This lesson used to be part of a unit which was dropped from the Year 7-9 ICT Course due to time constraints. However, the content is so powerful that I decided to include it, not as a unit, but as a single lesson. The aim is to get students to think more about how the media works, and how much of what the media portrays can and should be trusted. The content of this lesson could quite easily apply to any number of subjects including ICT, Media,PSHE/Pasotral, History and Theary of Knowledge.

I believe it the video included in this lesson is extremely valuable, not only for girls, but also for boys, as we seek to shape their values and open their minds to the world around them.

Representiation

• Let’s start this lesson by seeing if any students understand the meaning of the word representation in media.
• One way to think of representation is ” the way that reality is portrayed or shown in magazines, TV, books, film and music”.
• Do you think we can we trust the way that others represent reality? Should we?

Representation of Gender

• Let’s take a look at this video, and discuss any ideas which is throws up.

• What does the above video tell us about the representation of women in the media?
• Can you think of positive and negative gender representation of women?

Representation Examples

• Now I would like you to work in pairs to find examples of representation on the web.
• Links to items are to be placed into a shared Google Doc.
• After 15 minutes I will get you back together to view and discuss the various materials found.

Image Credit: model comparison image thumbnail used under educational fair use.