Managing and Running a Successful Media Department
Michael Parkes
Michael has spoken at the OCR Media conference for the last four years; leading sessions on student centred approaches to teaching Postmodernism, Textual Analysis, the Music Industry and Editing. Michael’s approach applies games, practical activities and the student’s own media experience to explore media theory and practice. He has over 12 years experience teaching and managing both Media and Film studies in FE, HE and has run education programmes for the BFI and local cinemas. Michael has recently left formal teaching to establish his own arts education business in Somerset which incorporates bespoke arts and media training, accommodation as well as a rural cinema.
In this session Michael will share his experience and insights into how to best organise and manage a successful media studies department. The session will be ideal for both established teachers and anyone starting out as a media teacher or manager. With a focus on macro management techniques; the session will identify what makes a successful department and how getting the initial foundations right can improve student performance, recruitment, wellbeing and progression. The session will explore ideas on how to help your department grow; through promotion, marketing, social media and engagement with the local community. The session will also cover how events and trips can be used to motivate students; how to organise your curriculum, how to encourage creativity in your students to ensure success in practical modules, how to manage your departments finances and develop resources and how to create and maintain a strong departmental identity.
Creating Better Practical Work for AS Students
Kirsty Lowdon
Kirsty Lowdon is a Senior Teacher of English and Media Studies who has worked at Cranford Community College for ten years. She is the Assistant Principal moderator for the OCR G321 Foundation Portfolio and delivers OCR INSET training.
Practical work is a very demanding aspect of any media course. It takes meticulous preparation, hours of additional commitment and painstaking monitoring. And that’s from you and not the students! This session aims to provide teachers with a variety of suggested teaching activities and a range of exemplar practical material with the intention of increasing successful outcomes.
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Bring and Buy Pedagogy for Critical Media Thinking
Julian McDougall
Julian McDougall is Associate Professor of Media and Education and Head of the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice. He is Principal Examiner for A Level Media Studies, editor of the Media Education Research Journal and Journal of Media Practice, author of a range of books for media teachers and students and journal articles in the fields of media education and media literacy. He leads a special interest group in media literacy for the UKLA and runs an Educational Doctorate programme for media teachers.
Students' application of media theory to their own examples is a key element of successful responses to exam questions on contemporary debates.
Where students have been taught not only theories and contexts but also appear to have been provided with a 'stock' of teacher-led examples, the
potential for them to demonstrate reflective critical thinking about their own mediated culture is impeded.
In this workshop, I will share a strategy for a 'bring and buy' approach, where a reciprocal process sees students 'buying' theory but bringing
examples to the classroom. This strategy was implemented with an A Level group as part of an action research project, with successful outcomes.
During the session we will see the process and some outcomes, discuss opportunities for doing the same with participants' own students, and
pre-empt challenges which may arise
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Rethinking Representation
Jason Mazzocchi
Jason has been a regular contributor to the OCR Media Studies Conference since its inception. He has delivered programmes which have covered Textual Analysis and presented case studies on Media Institutions and Audiences. Jason has taught Media Studies for over 20 years and after leading a highly successful department in London he is currently is Head of Department at Hurtwood House School.
He is also a principal examiner for OCR, and in this capacity has been regularly involved in training of new and experienced teachers. Jason has been proactive with media teacher networks throughout London and nationally and has acted as a media consultant for various bodies. He has contributed to Media Magazine and to the BFI Media conference for teachers; Jason has organised numerous media student conferences he is the author of OCR’s AS Dynamic learning for Media teachers.
He is also a principal examiner for OCR, and in this capacity has been regularly involved in training of new and experienced teachers. Jason has been proactive with media teacher networks throughout London and nationally and has acted as a media consultant for various bodies. He has contributed to Media Magazine and to the BFI Media conference for teachers; Jason has organised numerous media student conferences he is the author of OCR’s AS Dynamic learning for Media teachers.
Jason’s session will aim to explore the key concept of media representation and TV drama. He will be sharing ways of re-thinking the concept using the technical analysis of audio-visual extracts which can be used in lessons with students. Amongst the areas we will consider are how hierarchies of meaning can be established within a text, how TV drama uses sound and editing to provide juxtaposition, contrast and/ or comparison of perspectives and the extent to which readings may be negotiated by audiences.
Where We've Been, and Where We're Going
Jenny Grahame
Jenny Grahame has taught Media Studies since 1979, first in London comprehensives and youth centres, and later as the Media advisor at the English and Media Centre, where she has run media education CPD, initial teacher education courses, action research projects, Diploma and Masters modules for BFI, Birkbeck and the Institute of Education, and authored a wide variety of classroom resources and teacher publications for over 25 years. She has worked across a range of primary, KS3, vocational, GCSE and A level contexts, and has been particularly committed to practical classroom pedagogy. She is founder and Editor of MediaMagazine.
Jenny was involved with the development of the OCR specification back in its earliest days, and has been a coursework moderator and examiner at various stages of its history.
Jenny was involved with the development of the OCR specification back in its earliest days, and has been a coursework moderator and examiner at various stages of its history.
In this session we’ll dig deep into the archives to explore the ways Media Studies as a subject has changed over the last 30+ years, and to ask some tricky questions about where it’s been, where it’s going, and what it’s for. We’ll look at examples of student production work and writing over time, in relation to ideas about theory and practice, the evolving media landscape, and constant changes in education policy and structures. The session aims to provoke debate about current practice and assessment issues, ways of enriching students’ experiences, and the kinds of Media Studies we’d like to see in the future.
Please visit the official OCR A-Level Media Studies homepage for all the latest past papers, examiner reports and specifications
Links:
2014 Blog
2013 Blog
2012 Blog
2011 Blog
2010 Blog
2009 Blog
2008 Blog
2007 Blog
Examples of Work
OCR Weeblies
Links:
2014 Blog
2013 Blog
2012 Blog
2011 Blog
2010 Blog
2009 Blog
2008 Blog
2007 Blog
Examples of Work
OCR Weeblies