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Curriculum Relevance
Task setting begins with what the various National Curriculum
documents have to say about media at Key Stages 3 and 4.
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The English National Curriculum – Media at Key Stages 3
and 4
5a) how meaning is conveyed in texts that include print, images
and sometimes sounds
5b) how choice of form, layout and presentation contribute to
effect [for example, font, caption, illustration in printed text,
sequencing, framing, soundtrack in moving image text]
5c) how the nature and purpose of media products influence
content and meaning [for example, selection of stories for a front
page or news broadcast]
5d) how audiences and readers choose and respond to media
(English Programme of Study for Key Stage 3 and 4)
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The first thing to note about the revised curriculum for England
is that the requirement has been beefed up in this version of the
curriculum. The previous version talked – in woolly terms
– about being ‘introduced to a wide range of
media’ and ‘given opportunities to analyse and evaluate
such material’ or given the opportunity to consider
‘how texts are changed when adapted to different
media’. This was often reduced to a piece of GCSE coursework
– the comparative media study. The new phrasing gives
teachers the chance to do slightly more.
In the Scottish National Curriculum, Standard Grade
courses in Language and Communication and in Creative and Aesthetic
Activities are likely to focus on the media.
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Language and Communication
Pupils read for pleasure and for information and develop their
understanding of and response to literature, including Scottish
literature, and the media. In doing so, they enlarge their language
repertoire and develop their critical faculties as well as
deepening their understanding of themselves and others. Pupils are
encouraged to express their feelings both orally and in
writing.
Creative and Aesthetic Activities
Courses within this mode offer pupils opportunities to engage in
a wide range of activities involving observing, designing, creating
and inventing. Such practical work, in a variety of media and
forms, offers opportunities for pupils to develop their aesthetic
skills and physical control to make statements of a unique kind and
to express their ideas, moods and emotions through visual media,
sound or action.
(Standard Grade Guidance, Scottish Office 2000)
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In the curriculum for Northern Ireland – currently
under review – the context for writing, reading activities
and speaking and listening all make reference to media study.
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Talking and Listening Activities
Pupils should have opportunities to engage in a wide range of
talking and listening activities, including
- listening to a range of fiction, poetry, drama and media texts
for enjoyment and pleasure;
- listening to, discussing and voicing a response to a range of
fiction, poetry, visual, audio-visual, media texts and music.
Reading Activities
Pupils should have opportunities to engage in a wide range of
reading activities, including:
- listening to and understanding stories, poems, songs, plays and
non-fiction, read aloud or on tape, radio or television;
- exploring and discussing how texts are represented in a medium
other than print.
Contexts for Writing
Writing will arise from a variety of experiences and contexts,
including:
- a wide range of texts including literary, non-literary and
media texts;
- audio-visual and visual aids, television and radio.
(Northern Ireland Office, 2000)
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The curriculum for Wales is closer to that for England
and makes very specific references to media study.
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Writing: Pupils should be taught to:
- recognise and analyse the characteristic features of different
types of text in print and other media
- analyse and evaluate a wide range of media and moving-image
texts.
Reading: Pupils should be given opportunities to:
- read a wide range of texts in a variety of forms including:
plays, novels and short stories, poems, non-literary texts, media
and moving-image texts.
(ACCAC, 2000)
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© 2000 Channel Four Television
Corporation
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