eLiterate

All just a game...or is it?

[INTERVIEW - Vol.01, Issue.01, MAR.2009]

Helen Klokiw is a grade 8 teacher who believes that using digital literacies to reach her male students is a "natural progression¹" because they builds upon students' interests and pre-existing achievements². Her literacy unit that encourages students to utilize computers, video games, the internet and CD ROMs and deconstruct them is a fascinating example of engaging all students in literacy learning.

Paola F: What were your reasons for incorporating digital literacies into your language arts curriculum?

Helen K: Well, as an educator, I think it's important to spend time "kid watching³" and if you watch grade 8 boys for any length of time, you’ll see that these kids spend hours poring over the latest Game Boy game, or finding the cheats for Starcraft, an on-line computer game that they can play against their friends. There's research out there now that suggests that we, as educators, are not taking into account these alternative literacies when we program for our students, and as a result, we are missing opportunities to tap the literacy skills they have already developed⁴. Educators like Kathy Sanford, Heather Blair and Leanna Madill, in fact, have demonstrated that boys are literate in ways that may not be reflected in the typical English classroom⁵, and that they are learning some pretty valuable things from their video games in terms of literacy skills⁶. In fact, Sanford strongly suggests that educators start paying far more attention to these types of literacies, because as they are going to be more important in students' future careers than the fiction we ask them to read⁷. So I thought "why shouldn't I develop a program based on what my students have prior knowledge about and are interested in?"

Paola F: Well, the general trend in education right now is to incorporate boys' interests into the literacy curriculum in an effort to get them engaged⁸. But computer games can be quite violent, and they have also been accused of promoting gender stereotypes and violence against women⁹. How does your unit address this?

Helen K: Actually, getting my students to critically look at power relations, stereotypes and violence as they relate to gender was the whole reason I wrote the unit. You know, when I asked them, my boys all told me that what they like best about the games they played was the "violence and the martial arts or the excitement of fighting and killing¹⁰" and I know other studies have found that, left to their own devices, boys playing these video games generally aren't thinking about the constructions of power, the violence or the stereotypes of masculinity with which they are being presented¹¹. As an educator, I find that a very concerning attitude, because it just so clearly represents how children can become de-sensitized to the violence and the sexism inherent in these games¹². So the unit was developed so my students would develop the tools necessary to become aware of, and critique things like violence and gender roles in popular media, especially video games.

Paola F: Can you describe how your unit promotes this kind of critical literacy?

Helen K: Well, we start off by deconstructing what a stereotype actually is, and I do a group activity where students have to agree or disagree with another group members based on something like eye colour or hair length¹³. Then students watch the movie “War Games” and deconstruct why they think males seem to dominate in the area of computers, government and the military¹⁴. By week 4, we've moved on to actually deconstructing video games and that’s where things get interesting. I bring in Mortal Kombat II and Double Dragon, both fighting games, and let students play them in our computer lab¹⁵. Then they need to look at reviews of the games, and analyze them, looking at the gendered way they are written and why aspects like violence might appeal to certain readers¹⁶. Then students need to fill out "Warrior Profiles" based on the characters in the game¹⁷. Essentially, these profiles help them figure out how the game supports very patriarchal views through its construction of these characters¹⁸. It also helps students reflect on the type of power, namely physical power, that is valued in the game¹⁹. Essentially I'm getting my students to reflect on the ways that these media can empower and disempower both males and females²⁰. Along the way, I'm getting students to challenge their own stereotypes about females' competencies with technology, by having them analyze their reactions to Sandra Bullock's female hacker character in The Net²¹.

Paola F: Now, I know that, with the exception of a period spent composing e-mails and some time watching War Games and playing various fighting games, much of your unit, is, as you just stated, is about getting students to deconstruct their favourite texts. I know that there is research showing that, not only do boys generally not do this on their own when it comes to video games²², but students are often very resistant to this process²³. In fact, some researchers have argued that teachers shouldn’t introduce well-loved media texts into the classroom, because getting students to examine these texts critically destroys the engagement students have with the texts in the first place²⁴. How do you deal with student resistance to deconstructing their "favourites?"

Helen K: I mean, any deconstruction of a text replaces the initial pleasure of just "reading" the text with the pleasure of "understanding how²⁵," but I think that, as educators, we can’t fear student resistance. I agree with Roberta Hammett, who says that we need to confront it head-on because we have the responsibility to help these young people think critically about their lives and worlds²⁶. I think that teachers will encounter less resistance with any sort of critical analysis of popular text if they go about it in a collaborative, inquiry-based sort of way, rather than standing up there and trying to "make" students into critical thinkers²⁷. And that’s why, in my unit, I get students to work in groups to think about the warrior profiles. I want them to figure out for themselves what the game is really saying about what it means to be a male or female. That way it’s not about telling students what to think, but giving them the tools to learn how to think.

Paola F: Personally, I think your unit is a really rich way to promote students' critical literacy skills. But I know that there are some educators who are reluctant to use popular digital literacies in the classroom because they fear that this approach deprives students of additional exposure to real literature²⁸. What would you say to them if questioned about the merit of your unit?

Helen K: I think if schools want to risk becoming outdated and irrelevant in the knowledge they try to impart to students, then educators should take that attitude²⁹. In all seriousness though, I think we do a great disservice to our students by not preparing them, in school, to think critically about and to use the skills they are gaining from engaging in their out-of-school literacies like playing video games and surfing the net. It's obviously preparing them better for the world of work than our current language curriculum³⁰. I don't believe there's anything inherently better in reading fiction or print text. After all, as two researchers whom I admire, Alvermann and Heron, put it, "reading comprehension is a meaning-making process involving both print and non-print text³¹." So what I am teaching in my unit, as far as I'm concerned, is still "real literature."

Paola F: Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and your insightful ideas about how to bring digital literacies into the classroom and how to justify them to any administrators or parents who may need some convincing that they are a worthwhile addition to the curriculum.

Helen K: My pleasure.

To read the published version of Helen Klokiw's unit, check out her 1997 publication "The Games People Play: Computers, Literacy and gender" pages 150-167 in Nola Alloway’s and Pam Gilbert’s edited book Boys and Literacy: Teaching Units. Published by Curriculum Corporation.

---

References

---

[FEATURE]Vol.1, Iss.1, MAR.2009

The "Problem" of our e-Literate Boys

In the midst of panic about our failing boys, some educators have suggested that our definition of literacy is too narrow. If we re-define literacy to include digital literacies, such as the ability to play video games and surf the Internet,...

---

[Opinions]Vol.1, Iss.1, MAR.2009

Don't make it fun: An argument against popular digital literacies in the classroom

As an educator in an inner-city middle school and a parent of two teenage boys, I believe we must seriously question the effects of using popular digital literacies in our classrooms. Although our own Ministry of Education may...

---

[Game Review]Vol.1, Iss.1, MAR.2009

Speare, the literacy arcade game, tries to infect students with a love of the Bard

Intergalactic warfare and a battleship named 'Speare' may not be the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the classic speech " Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"...

---