Teaching Philosophy

          I once heard a story about one of the great ancient philosophers. He was approached by a young man who sought to be his apprentice. The boy pleaded from the master to let him learn by the great scholar's side. The philosopher led the boy to a nearby river and prompted him to dip his face into it. When the boy did so, the teacher held the boy's head under until the struggling grew violent. Exasperated and in disbelief the boy starred at the teacher. The teacher's only reply, "When your desire to learn is as strong as your desire to breathe, then come speak to me."
          I'm pretty sure a teacher like that wouldn't last long in our day and age, but the idea is one that has found its way deep into my heart. The old philosopher's analogy may have been over-the-top but the message is vividly clear. What if the boy decided struggling for breath required too much effort and he gave up. Obviously he would drown. In the extremely competitive and ever-changing world we find ourselves in today, giving up on learning is, in essence, giving up your life, dooming yourself to failure. In the same way, ignorance can have the same crippling effect.
          When I was serving my mission in Japan, I was always shocked at the choice of music amongst some of the younger church members. Although they were upstanding, righteous people I would catch them listening to American songs with extremely explicit lyrics. I confronted one of them about it and he responded that he had no clue what the words meant, he just liked how it sounded. I was shocked that he would support something he knew nothing about, but this is a common trap popular media poses. Media literacy has never been as important as it is now, and yet so often we find ourselves either too lazy to look deeper into the media we consume or completely oblivious to its meaning all together.
          One might argue that "ignorance is bliss." That may be true, and those Japanese young men are probably better off not knowing the filth that plagues their ears, but a bigger issue is at stake here. As our good friends Adorno and Horkheimer gently reminded us in The Culture Industry, when society is subdued into that passive, ignorant state by mainstream media we blur the lines between what is and what should be. Progression itself comes to a halt and society sinks into a deep rut. Passive consumption of music, without deep thought about the creation and meaning of it will leave the tires of progression spinning in the same rut. I speak of society as a whole, but the same principle remains true in an individual life, for what is being "media literate" if not being able to read (or interpret) media as well as write (or create) it?
          And yet a purely Horkheimer view on media would do little to improve the situation either. Simply noting the problem is not enough. This is where my philosophy and the tale of the ancient philosopher comes in. I firmly believe that real learning and real teaching only takes place when both parties are invested in the process. The student and teacher must have the same thirst for understanding. Name presented a beautiful method of making this student/teacher journey happen when he wrote about the affinity space. Where Adorno would write off all popular media as garbage (he actually does use such terminology... and that was back in the 50's! imagine if those two could see what we are making now!) Name's optimistic view presents an opportunity for teacher and student to become passionate and invested in media instead of passive and ignorant consumers of it. But, as stated before, this affinity space method can only work when both sides want to learn. A perfect example of this is my teacher Brad Barber. He teaches video production classes here at BYU and often references current films, techniques, and events that he knows the students are interested in. Not only are his lectures based in media we can relate with, but he continues in his own video production endeavors and shares his progress with the class. This practice clearly shows the students he is invested in the affinity space and it is my experience that his actions inspire students to follow suite.
         Utilizing the affinity space is not the only method for teaching media literacy, but the principle behind it is, I feel, the most important part of this transferring of knowledge we call teaching and learning. And that principle is that a student will never learn to be media literate if he or she sees media as a pause button on life, or mere entertainment. Similarly, a teacher will never get through to his students if he or she is not willing to put in the same effort to become media literate himself. This means the teacher can no longer rest on his extensive knowledge of the Dewy-decimal system. He must learn advancing technologies and be able to navigate online databases. 
         This brings me to the final point of my philosophy. With constantly evolving media, teachers may find themselves overwhelmed and even intimidated by their students who seem to have a knack for new things. Freire would tell us that this is a key element to a successful classroom. Recognizing that no one person holds all the answers and that students have much to offer in a teacher environment is not only important, but essential! Discussion, 2-way communication, is what brings about understanding.
         In the tale I mentioned above, the young man was awakened to the necessity of knowledge only after his survival instincts kicked in. We are currently drowning in the river of media that surrounds us today. The need for the "fresh air" of media literacy is not just a nice bonus to our educations, but vital if we are to ever free ourselves from the rut of "what is" into the world of "what we could be."