media education association

The journal of the Media Education Association

As debates about media literacy and moral panics about new media proliferate, teachers need a forum where they can explore ideas and develop strategies. We hope PoV will be that forum. It will offer a space that allows us to have an internal discussion and a platform from which to address other players in the field.

Since PoV is the journal of the MEA, its ultimate role will be determined by its membership. Each issue of PoV will be put together by a team of three editors, hopefully reflecting a range of different perspectives and "points of view". Once the system is fully functioning, each troika of editors will have several months of preparation time in which to commission articles, reviews and reports.

We would like to hear from anyone who can help out with the production of the journal - if you think you have something to contribute as a writer, an editor, a photographer, a designer, a proofreader or anything else you can think of, then please email us at the address on the right of this page.

Issue

Details

pov1

Issue #1: Dec 2008

Editors: Cary Bazalgette, Jenny Grahame and Roy Stafford

The inaugural edition of PoV looks at a range of pressing current issues that are important to everyone teaching media, but which are presented in terms of work in different sectors.

Cary Bazalgette questions the profileration of literacies, arguing there should be only one literacy. Cary's article is available to download here. Also available to download for members is Roy Stafford's in the picture article on the Creative and Media Diploma. Roy offers an update on the diploma in PoV.

Other PoV articles include the first of two reports on Film Club by Terry Bolas while advanced skills teacher Elaine Homer writes about students as media authors. Jenny Grahame also looks at the role of continuing professional development and how it can best help media teachers.

The issue also contains a number of reviews of the latest media education titles.

pov2

Issue #2: Spring 2009

Editors: Roy Stafford, Ian Wall and Nick Potamitis

PoV2 has a theme of 'progression'. David Buckingham argues for more research into what actually happens in media education classrooms. He believes that research reveals that children engage with media at an earlier age than is usually accepted and that this has an important bearing on progression questions. This is demonstrated in a report on a major project on moving image media conducted across primary schools in Lincolnshire written up by Jeannie Bulman and Chris Whitney. Jackie Newman and Roy Stafford then address the progression from GCSE to A Level in terms of the new Film Studies GCSE and John Wardle suggests how higher education should handle the transfer of students from the Creative and Media Diploma onto HE courses.

As well as the usual range of reviews, this issue also continues its coverage of the Film Club initiative with a follow-up article by Terry Bolas to his PoV1 offering and an account of what starting a Film Club operation in a secondary school actually means from Steve Murray.

Why PoV?

PoV has been chosen as the journal title as it serves two purposes - the term "point of view", abbreviated as PoV is used in film and television as well as in other narrative modes to refer to images presented as the viewpoint of a specific character. In this sense, the use of the technical term simply indicates attention to the analysis of how media communications produce meanings. But PoV also refers to a wish to present "points of view" in the sense of the individual and collective voices with something to say about media education.

To contact the editors, email meajournal@gmail.com