Challenges to teaching Media in UK HE.pptx

Presentation on teaching Media and Communications and the importance of its research

1. ECE July 2024 - Teaching Media and Communications in UK HE for future agents of change: challenges for internationalization, inclusion and student engagement Dr. Carolina Matos SL in Media and Sociology Department of Media, Culture and the Creative Industries (MCCI) School of Communication and Creativity E-mail: [email protected]

2. Growth of the popularity of the ‘Media and Communications’ degree – not a ‘Mickey Mouse’ subject Eg. MCCI department at City My teaching philosophy (e.g. student-led, ‘participatory’ and ‘empowering’) Pastoral care and ‘holistic student development’ Building future ‘change makers’ in their profession My research: Gender, communications and reproductive health in international development How can media and communication tools be used for social change? Argument: Strengthening the relevance of the study of Media and Communications in a changing world and making it more global Conclusions Points to cover

3. Born out of Sociology, Communications in the last three decades has become a complex area of study and has grown in popularity as a degree Is losing its reputation as a ‘soft degree’ and becoming a more important field of research in the wake of debates on the role of mediated communications and power relations in everyday life (Silverstone, 2005) Beyond the ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree “Media Studies are popular, dynamic and have a ‘profound’ impact, reports says” – The Guardian, 11 June, 2024 Media and Communications not a ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree

4. The MA Media courses at MCCI MA media have been running since the 1970s, with the pioneering work of Prof Jeremy Tunstall Jeremy Tunstall Global Media Research Centre Made up of 40+ academic and administrative staff, and more than 600 students on Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral courses Interdisciplinary department with expertise in the below areas: Media and Communication; Culture and Creative Industries; Library and Information Sciences; English, Publishing and Creative Writing Commitment to innovative and participatory teaching methods https://www.city.ac.uk/research/centres/global-media

5. Our research in media & communication We have several Research Centres that are active in media & communication research. All our media lecturers are highly active researchers. Our areas include: Digital media & cultures Global Creative Industries Media Industries VOD & streaming Social Media Online media Media reform and public service broadcasting Media and gender Media, NGOs and development Gender and sexualities Cultural studies Media and sport Gender, communications and development

6. Influenced by the constructivist (cognitive psychology) and the humanistic approach (‘constructive alignment’) My style of teaching is also inclusive, participatory, and student-centred (e.g. seminars interactive, involving presentations, role-playing, peer and group work) (Freire, 1972; Carlile and Jordan, 2005; Race, 2019) I adopt an egalitarian and student-centred approach, one which develops a good rapport between the lecturer and student and which ‘empowers’ both parties in the learning process (Freire, 1972), seeking to boost the student’s confidence and skills so that they can be ‘change markers’ in their field I provide students in my lectures with both the ‘bigger picture’ on the subject matter, as well as the concentrating on particular parts, such as examining the concepts and theories and then applying these to ‘real life’ examples and case studies. This includes a combination of the focus on visuals, image and text as a means of examining the theories in a creative, ‘entertaining’, informative and thought-provoking manner, including examples and showing how these can be applied to the examination of ‘real life’ problems Teaching philosophy (e.g. student-led, ‘participatory’ and ‘empowering’)

7. Race (2019, 14-16) argues that students are experiencing numerous challenges in their private lives, as well as anxieties over their future, which has placed pressure on their capacity to learn, leading to low motivation Post-pandemic and Brexit context, uncertainties around the future of UK HE – students in the last years have become more anxious, less motivated and lead complex lives ( e.g , cost of living crisis and making ends meet) Concept of ‘care’ in HE – beyond traditional notions of ‘pastoral care’ and the personal tutor system (from the school setting) As Scary and Williams (2020) have also argued, there is scant literature on ‘caring’ in the HE sector, although authors like “ Isenbarger and Zembylas (2006) have suggested that ‘caring’ is a vital support of education, and that an ethics of care ‘emphasises receptivity, relatedness and responsiveness ’ (122, in Scary and Williams, 2020, 13-14). From a feminist perspective, Noddings (cited in Smith, 2004) distinguishes the concepts of ‘caring about’ rom ‘caring for’ by stating that ‘caring for’ a student involves more attention, with the results producing significant positive impact on students ( Noddings , 1992, in Scary and Williams, 2020, 14). Pastoral care and ‘holistic student development’

8. Conduct interdisciplinary, in depth work with researchers from other disciplines/departments (e.g. Political Science, Health, STEM etc) to examine how communications can be used in development programmes to shape policy, how it can be used in public information campaigns, in health settings to improve communications between doctors and patients/the public E.g. The use of communication tools (e.g. Twitter) in the 2016 EU referendum campaign and in the rise of Trump in the US Report from the British Academy (June 2024) has argued that such courses play an important role in the UK’s 108 billion creative industries, and are relevant in the world of artificial intelligence, new technologies and misinformation E.g. Examples include ground-breaking research looking into the influence of music on maternal mental health, among other studies (“Media Studies are popular…”, The Guardian , 11 June, 2024) How can media and communication tools be used for social change?

9. Building future ‘change makers’ in their profession

10. My research: SRHR in an age of misinformation and populism Misinformation, fear and anxiety over ‘sexuality” (sexual education) and reproductive heath spread offline/online by conservative/populist groups E.g. “ Gender ideology’ and the culture of death ‘Gender myths’, lack of information, stigmatization and ‘censorship’ around more in depth discussions on sexual and reproductive health and right (SRHR) (. e.g public health arguments, sexual education in schools etc ) NGOs and other women rights and health advocates ‘on the defensive” (e.g. ‘fact-checking’ initiatives online and attempts to ‘deconstruct’ lies/myths on issues such as abortion)

11. Context of SRHR under challenging times Towards a holistic approach to SRHR - “Progress in SRHR requires confrontation of the barriers embedded in laws, policies, the economy and in social norms and values – especially gender inequality – that prevent people from achieving sexual and reproductive health. Improvement of people’s wellbeing depends on individuals’ being able to make decisions….the right to control one’s own body, define one’s sexuality… and receive…high-quality services.” ( Accelerate progress – sexual and reproductive health rights for all: report of the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission, June 30 th , vol. 391 ) Other social and political challenges - Rise of conservative attacks from religious and other groups against “gender ideology discourses”, contributing to setbacks (e.g. Global Gag Rule ), Eastern Europe, to Latin America (Brazil) Global context - Covid-19 and the pandemic - As the UNFPA has stated, the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on some of the organisation’s key aims, such as eliminating preventable maternal deaths and ending the unmet need for family planning by 2030 E.g. Post-overturning of Roe v Wade in the US – Impact has ranged from fears of national ban in 2024, to couples avoiding trying for pregnancy, fertility treatments, thus posing problems for family planning, contraception use, rise of maternal deaths and even ‘birth control’, etc E.g. Latin America and SRHR ‘on the ground’ across the world - M any countries have problems of access to proper maternal health services and to comprehensive sexuality education. Abortion is seen as an illegal or restrictive practice for over 90% of women in Latin America

12. Theoretical frameworks and contributions Argument : need to construct/deconstruct discourses, language and rhetoric around sexual and reproductive health and rights in the global (mediated) and political public sphere (e.g. debates around motherhood, tradition, modernity and sexuality) Under challenging circumstances comes possibilities : “Women’s bodies”, SRHR and transnational feminist activism - one of the few areas capable of uniting diverse groups of women across the North/South, from different classes, ethnicities and nationalities (e.g. new ‘golden age’ for the feminist movement/Decade of the women etc) Core aims have been: To assess how feminist and health NGOs working in the field, particularly in the global South, use communications more strategically to build knowledge on the topic, contributing to improve public debate on reproductive health and sexuality so as to better shape policy;

13. Selected sample of NGOs Total of 52 NGOs, networks and health and feminist movements Asap Swasti IAW (International Alliance of Women) You Act Global Fund for Women Safe Abortion Women's Rights Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Ibis Reproductive Health Care International UK Amnesty International UK Centre for Health and Gender Equality (Change) Anis Sos Corpo Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights Rede Feminista de Saúde, Direitos Sexuais e Reprodutivos Family Planning 2020 Promsex - Centro de Promocion y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y reprodutivos Crea India Inspire Euro NGOs Reprolatina Católicos pelo Direito de Decidir Ações Afirmativas em Direitos e Saude CLADEM Asia 9 Europe 11 International 3 Latin America 20 USA 9

14. Feminist epistemological frameworks and use of a mixed methods approach : 1) Content and discourse analysis of institutional websites and the social media engagement of a total of 52 health and feminist NGOs (non-profit organizations), from US, Europe, India to Brazil; 2) In depth interviews with over 50 gender experts and NGO CEOs; 3) Application of survey style questionnaires to the communications directors of the organizations to talk about communication strategies and advocacy on gender health campaigns on SRHR; 4) Focus groups with young adults in SP Brazil, in partnership with Brazilian NGO Reprolatina (July 2021 – expansion of research and publication in journal article) Content analysis of the institutional websites, including their website features, technical characteristics and graphic design (colour and appearance). Analysis of social media engagement and the website features of the organizations Discourse analysis of a selected sample of communicative material from the organizations * Social media engagement period examined : March 25 – 7 April 2019 Codebook design and core data collected (March -15 th May 2019, and April-July 2020) Partners : IESP-UERJ, Centre for Internet and Society , Reprolatina , Global Fund Women (September 2018-July 2021) Total: 25.000 pounds (GCRF) PhD students and early career research assistants: Alessandra Brigo , Tatiane Leal, Aline Carvalho (Brazil), Sarah Molisso and Jamile Dalpiaz (UK) and Ambika Tandon (India) Methodology

15. Research questions 1) How are NGOs and health and feminist networks making use of communication tools for advocacy on sexual and reproductive health and rights?; 2) What are the communication strategies used and how can online communications be best used for SRHR advocacy? 3) How do communication strategies reflect in daily activities and what are the challenges that NGOs face in advocating around SRHR? 4) How does misinformation and “fake news” about women's rights affect people's perceptions of reproductive health?

16. Codebook – types of communications

17. Factors shaping NGOs SRHR communication strategies and advocacy Factors Information and Communications Intended Outcomes Challenges 1)SRHR framework Single issue/Gender/Health Construct/ Deconstruct SRHR Understanding/”Gender ideology”/Misinformation 2)Targeted publics Media/Policy/ ”General Public” Widen reach and Impact Engagement (emotion/reason ) 3)Funding and resources Fundraising/Lobby /Advocacy More investments/ Funding Global Gag Rule/ under-funding of project/ Covid-19 4)Communication activities Online/Offline Embed Comms. in Policy Language and Discourse/Accessible

18. Findings: communications strategies, advocacy and forms of engagement Differences and similarities on how NGOs across the North and South make use of communications for advocacy on SRHR Different historical, political and local contexts (e.g. feminist movement in Latin America), and the role of NGOs and relationship to communities Different debates on SRHR, as well as challenges, within specific local contexts (e.g. Brazil versus India), however also similarities regarding political pressures, cultural and religious norms (e.g. Latin America and the US) Some commonalities in the use of communications : Larger NGOs, and those with more resources, used communications more strategically, engaging more with stakeholders and being more active online Different approaches and understandings regarding what communications is , and how best to use it (e.g. however predominance still of ‘conventional’ understanding of communications as information sharing and persuasion across all NGOs ) Communications still as a one-way flow process mainly (more space for engagement beyond targeting those ‘in the know’, such as public health advocates, etc) Different understandings on how to use advocacy communications on SRHR( e.g. targeted groups range from the public, to policy-makers and the media), however similarities across regions on targeting policy-makers and specialised publics

19. Web features and use of social media

20. Quotes from interviews “ Yeah, that is definitely a challenge that we are facing and we have talked a lot through our re-brand, to make sexual and reproductive health and rights more accessible to the general public……what I have been trying to do since my time is to try to break down how we communicate with our topics in our way which is plain language.. …… …..Just I think you share the same thought that communications plays a vital role in making SRHR a more understandable topic, and creating more awareness around it, and then converting that awareness into activism .” Former communications director of Centre for Health and Gender Equity (Change, US)

21. Saving Mothers is a global nonprofit organization of allied healthcare professionals dedicated to eradicating preventable maternal deaths and birth related complications among disadvantaged women. School of Powher https://savingmothers.org/school-of-powher/

22. Some conclusions and further developments * Most of the organizations interviewed are starting to include communications more in their future strategic plans, and are using communications in a creative manner despite the many challenges. *The results of the research highlighted the need to change and adapt more communications to better suit the needs of communities, situating this and being attentive to the various cultural, religious, economic and geopolitical challenges under which media content is produced and distributed. *Organizations need to make use of all forms of communications – from radio, to Youtube, to social media – for communications on SRHR. Communication campaigns can also go beyond messages that seek to only change individual attitudes and behaviours, resisting the ‘echo chambers’ trap and the ‘preaching to the converted’ *The results showed the diversity (and similairies) in the organization’s information sharing capabilities, and the ways in which larger NGOs with more resources had more means of making their messages and content heard *E.g. Social media engagement – Predominance of mostly Twitter and Facebook use, some increase in the use Youtube videos, among others (patterns detected between Twitter use in the ‘North” and Facebook in Latin America)

23. Strengthening the relevance of the study of Media and Communications in a changing world and making it more global Reducing the gap in knowledge and research between the global North and South Wider inclusion of perspectives and research from more disadvantaged communities in the North, and more inclusion and attention to research from and about the global South Building a more genuine inclusive research culture in the global North Combatting racism, elitism and other forms of exclusion in HE Challenges to global citizenship education, and the development of ‘global citizens’ Media and communications research as an important field of study that can propose research and ideas across a range of global challenges Conclusions

24. Selected Bibliography Butler, J. (2019) “Anti-gender ideology and Mahmood’s critique of the secular age” in Journal of the American Academy of Religion , December 2019, vol. 87, nr. 4, p. 955-967 Correa, S. and Petchesky , R. (1994) “Reproductive and sexual rights: a feminist perspective” in Sen, Gita, Germain, Adrienne, Lincoln, C. Chen (eds.) Population policies reconsidered: health, empowerment and rights , Boston Cornwall, A, Correa, S and Jolly, S (eds.) Development with a Body – sexuality, human rights and development, London: Zed Books Harcourt, W. (2009) “Reproductive bodies” in Body Politics in development: critical alternatives in gender and development , p. 38 – 65 Matos, C. (2023) Gender, communications and reproductive health in international development, McGill Queen’s University Press Obregon, R. and Waisbord , S. (eds.) (2012) The Handbook of Global Health Communications, Wiley-Blackwell Wilkins, K. (2016) Communicating Gender and Advocating Accountability in Global Development , Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

25. Brazbazon , T. Goldson, A., Golding, P., Willianson , M. and McDougall, J. and Meyers, C. B. (2019) “Is media studies about to go viral?” in The Times Higher Education , October 10 Broughan , C. and Hunt, L. “Inclusive teaching” in Hunt, L. and Chalmers, D. (eds) University teaching in focus: a learning centred approach , London: Routledge, p. 182- 198 Carlile , Orison and Jordan, Anne (2005) “It works in practice but will it work in theory? The theoretical underpinnings of pedagogy” in O’Neill, G., Moore, S., McMullin, B (eds.) Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching, Dublin: AISHE Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed , Harmondsworth: Penguin Race, Phil (2019) -------, P. (2019) “How students really learn” in The Lecturer’s Toolkit – a practical guide to assessment, learning and teaching , London: Routledge, p. 1-37 Scary, K. and Willams , J (2020) “Pastoral care and the caring teacher – value adding to enabling education” in Student Success Journal , vol. 11 (1), p. 12-21 Silverstone, R (2005) “The sociology of mediation and communication” in Calhoun, C., Rojek , C. and Turner, B. (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Sociology , London: Sage: 188-207 Weale , S (2024) “Media Studies are popular, dynamic and have ‘profound impact’, report says” in The Guardian, 11/06/2024 Selected bibliography