Pat Harrison | Manon Bourdeau | Suzanne Muir

Manon Bourdeau

Evaluation of professional development workshops for teachers: Exploring Media & Race and Deconstructing Online Hate

1. Preparation of workshop materials for the facilitator
   
   The documents that accompany the workshop provide a wealth of information for the facilitator. They are very clear and require no adjustments in the process of delivering the workshops. Media Awareness Network has really provided a ready-to-use resource.
   
   Moreover, the messages presented in these resources stimulate reflection at both the cognitive and emotional levels. In fact, their relevance and logic make us stop and think and encourage us to want to take action. After viewing the slides, which contain practical examples of how the media convey information regarding ethnic diversity and hate propaganda, one will never read a newspaper, watch a television program or evaluate a multimedia game again in the same way; our framework for analyzing information is altered, making us better prepared to evaluate the information as well as the impact of the medium through which it is delivered.
   
   These workshops also provide ample opportunity for the facilitator to relate the issues under discussion to the Quebec curriculum. They illustrate many of the key underpinnings of media awareness: recognition of the place and influence of media in one’s daily life and in society; the assessment of media representations of reality; and the use of media codes and conventions.
   
   
2. Presentation of the two workshops Reviewers:
   
   Annie Gaudreault, French educational consultant
   Julie Dussault, Adaptation educator
   Alain Stokcless, Computer and information systems teacher
   Isabelle Fortin, French teacher
   
   The participants offered these comments following the presentation:
   
   Strong points:
   
   
   • The presentations stimulate critical thinking. They take us straight to the heart of media literacy.
   • They suggest avenues for best approaches to media education
   • They make us want to address these areas of study with our pupils.
   • The presentations succeed as a group activity: they stimulate lively discussion and provide everyone with food for thought.
   • The workshop on ethnic diversity strikes home the most and can be used even in Grades 7, 8 and 9, as well as in senior secondary.
   • The workshop on hate propaganda is most suited to students at the senior secondary level.
   
   
   Points open to improvement:
   
   
   • The suggested additional activities need some improvements; the flow of ideas is not always clear

In conclusion, the two workshops created by Media Awareness Network are an excellent resource for helping teachers to understand media education and to help students properly grasp media issues. A teacher who has been through these workshops is prepared to teach these two areas of study with a good understanding and can subsequently facilitate meaningful learning with their students, be it in English, History or Moral Education.

While the workshops do a very good job of preparing the facilitator, the teacher can also take inspiration from this professional development opportunity and adapt the workshops for use in class. The teachers and the two educational consultants who participated in this evaluation intend to do so beginning next year.

Manon Bourdeau is an Academic Advisor and  RECIT consultant at Des Affluents School Board.