Top 5 Songs at My Funeral:

Top 5 Songs at My Funeral:

Using Music For Critical Inquiry

Michael Robb GriecoTemple University



Presentation Overview:

•Engage in mini-lessons from the film High Fidelity (Frears, 2000)

•Share Student Music Presentations assignment design

•Ground ideas in communications research and education philosophy

•Describe student work and class experiences

•Summarize risks and rewards: key issues and keys to success

•Open discussion

Rationale for a Music UnitIn Media Literacy class

“Suffice it to say that a consistent observation of research has been that an in involvement with (mainly popular) music is especially prominent during adolescence, and that this appears to be greater than involvement with other media. (Lyle & Hoffman, 1972; Davis, 1985; Larson et al., 1989; Geter & Streisand 1995).”

(Tarrant, North & Hargreaves, 2002, p. 135)


Categories of Adolescent Media Use:•entertainment •identity formation•high sensation•coping•youth culture identification

(Arnett, Larson, & Offer, 1995).


Categories of Adolescent Media Use:•entertainment •identity formation•high sensation•coping•youth culture identification

“…which, except for entertainment, are theorized to be developmental, in the sense they may be more important for adolescents than for children or adults.” (Arnett, Larson, & Offer, 1995).


Theoretical frame:

Media literacy allows students to more actively shapethe roles of various media in

•their own identity development and psychological processes (Potter, 2004)

•and in their own cultural practices (Buckingham, 2003; Jenkins, 2006).

Lessons from High Fidelity (2000)

[Show clip from opening of the film:Synopsis section A; use for next 3 slides]


"What came first, the music or the misery?

…Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable?

Or, was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"


Protagonist, Rob, as a model of media literacy inquiry:

•Strives to take responsibility for decisions

•Investigates his media and entertainment choices as part of personal social and cultural identity

•Transforms his relationship as consumer and producer of meanings from media


Protagonist, Rob, as a model of media literacy inquiry:

•Circumvents 3rd person effect:a tendency for people to believe that media influence others’ lives much more than their own (Perloff, 1993).


[Insert 2nd clip, shows Rob coping with his breakup byArranging his records autobiographically-- See synopsis, section G]


Assignment:

Arrange your music collection autobiographically.

•music as a part of identity and experience


Assignment: Arrange your music collection autobiographically.

“The media representations we consume extend symbolically far beyond what the author may have intended to express.

…We are constantly engaged in ‘textual poaching,’ creating meanings that are personal and idiosyncratic because they are accompanied by emotional involvement (Jenkins, 1992).” (Hobbs, 2006, p. 88)


Taste Cultures:

How do students use music tastes to distinguish themselves from others?


[Insert clip 3 here: Rob and the record shop clerkstease a customer for being a geek, using their knowledgeand cultural capital for power--see synopsis section i ]


Taste Cultures in Communications Research:

•Subcultures based on music tastes and styles resist dominant culture (Hebdige, 1979)




•Cultural capital, distinction (Bourdieu, 1984)




•Cultural capital, distinction (Bourdieu, 1984)

•Club cultures, subcultural capital (Thornton, 1995)




•Cultural capital, distinction (Bourdieu, 1984; Fiske, 1992)

•Club cultures, subcultural capital (Thornton, 1995)

•Beyond subculture, fluidity of hybrid cultural identities (Ruq, 2006)


Taste Cultures:

How do students use music tastes to distinguish themselves from others?

How do students use music tastesto connect to others?


[insert clip 4: Rob connects with a musician woman in a bar through pop culture references and music taste,and shares his philosophy of the phenomenon in a monologue to the camera--see synopsis section O]


Think, Pair and Share—

•Is it true that “what really matters is what you like, not what you are like,” or is it vice versa?

…Is Rob shallow?


[Insert clip 5: Rob and the record shop clerks get thenews of Rob’s ex’s Dad’s death, and respond withtribute lists of top 5 songs about death; then,Rob, at the funeral, lists the top songs for his funeral--See synopsis section U & V]


Activity: List the Top 5 Songs for your funeral.



Think, Pair, and Share:

•What did you have to consider to make your decisions?




•Connect to 5 Core Questions of Media Literacy:

1. Who is sending the message and what is the author’s purpose?

2. What techniques are used to attract and hold attention?

3. What lifestyles, values and points of view, are represented?

4. How might different people interpret this message differently?

5. What is omitted from the message?




•Connect to 5 Core Questions of Media Literacy

•Inquiry across personal, social and cultural levels

Student Music Presentations


Educational Philosophy Framework:

•Challenge to teach marketable skills (Delpit, 1995)

•Challenge to care (Noddings, 1992)




We must directly teach skills and communicative forms valued in the culture of power to those outside of that culture of power so that those who do not grow up within privileged discourses may have access to the social and economic benefits of dominant discourses.

(based on Delpit, Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the classroom, 1995)



•Challenge to care for students holistically (Noddings, 1992)

“Schools must expand from their narrow focus on academic discipline to involve the student in multidimensional domains of caring...We need a scheme that speaks to the existential heart of life; one that calls attention to our passions, attitudes, concerns, connections, and responsibilities.”

(Noddings, Challenge to Care in Schools, 1992, p. 47)




•Challenge to care (Noddings, 1992)


•Structure (discuss handout, side 1)

•Themes (discuss handout, side 2)

•Student work, class experience[see working paper: Top 5 Songs at My Funeral: Using Music for Critical Thinking, pp. 14-16,http://mediaeducationlab.com/index.php?page=175]

Music Presentation: Rubric

Title _____/10--Creative/catchy --intriguing/apt

Introduction _____/10--grabs/engages audience --opening memorized --previews main points/ importance --smooth/dynamic

Transitions _____/10--logical/smooth connections --avoids “tacked on” sound--internal (b/t details) --external (b/t main points)

Main Body _____/20

Conclusion/Resolution _____/10

Delivery _____/20--poise --authority/presence --pace--voice/emphasis --gesture/movement --eye contact

Outline _____/10

Timely _____/10--5+min. speech --5+min. music-- <15 min. total --music cued and ready

Total _____/100


Risky Business: Issues to manage

•Speaker vulnerability•Audience judgments•Audience comfort, safety•Class appropriateness•Censorship•Educational value for time spent






•Speaker vulnerability-protected from student responses in class-protected by teacher response focused on successes-risks rewarded with applause, positive commentary-fear of public speaking balanced with interest-speaking skills aided by using music and visuals to communicate



•Speaker vulnerability•Audience judgments

-given private voice in response journals-reframed as curiosity in others’ tastes-reframed as learning about public speaking techniques



•Speaker vulnerability•Audience judgments•Audience comfort, safety

-prioritized explicitly-pre-screened ideas and material-managed through student investment in the project



•Speaker vulnerability•Audience judgments•Audience comfort, safety•Class appropriateness

-explicitly discuss foul language -explicitly discuss controversial topics and content-place onus on students-require pre-screening for any questionable content



•Speaker vulnerability•Audience judgments•Audience comfort, safety•Class appropriateness•Censorship

-students self-censor material-interrupt and postpone presentations-penalize presentations requiring interruption




-maximized through commentary, feedback, journals-situates media literacy inquiry and critical thinkingwithin students own choices, identities beyond class-emphasizes the most difficult marketable skill


Keys to Success:

•Spirit of Inquiry: curiosity trumps condemnation

•Safety & Security for diverse perspectives

•Focus on Student Knowledge, Expertise & Interest

•Real Audience, Real Stakes

•Balance of Choice & Obligation

•Connection to Core ML Concepts




Contact: [email protected]

Open Discussion…

mailto:[email protected]




Contact: [email protected]

[for a narrative, working paper version of this presentation:http://mediaeducationlab.com/index.php?page=175]

mailto:[email protected]



References (p 1 of 3)

Arnett, J. J. (1995). Adolescents uses of media for self-socialization. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(5), 519-533.

Arnett, J. J., Larson, R., & Offer, D. (1995). Beyond effects - adolescents as active media users. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(5), 511-518.

Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

boyd, d. (2007). Research on social network sites. Retrieved April 24, 2007:http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2006/08/19/research_on_soc.html

Buckingham, D. (2003). Media education : Literacy, learning, and contemporary culture. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Delpit, Lisa. Other People's Children; Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York, NY: New Press, 1995.

Fiske, J. (1992). The cultural economy of fandom. In L. A. Lewis (Ed.), The adoring audience: Fan culture and popular media (pp. 30-49). New York: Routledge.

Hebdige, D. (1979). Subculture, the meaning of style. London: Methuen.

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2006/08/19/research_on_soc.html





References (p. 2 of 3)

High Fidelity. Dir. Stephen Frears. Touchstone, 2000.Hobbs, R. (2006). Reading the Media: Media literacy in high school English. NY:

Teachers College Press.Hobbs, R. (2001). Expanding the concept of literacy. In R. Kubey, (Ed.), Media Literacy

in the information age: Current perspectives. Information and behavior volume 6 (pp. 163-186). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Huq, R. (2006). Beyond subculture: Pop, youth and identity in a postcolonial world. New York: Routledge.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Retrieved October 29, 2006, from

http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2108773/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7BCD911571-0240-4714-A93B-1D0C07C7B6C1%7D&notoc=1Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans & participatory culture. New

York: Routledge.Noddings, Nel. The Challenge to Care in Schools: An Alternative Approach to

Education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 1992.

http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2108773/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7BCD911571-0240-4714-A93B-1D0C07C7B6C1%7D&notoc=1








References (p. 3 of 3)

Perloff, R. M. (1993). Third-person effect research 1983-1992: A review and synthesis.International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 5, 167-184.

Potter, W. J. (2004). Theory of media literacy: A cognitive approach. London: Sage Publications.

Tarrant, M., North, A., & Hargreaves, D. (2002). Youth identity and music. In R. Macdonald, D. Hargreaves, & D. Miell (Eds.), Musical Identities (pp. 134-150). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Thornton, S. (1995). Club cultures : Music, media, and subcultural capital. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

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Top 5 Songs at My Funeral: