CML's Leadership Role in Professional Development

CML has long been recognized as a leader in professional development for media literacy, especially in the United States. Among the Center's contributions are:

  • CML's Research and Evaluation has shown that professional development counts. How much teacher training is needed to deliver effective instruction to students? A longitudinal evaluation study by UCLA of the Center for Media Literacy's violence prevention curriculum Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media, (2006) revealed  that middle school students of teachers whom CML trained for one day (six hours) were more likely to:  a) agree that media violence may cause adverse effects b) understand CML's Five Core Concepts of media literacy c) mitigate their media consumption and d) reduce their aggression.  These significant findings provide evidence that professional development is essential for results, and that media literacy is indeed an effective strategy for teaching, learning and for healthful behaviors.

  • CML offers pioneering workshops and seminars, including the acclaimed community education programs such as Project SMARTArt, Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media. and A Recipe for Action: Deconstructing Food Advertising. These programs have been recognized by California Healthy Kids, a resource clearinghouse, as high-quality curriculum for both in-school and after-school programs.  
     
  • CML utilizes project-based learning and media production, always featured in curricula that CML develops; its Breakfast Epiphanies curriculum utilizes construction as the central element through which to learn to access, analyze, evaluate and create nutrition-oriented information.  Each of CML's curricula gives in-depth instruction and professional development opportunities for teachers.  CML is an experienced and proven developer and provider of media literacy training and training materials, and has worked with a broad range of organizations and agencies, at all levels, developing customized programs as well as offering public workshops and events.         
                 
  • CML is developer and publisher of the CML MediaLit Kit
    This growing collection of tools and resources, originally released in 2002, utilizes CML's basic framework for inquiry-based media education. Ideal for introductory workshops, teacher training, or community/parent education, it includes a host of books, curricula, assessments, and professional development modules.  CML's Trilogy addresses Change Management, Deconstruction and Construction -- the essential elements for introducing a media literacy program.  Additions and changes are made to the Kit on a regular basis.
     
  • CML offers Global OnRamp Materials
    Global OnRamp materials are introductory materials, charts, and activities to help educators get started with media literacy.  The materials, available in a variety of languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic), are FREE as downloads from our CML Store. 
     
  • CML implements Demonstration Projects
    Practical, real-world, funded projects designed and implemented by CML provide living laboratories to demonstrate how media literacy integrates across the curriculum. Working closely with teachers to discover and meet their classroom needs, these projects allow for testing and refinement of how media literacy can be used to meet state education standards and deliver literacy skills for the 21st Century. They also show how embedding the inquiry-based framework from the MediaLit Kit creates a sound pedagogical foundation for both curriculum development specialists and teachers.

    Such demonstration projects include:

    Project SmartArt, funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Smoke Detectors!, funded through the County of Orange (CA) Health Agency and Media Literacy: A Recipe for Action, implemented both in Los Angeles, Missouri and New York as a nutrition-related health intervention, and Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media.
     
  • CML contributes to Public Policy Debates. CML is often active in initiating and responding to public policy issues of interest to the media literacy field.  Whether presenting at the National Conference of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Education, providing an information session on media literacy to policy makers or responding to requests for information from the Federal Communications Commission, CML is a recognized national expert.  Internationally, CML has participated in forums throughout the world -- Asia, the Middle East, South America and Europe.  This e-book is an example of the types of information and recommendations that CML is called upon to provide.  For example, Tessa Jolls presented at the first information session on media literacy at the U.S. Dept. of Education, and on "The Impact of Technology on Character Education" at a U.S. Dept. of Education Symposium on Character Education in Washington, D.C. Aug. 18, 2008.   
  • CML has articulated an intellectual foundation from which the best ideas for teaching spring.
    CML has actively contributed to intellectual evolution of media literacy in the U.S., first through the publishing of early articles in Media&Values magazine and writings of founder Elizabeth Thoman, CML president Tessa Jolls and CML's professional staff. This thought leadership is further reflected in CML's historical archives, in the foundational articles on media literacy listed on this site, and in CML's extensive library, possibly the most comprehensive reference library in the U.S. The Voices of Media Literacy project features first-person interviews with 20 founders of the media literacy field, active internationally prior to 1990.  The working familiarity with these many resources provide a sound theoretical basis for projects such as the MediaLit Kit  and all work that CML does.
  • CML has wide acquaintance with the leading practitioners and projects in the media literacy field.
    As a leadership organization in the field, CML is regularly called upon to collaborate in training projects, author articles and present at international and national, state and local conferences, as well as at colleges and universities.
  • CML provided Founding support for the Alliance for a Media Literate America, now renamed the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).
    CML endorsed the formation of this professional membership organization as a building block in developing media literacy in the United States. Elizabeth Thoman was a founding board member of the AMLA as well as one of four founders of its predecessor organization, the Partnership for Media Education (PME). Tessa Jolls is the first lifetime member.