When Beth Marshall and Ozlem Sensoy attended the Informed Opinions workshop hosted by Simon Fraser University in Vancouver back in March, they had a specific goal in mind: their publisher expected them to be able to help raise the profile of their about-to-be-released new book, and they saw writing newspaper commentary as one means of doing so.
A little over a month later, despite the raging federal election campaign that provided little room on op ed pages for anything else, the two submitted a piece to The Vancouver Sun, since published, about Turn Off Screens week, providing thoughtful analysis about the pervasive influence of electronic and digital interface on every aspect of kids’ – and adults’ – lives.
Their book, Rethinking Popular Culture and Media, is an extraordinarily valuable resource for educators. It compiles dozens of essays about a wide variety of media literacy topics, written for and by teachers, offering useful insights and suggesting practical means of helping youth and adults “reflect on aspects of life that they may just take for granted.”
As they say in the introduction, the compiled articles
complicate the idea that popular culture is either bad or good and instead invite readers to look at familiar movies, books, games and so on as spaces where meanings are made and contested.
The book would make a valuable addition to the libraries of educators of all ages.