RESEARCH 10 18/2005 E

Shalom M. Fisch Children’s learning from television

It’s not just “violence”

Studies on the effectiveness of negative television programmes can Bogatz and Ball, 1971). Each study educational programmes unveil a produce negative effects among child found that, among 3- to 5-year-olds, truly positive impact. Children viewers, positive programmes can heavier viewers of learn academic and prosocial con- produce positive effects. To illustrate showed significantly greater growth tent from specifically designed for- this point, let’s consider several ex- in an assortment of academic skills mats, such as that of the Sesame amples of studies that demonstrate related to the alphabet, numbers, body Workshop. children’s learning of academic and parts, shapes, relational terms, and prosocial content from educational sorting and classification. The areas television programmes. Afterwards, that showed the greatest effects were any discussions of tele- drawing upon research conducted the ones that had been emphasised the vision’s impact on chil- with a wide variety of television most in Sesame Street (e. g., letters). M dren focus only on nega- series, I will discuss some of the These effects held across age, sex, tive effects, such as the influences of production features that producers geographic location, socio-economic violent television or persuasive can build into their programmes to status (SES) (with low-SES children advertising (e. g., John, 1999; Kunkel, make them as educationally effective showing greater gains than middle- 2001; Wilson, et al., 1997). Such re- as possible. (Interested readers can SES children), native language (Eng- search is certainly important, and has find greatly expanded discussions of lish or Spanish), and whether the had a critical impact on policy and all of these issues in Fisch, 2004.) children watched at home or in legislation in the United States. How- school. Indeed, even when Cook and ever, it is equally important to recog- his colleagues (1975) conducted a re- nise that not all effects of television Children’s learning: analysis of these data that controlled are negative. academic content for other, potentially contributing fac- Often, far less attention has been paid tors such as mothers’ discussing Ses- to the positive effects that educational Perhaps the most prominent – and ame Street with their child, the above television programmes can hold. Yet, certainly the most extensively re- effects were reduced, but many re- if we believe that children can learn searched – example of an educational mained statistically significant. negative lessons from television, then television series is Sesame Street. For These effects found parallels in sev- it stands to reason that they can learn more than 35 years, Sesame Street has eral subsequent summative evalua- positive lessons, too. The same me- used puppets, animation, stories, tions of international co-productions dium through which children learn parodies, and numerous other formats of Sesame Street. Significant differ- product information in commercials to entertain and educate children, ences in cognitive skills (often fo- should also allow them to learn both across the United States and cussed on literacy and mathematics) science concepts in an educational (through its various international co- were found between viewers and programme. And the same medium productions) around the world. nonviewers of Plaza Sésamo in Mex- that can influence children to act The earliest evidence for the educa- ico (Diaz-Guerreo and Holtzman, more aggressively should also be able tional power of the U.S. version of 1974; UNICEF, 1996), Susam Sokagi to motivate them to co-operate with Sesame Street came from a pair of in Turkey (Sahin, 1992), Rua Sésamo a friend. experimental studies conducted after in Portugal (Brederode-Santos, In fact, research has shown that all of the first and second seasons of pro- 1993), and Ulitsa Sezam in Russia these propositions are true: Just as duction (Ball and Bogatz, 1970; (Ulitsa Sezam Department of Re- RESEARCH 18/2005 E 11 search and Content, 1998). Only one ond study was a Mexican study failed to replicate this correlational anal- pattern of differences (Diaz-Guerreo, ysis of data repre- Reyes-Lagunes, Witzke, and Holtz- senting approx- man, 1976), but it turned that the imately 10,000 “nonviewers” had, in fact, been ex- children from the posed to Plaza Sésamo as well. (See U.S. Department Cole, Richman, and McCann Brown, of Education’s Na- 2001 for a more detailed review of tional Household this research.) Education Survey The U.S. version of Sesame Street in 1993. Results was found to hold long-term benefits indicated that for viewers as well. One component preschoolers who of the Bogatz and Ball (1971) study viewed Sesame was a follow-up on a subset of the Street were more children who had participated in their likely to be able to earlier study, now that the children recognise letters of were one year older and had entered the alphabet and school (Ball and Bogatz, 1970). tell connected sto- Teachers rated their students on sev- ries when pretend- eral dimensions of school readiness ing to read; these (e. g., verbal readiness, quantitative effects were © 2005 . readiness, attitude toward school, re- strongest among All rights reserved. lationship with peers) without know- children from low- ing their prior viewership of Sesame income families, Street. Results indicated that those and held true even after the effects of students’ early language skills and children who had been frequent other contributing factors (e. g., pa- family background variables were Sesame Street viewers were rated as rental reading, preschool attendance, removed statistically (Anderson, better prepared for school than their parental education) were removed Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, and non- or low-viewing classmates. statistically. In addition, first and se- Wright, 2001; Huston, Anderson, More than 25 years later, the im- cond graders who had viewed Sesame Wright, Linebarger, and Schmitt, mediate and long-term effects of Street as preschoolers were more like- 2001). Sesame Street were confirmed by ly to be reading storybooks on their All of these results provide powerful other data. One study followed low- own and less likely to require reme- evidence for the educational effec- SES preschoolers over a period of dial reading instruction (Zill, 2001). tiveness of Sesame Street. And nu- three years. After controlling statis- Finally, the longest-term impact of merous other studies show that Ses- tically for background variables such Sesame Street was found in a “re- ame Street is not alone in helping as parents’ level of education, native contact” study that examined high children learn. Summative studies on language, and preschool attendance, school students who either had or had other educational series for preschool the study found that preschoolers’ not watched educational television as and school-age children have shown viewing of educational TV pro- preschoolers; the bulk of this viewing that educational television can en- grammes – and Sesame Street in had consisted of watching Sesame hance children’s knowledge, skills, particular – was positively associated Street. Results showed that high and attitudes in a wide variety of with the amount of time children school students who had watched subject areas. These include effects spent reading and in educational more educational television – and of series such as activities, as well as their letter-word Sesame Street in particular – as pre- and The Electric Company on chil- knowledge, maths skills, vocabulary schoolers had significantly higher dren’s language and literacy skills size, and school readiness on age- grades in English, Mathematics, and (e. g., Ball and Bogatz, 1973; Ball, appropriate standardised achieve- Science in junior high or high school. Bogatz, Karazow, and Rubin, 1974; ment tests. Also, as in the earlier They also used books more often, Linebarger, 2000); Square One TV Bogatz and Ball (1971) study, teach- showed higher academic self-esteem, and Cyberchase on children’s use of ers more often rated Sesame Street and placed a higher value on academ- mathematics and problem solving viewers as well-adjusted to school ic performance. These differences (e.g., Fisch, 2003; Hall, Esty, and (Wright et al., 2001a, 2001b). A sec- held true even after the effects of Fisch, 1990; Rockman et al., 2002); RESEARCH 12 18/2005 E

the negative effects television series used in these studies of violent television were simply more effective than oth- tend to be about ers. Third, it is possible that children’s equally strong: social behaviour is more resistant to Both types of tele- change than their knowledge, skills, vision result in or attitudes regarding academic sub- small to moderate jects. Indeed, it seems likely that all effects on viewers of these factors play a role. (Mares and Wood- In particular, it is important to remem- ard, 2001). ber that the prosocial messages pre- Effects of prosocial sented in an educational television television have programme are likely to be mediated been documented by lessons learned from family and as increases in peers, as well as children’s own life several domains: experiences. In some cases, these “friendliness” and experiences may work hand-in-hand positive inter- with the prosocial lessons shown on- actions in general, screen. In other cases, however, the altruism and co- messages from these various sources operation, self- may conflict. For example, research control and delay of on race relations segments from Ses- gratification, and ame Street found that preschool chil- © 2002 Lyons Partnership, L.P. reduction of stereo- dren recalled the fun things that Barney, the friendly purple dinosaur types. Most of this young African-American and White research has been characters did together on screen. 3-2-1 Contact and the Sci- conducted with preschool children, so However, they also believed the char- ence Guy on children’s understanding the bulk of the evidence to date relates acters’ parents were less positive of science and technology (e. g., to this age group. However, some about their having playmates of other Cambre and Fernie, 1985; Johnston, research on stereotypes has been ethnicities – a finding that paralleled 1980; Johnston and Luker, 1983; conducted with older children, as in children’s beliefs about their own par- Rockman et al., 1996; Wagner, 1985); the case of series such as Nashe ents in prior research (Truglio, Love- children’s news programmes on Maalo in Macedonia or Freestyle in lace, Seguí, and Scheiner, 2001). knowledge of current events (e. g., the United States. For example, Thus, it seems likely that children’s Bachen, 1998; Walma van der Mo- Johnston and Ettema (1982) found interpretations of the on-screen len and van der Voort, 2000), and significant reductions in gender ste- events were filtered through real-life preschool series such as Blue’s Clues reotypes among 9- to 12-year-olds experiences with their own families. and Barney & Friends on more gen- after children watched 26 episodes of eral school readiness (e. g., Anderson Freestyle; these effects were strongest et al., 2000; Singer and Singer, 1998), when viewing was combined with Characteristics of effective among many others. follow-up classroom discussions programmes among viewers and their teachers. Although research has pointed to a All of the above research clearly dem- Children’s Learning: consistent pattern of effects of pro- onstrates that children can – and do – Prosocial Content social television, these effects often learn from educational television. Yet, have been less strong than the aca- that is not to say that all educational Parallel to the academic effects of demic effects of educational tele- television programmes are equally educational television, numerous vision. Several possible explanations effective, or have an equally strong studies have found that viewing pro- might be offered for this difference: impact on their audience. social television programmes pro- First, it is possible that social out- What causes some educational pro- duces significant positive changes in comes are more difficult for research- grammes to be more powerful than children’s social behaviour. Indeed, ers to measure, so the measures used others? Looking across research on a reviews and meta-analyses of the in some studies may not have been wide variety of educational television literature have shown that the posi- sufficiently sensitive to detect effects. series, we can identify a number of tive effects of prosocial television and Second, it may be that some of the features that have contributed to the RESEARCH 18/2005 E 13 effectiveness of existing series – and or by attempting to solve a problem gramming. By identifying what that producers can build into new pro- before the on-screen characters “works” – the approaches and pro- ductions to make them as education- solve it). duction techniques that contribute to ally powerful as possible. Motivating children to carry their the effectiveness of existing program- These features include: learning forward via activities that ming – research can help producers Engaging children via the use of extend the experience after view- build on the most effective techniques appealing elements such as hu- ing (e. g., by trying out hands-on as they create new material. When mour (with the caveat that children experiments or activities they’ve used well, research brings the voice find different kinds of humour seen on-screen, or through online of children into the production pro- funny at different ages), mysteries, games or resources that provide cess, so that material can be tailored and games, among others. further opportunities for learning). directly to the needs, interests, and Choosing age-appropriate topics Naturally, this list is by no means ex- abilities of the target audience. In this (for both stories and educational haustive. It illustrates just a few of way, research can help to ensure that content) that are inherently inter- the many ways in which research has future educational television series esting to children and relevant to contributed to both researchers’ and will continue to be as appealing, age- their lives. producers’ understanding of what appropriate, and educationally pow- Presenting content via age-appro- “works” in creating educational tele- erful as possible. priate language and at levels of dif- vision programmes. ficulty that are tailored to chil- dren’s knowledge and develop- mental level. Conclusion REFERENCES Handling educational content in Anderson, D. R., Bryant, J., Wilder, A., Santomero, ways that are clear, direct, and Despite critics who claim (without A., Williams, M., & Crawley, A. M. (2000). Research- ing Blue’s Clues: Viewing behavior and impact. explicit. any substantive evidence) that tele- Media Psychology, 2, pp. 179-194. 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The second year of Sesame Street: A continuing evaluation. Princeton, how similar concepts can be ap- one level, of course, data on the im- NJ: Educational Testing Service. plied to different problems or situa- pact of any particular series is of great Brederode-Santos, M. E. (1993). Learning with tele- tions. interest to its production team, who vision: The secret of Rua Sésamo. [English transla- tion of Portuguese, Brederode-Santos, M.E. (1991). Usingengaging or action-filled vis- want to gauge the degree to which Com a Televiso o Segredo da Rua Sésamo. Lisbon: uals rather than static visuals or their efforts have been successful. At TV Guia Editora.] Unpublished research report. “talking heads.” the same time, evidence of children’s Cambre, M. A., & Fernie, D. (1985). 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