I remember when I was younger I would
watch the show Sesame Street like it was a daily routine. It was colorful and a
good form of entertainment. Prior to reading Postman’s book I believed that it
was a good way to learn some basic information along with some other
interesting tidbits. But in Chapter 10 he voices a concern that Sesame Street
was counterproductive when it came to teaching. He believed that since Sesame
Street was in fact, entertainment, it made children uninterested when it came
time to sit down and learn in a conventional classroom environment.
At first I agreed with his
statement because it seemed reasonable for children to favor the interesting
characters on the show instead of a teacher. However as I think about it more I’m
leaning towards disagreeing with him. This was simply due to actual experiences
and ones I have personally witnessed. Yes, shows like Sesame Street make
learning interesting but I don’t think children require that kind of delivery
system to learn. All of my cousins and even my sister avidly watch shows like Dora
the Explorer and Sesame Street simply because it’s entertaining. The fact that
they’re learning is really just a bonus. Perhaps maybe some days they don’t enjoy
class and check out mentally but I think we’ve all done that. For those days there's most likely a logical reason like the lesson was simply uninteresting. Like I said I before,
I believe that children can learn even without a musical number or a person in
a large bird costume. But that’s opinionated of course. Do you think
educational shows alter children’s minds in a negative way?
I grew up watching "educational" television shows like Dora (I learned my basic Spanish from her) and I don't think it affects children's minds in a negative way because like you said, its for entertainment and learning is just a bonus. I think it's up to the parents to raise their kids to appreciate both learning in a class as well as television shows.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion on not agreeing with Postman and when I read that chapter I was also in a little disagreement with him. I disagreed because Sesame Street actually was an educational program and looking back I remember learning a lot of fundamental topics such as letters, numbers, and new vocabulary words. Although I did agree with him when he stated that children were bored in a classroom and would rather be learning through a television. I thought it was really fun to learn while watching a fun show like Sesame Street.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I kind of agree with Postman on this one. The only reason why he thinks educational shows on television are bad is because it doesn't prepare kids for real life classrooms. Sure, when you're younger the classrooms are colorful and full of singing. But just staring at a TV for entertainment and claiming it as learning? I just don't see it.
ReplyDeleteWe do judge teachers by their their entertainment value. Yaey chemistry fires!
ReplyDeleteThese "educational" shows like Dora and Sesame Street may not be seen as a way to teach children efficiently, but I do think in someways we gained some knowledge from these shows. At a young age we are entertained by these characters, and at the same time, we learned things like the alphabet and colors. I do agree with Postman that the way we view a classroom environment can be altered by these shows.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Bao. When I read that chapter I slightly disagreed with Postman. Honestly I think it depends on the person. As a kid, I would watch those educational and entertaining television shows. It made me excited to learn. In addition, it also made me excited to go to school and learn something new. Now that I'm grown up not so much but as a little kid I enjoyed both school and educational t.v. but I'm sure there are plenty of kids that would rather watch educational television instead of going to school.
ReplyDelete