Resources for Teachers - Queer Representation
In this lesson students consider the meaning of the words “bias” and “prejudice” and consider how bias may be found even at the level of individual words due to connotation.
In this lesson students consider diversity representation in video games by identifying examples of diversity in the games they play, comparing their findings to statistics on diversity in the Canadian population.
From the tablet to the TV screen, media are a huge influence on how we see ourselves and our world. Nowhere, perhaps, is that more true than when it comes to gender: media provide many of our ideas of what “male” and “female” are, and many of our models of how to behave, what to avoid doing, and whom to emulate in order to play the role we’ve been assigned.
In this lesson students consider how well their favourite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of Canadian society. Students are introduced to the media education key concepts that “media are constructed to represent reality” and “media communicate values and messages”, and learn about the constructed nature of media products, how media “re-presents” people, ideas and events from a particular viewpoint, and what the possible consequences of under-representation and inaccurate portrayals of diversity might be. Next, students learn about Canadian voluntary industry codes on diversity portrayal and consider whether they should be applied to other media. As a summary activity, students take a stand on a diversity issue relating to media through creating a social media campaign on a platform of their choice.
Framed around key concepts of media literacy, the That’s Not Me tutorial examines how entertainment and news media represent diversity and the impact these media portrayals can have on the value we place on individuals and groups in society. The tutorial explores how the media industry is changing to better reflect Canadian society and provides strategies for challenging negative representations and engaging young people in advocating for more realistic and positive media portrayals.