How does educational entertainment undermine traditional, classroom learning? Has television redefined the way we approach education?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the introduction of Sesame Street <\/em>in 1969, educational entertainment has become the norm for children. Because of this, kids now expect the classroom to be just as entertaining as tv. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s how educational entertainment effected the curriculum over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n According to Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death, <\/em>public education has fallen under the influence and dictates of television, which is redefining knowledge and how to acquire it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The transition began in 1969 with the introduction of Sesame Street<\/em>, which most children, parents, and educators immediately loved. Parents liked it because it made them feel good about letting kids watch TV. Teachers liked it because it made it easier to teach children to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But while it has helped to teach reading, television has undermined teaching and learning in the same way it\u2019s undermined other aspects of public life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teachers thought television would teach children to love school. But television teaches children to love school only when it\u2019s entertaining like Sesame Street<\/em>. It sabotages the idea of traditional schooling in that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most important, television teaches children to love television\u2014being entertained\u2014more than learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With its influence over the time and attention of children, television overwhelms the school curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Television has rewritten educational philosophy by decreeing that teaching must be entertaining, that children learn better when they\u2019re being entertained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Television\u2019s philosophy of education eliminates three tenets of traditional learning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Education presented without prerequisites, challenges, and exposition is merely entertainment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result of television\u2019s redefinition of education, classrooms have lost their primacy, while teachers have remodeled classrooms and teaching methods after television. They\u2019ve made incorporated multimedia and reduced exposition, reading, and writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Children are thus prepared to expect entertainment throughout their lives\u2014from commerce, religion, news, and politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How does educational entertainment undermine traditional, classroom learning? Has television redefined the way we approach education? After the introduction of Sesame Street in 1969, educational entertainment has become the norm for children. Because of this, kids now expect the classroom to be just as entertaining as tv. Here’s how educational entertainment effected the curriculum over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":39846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,13,24],"tags":[389],"class_list":["post-39432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-parenting","category-society","tag-amusing-ourselves-to-death","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nEducation as Entertainment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Changing the Classroom<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n