A new report finds most teachers view news literacy skills as critical, but just half of high school civics and American government teachers devote one or more units to teaching students how to critically think about the news.

 

In collaboration with the McCormick Foundation, Convergence Academies, an initiative of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago, aims to build the capacity of teachers to help their students explore and understand why news matters.

News in the Age of Convergence is a Convergence Academies project that seeks to increase student knowledge and skills in 21st century news and information literacy through the creation of classroom curriculum units that infuse news literacy and journalism, aligned to Common Core State Standards.

The project, which turns classrooms into simulated newsrooms, gives students hands-on experience in reporting and media-making. It kicked off at Donald L. Morrill Math & Science School and Tilden Career Community Academy earlier this spring. The project also provides teachers professional development through one-to-one coaching and classroom support by professional journalists and Digital Media Mentors.

Adriana Díaz, Journalism Curriculum Consultant, Convergence Academies, sat down with Sharon Holmes, a freshman English teacher at Tilden, to gain more perspective on her process for teaching news literacy in the classroom. She shared reflections, lessons learned and hard challenges—like her decision to have a frank and open discussion with her students about Endia Martin’s death.  Endia, a 14-year-old Tilden freshman student, was shot and killed on her way home from school in April.

Read more from Díaz’s interview below.

Q: What were your initial thoughts when you were approached with this project?

A: When I first heard about this whole News Convergence thing, I was just like, “Great. Another thing we have to do”—I didn’t think it was going to be very important or even very useful.

But then I started creating a new unit with Convergence called the  “This I Believe” project^[1] and I was given Luke Sequeira, a Convergence digital media mentor to work with. He came in and he was amazing!

When Luke and I told students we were going to upload their podcasts onto the Internet,  I noticed that the kids then put a lot more effort into it because they realized they had a real audience—a lot of people were going to hear it and they wanted to look good. In turn it made them work harder on their project. So I was really impressed with that.

So when I got ready to do the Our America unit, which I’ve taught several times before, and I heard I was going to get Suzanne McBride, a journalist from Columbia College, and then that Luke was going to come in and work with us again, I was really excited, and the kids were excited about it. It worked out really well.

Q: It sounds like accountability ended up being an important part of the unit?

It was very important because the kids—they don’t want to look stupid. They put stuff out on Instagram, and Facebook, and all this other stuff, and some of it they know is silly. But this project was really reflecting on what they knew intellectually; they wanted to make sure that it really represented them. At the same time, I think for some of them it was the first time they realized that not everything that they see and read on the news and in the media is totally true and it’s not the whole story.  I think it was the first time they realized, ‘Hey I have a voice, I can tell my story, I can tell my perspective on things. Not everything that’s in the news is 100 percent accurate. If I want it to be accurate I have to tell my side of the story.’

Q:  You mentioned earlier these reflections and realizations happened for many students when they monitored how Endia Martin’s death was covered by mainstream media. Could you tell me more?

A: Several of the students were actually there when Endia was killed. They knew for a fact that the media was getting it wrong. What they were most outraged about was that the media wanted to push the story about how Endia was fighting over a boy. Kids were like, ‘Why do they keep saying that!?’ One student reflected that it probably sounded better to them [media], than that she was there to keep the peace.

So we ended up exploring it a bit. I think they started realizing the angles in which people tell stories and why they tell stories the way they tell them.

Q: Do you thinking taking on active roles as journalists made a difference in how students learned about news?

A: I think it did. Suzanne McBride and I decided that students should be pitching. The students came up with three different stories that interested them came up to the front of the class and pitched their stories. Other students gave them feedback, asked questions, and helped them clarify. With that feedback, it helped guide them into picking a story they wanted to tell. We also talked about what journalists do—Suzanne was really key in that.

Q: Can you share other lessons learned from your process as a teacher teaching news literacy?

A: I learned that my kids don’t watch the news at all and they don’t pay a lot of attention to it. For two reasons, one: there’s a camp that think the news is all negative. They’re like, ‘I get tired of hearing about people getting shot. I don’t want to listen to it.’ Or two: they feel that it’s not relevant to them, like the news is not about them. Unless something like the Endia tragedy happens, then it becomes relevant, then they were reading the paper.

One thing I want to do next year before we start the News in the Age of Convergence unit again, I want to make consuming the news a regular part of what they do in the classroom. I’m excited about it. If we can get the blog going and get it to where the kids can really see what they have to say matters; they can become more serious about their world and their voice.  It’s all about giving them their voice. For me, it’s about them realizing that they have power and that they just have to learn how to channel it and use it.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Read more about what Tilden’s freshman students have to say

Visit: http://tildenamerica.wordpress.com/

Categories: News & Updates, Program Updates, Tips for Teachers