. A DOCUMENT ,RESUNE . I ,EDln 00.4 IR 0'03-.422 .." . - AUTHQR: .:Cooney, ,Joan Ganz 4 TITLE -Sesame Street at rive: The Changing iOOk of a . ,Perpetual Experiment. INSTITUTION Childten's Television Workshop, New, York, N.Y. PUB DATE Oct 74. '- "NOT* " 25p.: Editorial Backgrounder. Reproduced from best availa4e copy EDRS PRICE BC-$1.67.g3.us Postage. I DESCRIisT014' Academic Achievement: *Dsadantaged Youth; Early childhood Education; Educational Research; *Educational Television; International Programs *Preschool Children; *Program Evaluation; Progra ing (Broadcast); Public Television; Success Factors; Television Research IbENTIFIERS Childrens Television Wrckshop: CTW; *Sesame Stree ',ABSTRACT f Looking back over the five years of Sesame Street's existence, it is possible to disceq'changes in the prograi in the areas *of production, the role of research, and its audience; it is also possible to see the vast iidpact that the educational television show has had on preschool children both in the United Itates'and abroad. The show's educational goals have changed from teaching numbers, letters, geometric finis, relationships, Classification," ,reasoning and problem solving to .include affective goals. which relate to helping a child to learn to cppewith failure and obstacles %ad to tarticipate in social groups. The production has !Aired from its original rather frenetic pace to onevilich is softer and gentlei in tone and more relaxing in effect. Research has been and cdntinues to be an Iptegralpart of the planning process at CTW,,concentrating in ecent years on the specific needs of bilingual'andlicultural. : children. The audience that Sesaae Street attracted in the O.S. lead to other veq:sions of the show for Latin imetica, Germahy, Canada,' Instralia, ind New Zealand. 1 number, of studies has.confirm'ea the show's ability to teach and to attract large.andiences composed both, , . e children aid adult. (JY) t . I l ********************************************#**vg***************:****** Documents acq4ired by ERIC' include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. ENIQakes.everydeffort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal 4 * reproducibility areoften encountered and this affects the quality,* * of the microfiche and hardcopy reOroductions End makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible flbr the quality of the original document. Reproductions* * supplied by.BDRs are thebest,thatcan beiide from the original. * 41*******************************4************,4!*****************4***** 1 . .._ .......... Editorial 13ackgrounder )- :, seciPeco-urritoter Nit:Ma The ERIC Fco.tvPot 441 1 Owe wow* 0411*100t . o . 1 , 0,0 dIOIVIIINII. , 01 P100 14) 114 0 c roved 1.4 Ito rib, 4.1 . - . In 0.00 .11CI Uwe 440 ,I i 1110Ms Of ...v. I. Sesame Street At Five .. , The Changing Look of a PeipetuatExperiinent I, . A . i . I, . i e To the Reader: . "Sesame Street" made its debut Rye short years agb, on November I0, 1969. I cannot help but look back over these past five years with some mixed feelings. As for the Ieries itself, it has changed a great deal. This year's programming is signifi- I cantly different from the earlier ones in look, mood and content. It is also, in my opinion, a 1 much better show in at least two respicts: Its goals.are richer and broady:, and the production is visually, and otherwik,more interesting and sophisticated. The series hit had the enthusiastic'suppott of children and parents and the praisi of a diverse range of persoh.s, many with no connection with education or early% hildllood develop- ment. Thihas been gratifying to all of us. , WhOt has been perhaps espetially gratifying is the fpct that the concipt works. Sesame Street proved, and rather contlusively, that television can teach preschool 011dren basic skills and concept s--if it is used on its own terms as a visual medium of communit ation and enter. tainment. ,. ,. , ..4 However, few of us at the 0,orkshop consider Sesame Stret a complete sutvess be- Cause, quite frankly, the series skmply has not had the impact on children's television .',.,t cce had anti' ipaled. We had hoped that the tommert fat netwqrks Would &velar, moreat;( .1.e, . tan" shows and find a way to brq.ith ait more weekday programs for. hildri-rlThi nt tok I. .. 6 have,worked to improve their Saturday morning programming, but wink other impiott qt. to, .havebeen talked about for a longtime, l'Om disappointed that the general pre-Sesame f.trit t i pattern has persistbd, . 1 Perhaps we should have expected this. Still, when 'we think of thetSemendousrnteV- tial of television for expanding the.child's world, we feel there's much to be done. it In the meantime, Sesame Street will continue to change, and hopefully get even better . V. 4 Joan Ganz Cooney President ., ' Children's Television Workshop October, 1974' . V s- oeimarmeNTO,NO AL TN. gouCAToONSWRI.RARR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF eouc,o-.0N :. THIS DOCUMENT HAS WMREPO r 1,-- 3 /1:-." 41, .- A - -ri DvCEo E xs T As RECEIVED FROM . , PERSON OR ORGANIZATIONORIGIN. 1;.01 Vt;i' 1 hiiaLAL;.44.*ILO:.iii- . 2 S1ATEO 00 NOT NECESSARILYREPOS. IP SE NT OF t Kim, NATIoNA0NSTITuTEOf POLkY it EDUCATION Poselb.oN OR -1 a, . TABLE OFcomairs INTRODUCTION Page 1 THE SERIES GOES GLOBAL Page 13 Englistp.Language Version 13 A PERPETUAL. EXPERIMENT 3 Localized Versions .14 Early. Obt actives 3 Culturally Adapted Third. to Sixth Seasgn Goals 4 Version 15 "Continuing Presence" 5 THE IMPACT OF THE SHOW 15'. AN EVOLVING PRODUCTION Results Confirmed ,16 Innovation and Improvisation 6 Inner-City Studies 17 The Muppets .Paretital Favorite 17 Celehritiels Strong. Impact Overseas 18- Residents of the Street 8 InternationafAcclaim 19 A Flexible Approach 9 Accolades in Europe -.20. CO. TV's Most Honored Show 20 THE ROLE OP RESEARCH 9 FormatilrelSummative Research 9 SESAME STREET'S LESSONS 21 Research and Oroductipn: TV Can Teach. 21 Making the Concept Work 0 Untveisal Appeal 21 'Tetting .Pilbt Shows. 10 Value of Repetition 21 Othei Research 11 TV Doesn't Punish '21 ATTRACTING THE AUDIENCE 11 Spreading.the'Word 3.2 AUdience,and 12 Non-Target Audience Viewing 13 Other Media 3.3, 3 INTRODUCTION "Sesame Streetu is such familiar and accepted piece of the tele- vision landscape that few peo, e today consider the program revolutionary , indeed4-even highly unus 1. After all, why shouldn.t such a-pcwerful and pervasive medium as eleviaion teach-, intellect skills and otfilF useful' concepts to pre- schoolc)ildren? And why'souldn't the 'teaching be <lone with thd so- phisticated and entertaini techniquesof commercial television, 4. especially the commepials . But back in 1966, wen Sesame Street was only a germinating idea, these were, in the conce of the television of that day, revolutionary concepts. 4 Until Sesame Stre t 'flashed on the nation's scree ns in late 19691 the underlying purpose! of gny television fora mess audience of children was to sell products.Sesame Street, on the other hand, was about"to . court that same audie e with lively entertainment thats, in effect, would try to'sell'NI educeonal curriculum. The rest, of coUrse,.is ee/evision . - history. th * * * That Sesametreet no longer is considered a breakthrough in children's television is oneeasure of its achievement.Other children's shows -- 'including Sesametreet's first cOmpanion production, "The Electric Company" have used Sesametreet either as a 71e1 or a standard, or both.* .z...(' e . - That Sesa treetTroved television to be a superb teachet of children' whenAl 'maginat' el( is another measure of its achievement. The fusion 'of educ tertainment wa* ;jot incompatible aRer.all. Other mesures of the show's achievement might include the devoted following of ilPren from virtually all social backgrounds, the enthu.siasm and acclaim oparentv the praiseof educators and, perhaps even more remarkable, e gener'lly strong (and often unsolicited)* approval of adults in ,a diverse/range of Ictivities. Then thereare the awards -- more than 00, includifg eight Emmys, a. Peabody, 'a Prix Jeunesse and the Japan Prize. * * * s . HoweVer, perhaps becauatof this'success,,an important aspect of Sesame Street often tends to be overlooked: the essentially experiMbntal, and hence evolutionary, nature of the show. ws% A ' The fact is Sesame Street never is quite the same b;Cm season to 4eason. Atfirst glance the "street" may look the same, and Bert atd Ernie, Big Bird, Susan and Maria and the other favorites do turn up f Orm year to year. 1 w But the show's goal's and content have been changing all along in response to6the needs and reactions of the audience. 1 4 A 1 i L . The more traditional educational goals that formed the original o basis of the show have been changing and expanding in all areas, cognitive, social and affective. For the updbming sixth season, for example, the series will stress the creative Aspedts of divergent thinking -- the idea that often there are many ways of dealing, a ptobleht or situation. 11. 1 . // Some- of.the major currents in the country also bind their way into the program's content. Ecology, for example, filtered into the curriculum a few seasons ago. And, in response to the concerns of.the Sparlish- speOting community, bilingual elements began appearing as integral parts of the show. This season career goals will be explored aid the portrayal of women will continue to receive special emphasis. 2.. In production values; too, the show has hardly been static.Over ' the years the street picked up snow, night scenes, seasons, and new live characters and Muppets. * * * Given the basically experimental abd evolutionary nature of the show, Sesame Street undoubtedly will continue to change in significant ways in coming seasons.* One purpose of this backgrounder, then, is to touch upon the notable changes since Sesame Street went on the air in.Movember, 1969.