Like last week, the discussion about television and it’s value in our society continues. This week the idea of TV shows being used for not only entertainment but also as education. We’ve all been through the struggle of having to read Shakespeare and other texts that, let’s be honest, are a bit outdated. As stated in the reading about using Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a post-modern teaching tool, a lot of the texts we are mandated to consume in school are mostly written by and about white straight cisgender men. Using post modern text, more specifically television, provides a more diverse and up to date views and stories. They can include women, people of color, the LGBT+ community, etc. all of which could be included in a text format, but aren’t commonly represented, and even if they are in books, it’s not as evident. Television also provides a way of learning that’s a bit different than reading a book. Even if you aren’t a fan of a show, it’s still somewhat easy to follow along and get the gist. If you don’t like a book you’re reading, it’s easy to get side tracked, not take in any information, or zone out. It also presents more ways to digest the information you’re given. The episode Hush from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a great example of how many ways you can take in information.

One advantage of television is how many ways it can relay information. As previously stated, Buffy shows this well. Books are very basic, you read the words on the page, and sometimes, you create an image in your mind to associate with what the text is saying. TV allows you to see the character’s actions, social cues, emotions, etc. You can also listen to what they’re saying, how they’re saying it, when they say it, etc. Lastly, you could also still be reading when watching a show, but even that has much more context and information than just text, you can see how it’s written, where, why, and so on. Overall, TV shows provide much more context and information to the audience, you could see how helpful that would be in a learning environment, especially if you’re trying to analyze situations like most literature classes tend to do. This would also make learning a bit more accessible. Not everyone is able to take information in the same way as a lot of people are, text is a very hard medium of language to get emotion from sometimes, and with out the context of emotion, a lot of situations can be misinterpreted greatly.

Television being present in classrooms also provides the opportunity to provide a more diverse education. It could start conversations about things like social issues such as racism and sexism that otherwise might not have even been thought about. Buffy provides a strong female lead who takes charge but also deals with human issues. Most books used in education don’t have anything like this, representation of all groups is important whether you are a part of that group or not. Television also helped to give a platform to many female comedians who otherwise might not have been able to find the success they did in the industry without it. Some of the comedians, discussing matters that are important to them, were frowned upon because it’s something people thought should not be talked about. This media is important in so many ways regarding diversity and education, and amplifying the voices of people who in other media’s don’t have them.

My question regarding the content this week is about TV being used for education. Do you think more classrooms will implement shows like Buffy into their class content or do you think this will remain as a rarity within schools?