Participatory Challenges

Challenges to Participatory Culture

Participatory culture is defined by Jenkins (2006) as being “a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.” (p.7) He goes on to explain that it is a part of someone’s daily life in which their involvement gives them satisfaction and meaning. According to Jenkins, participatory cultures involve some form of affiliation with an organization or group, expression, team, or circulation that involves creating and affecting an area of the media world. (2006)

As I posted in my blog previously, I have never been a part of a participatory culture as Jenkins has defined it. I have, however, been actively involved in what most people call life. Participatory culture begins on the playground at recess as a youngster, and evolves as we age and grow into the adults we will become. I asked one of my children what they believed was meant by Jenkins definition and what was being described, and they replied with childhood. Without the internet, participatory cultures would still be defined in the same way that life has always defined us.

Jenkins writes of the growing gap in participation as an issue that must be addressed and faced as our digitalized society evolves. I like how Jenkins points out that earlier, “youth who had access to books or classical recordings in their homes, whose parents took them to concerts or museums, or who engaged in dinner conversation developed, almost without conscious consideration, skills that helped them perform well in school.” (2006, p. 14) I am concerned that the same gap will develop between kids without access or permission to access emerging technologies and those with unrestrained access. I allow my own children only 30 minutes each day, outside of school related activities, to peruse the internet while having constant adult supervision. This has hampered their personal growth with computers in comparison to their peers just as Jenkins pointed out would happen. However, they continue to enjoy the museums, family games, books, literature, and writing exercises to name a minimal of activities that take the place of time spent in front of a computer.

     At one time, literacy could be based solely on how well we could read or write, but if we take a word based in its purest form, we see that it is neither reliant nor a negligible singularity of our own language.

     At first glance, there appears to be very little change in the way students learn from years past. It is apparent however, that teachers must adapt the way material is conveyed to students to achieve optimal success. Textbooks have become a fading aspect of schools because of the desire to change with current trends or perceived cost imbalances and have been replaced by new digital devices and handouts. It is up to the educator to learn to adapt to emerging technologies in order to maintain a progressive outlook on ways in which our youth are learning. “Effective teachers use a wide variety of teaching methods and techniques.” (Orlich, Harder, Callahan, Trevisan, & Brown, 2010, p. 162) Literacy is no longer a product of literature, but on the ability to understand the world around us and the exposure to an increasing digital atmosphere.

     Jenkins (2006) argues that “traditional literacy” must be taught and understood before these newer literacies can be utilized.(p. 19) I am concerned that this is not necessarily the case. My oldest child can write in cursive style whereas my youngest was never taught? Today, pilots learn how to fly helicopters in much the same way as I did, but are immediately transitioned to all digital cockpits and instruments. When they arrive for duty, they are no longer pilots, but more of a warm body and electronics sitter for a machine without the need to think on their own, navigate, and make decisions. When do we decide to maintain a standard, and when do we decide to alter our own level of standards and competencies to “adapt” to the world around us?

 

References

Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Jenkins, H.J. (2006)., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF