dixon integrated laptops into her classroom for students to use for research. This had a positive impact because students were able to learn about subjects in a more interesting way and it got them more involved. Ms. Dixon said that she had one student that had not completed an assignment all year. When they used the laptops, this particular student did the project early and even e-mailed her to let her know that they had completed it. This is a great example of how technology can make kids want to learn and have a positive impact.

While technology had a positive impact in Ms. Dixon’s classroom, it does not always work this way. Technology in pre-k through high school may be helpful. However, in college there are some noticeable drawbacks to technology in classroom. If students are able to use technology, such as laptops and cell phones, they can be easily distracted in class. Students may be taking notes on their laptops as well as online shopping or doing other homework. Other students may be taking notes and checking their phones. In our last class, we talked about the myth of multitasking. People do not multitask well and it actually takes them twice as long to complete a task when they are multitasking as opposed to doing the tasks separately. So, if a student in class has technology that they can use to “multitask”, they are likely not paying attention to class and are distracted because of this technology. This is a big drawback of technology usage in classrooms.

Overall, I believe that technology can be a really effective to get students involved, interested and educated. In research done by Pew it is seen that more educated people use Internet than those who are less educated. The more educated may use the Internet to learn more, which is why they are more educated. They may also use it because it is more accessible to them. Either way, this statistic shows that higher education is related to more Internet usage. This is a good example of how technology may be helpful in advancing children and their education. However, I do think there should be limits to technology usage. Cell phones usually aren’t necessary in the classroom and even though students like to check them during class it can be very distracting. Laptops also are not necessary unless students take notes that way or need them for research or in class activities. I would definitely ban cell phone usage in classrooms, unless they are necessary. Also, I would limit laptop usage. I had one professor who only let us use our laptops if we needed to for notes, however if she saw us using them for other things we were not allowed to have them anymore. I think that is a good strategy that will keep students on task.