Resources for Teachers - Diversity in Media

Ontario Health Curriculum: Media and Digital Literacy Connections for K-12

The new Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum released this year by the Ontario Ministry of Education is the first major revision to the subject area in almost 30 years.

Body Image, Cyberbullying, Digital Health, Diversity in Media, Excessive Internet Use, Food Marketing, Gender Representation, Internet & Mobile, Marketing & Consumerism, Online Ethics, Professional Development, Resources, Social Networking, Video Games

Screen Stigma: Looking at mental illness in popular media

Students begin by viewing a slideshow that explores common stereotypes of mental illness and mental illness treatment in media. They read a prepared analysis of the portrayal of mental illness in a TV show popular with teens, then in a small group analyze another text of their choice. Finally, students create an annotated version of a scene or excerpt from a text in which they analyze and evaluate its portrayal of mental illness.

Digital Health, Diversity in Media, Persons with Disabilities, Stereotyping

Transgender Representations in TV and Movies

In this lesson, students are introduced to concepts of gender identity and gender expression and learn about common portrayals of trans people in movies and TV shows.

Diversity in Media, Gender Representation, Movies, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Stereotyping, Television

Introducing TV Families - Lesson

This lesson encourages children to explore the differences between their real families and TV families by imagining how their own families might be portrayed on a television show.

Diversity in Media, Stereotyping, Television

That's Not Me: Diversity and Media

The That’s Not Me tutorial focuses on the role that mainstream media play in shaping our perceptions about diversity. The tutorial explores what we see – and what we don’t see – on TV and in newspapers, video games, movies, the internet and other media. The tutorial looks at common trends in media portrayals of diversity and examines the reasons behind these trends; explores some of the factors behind media bias when covering diversity issues; and talks about the importance of media education to talking about diversity issues and empowering young people to take action.
Diversity in Media, Indigenous People, Media Literacy 101, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Visible Minorities