Then and Now

In December I read Sesame Street and the Reform of Children's Television by Robert Morrow. It was a great book that talked about the beginnings of the beloved show and how they've been working to improve children's programming ever since. The other night, I started Getting to Sesame Street: Origins of the Children's Television Workshop by Richard Polsky. I am barely a dozen pages in, so I can't tell you much about it yet, but there is something that I've already noticed. So far, they both paint a drastically different picture of Joan Ganz Cooney.

It wasn't until I read the Morrow book that I really understood who Cooney was and what role she played in the Workshop. She is one of the original creators of Sesame Street and founders of the Children's Television Workshop. (She wasn't alone in doing either of these two things, but I am going to talk about how these two books have conveyed her so I'll be focusing on her involvement.) I really liked the Morrow book because he explained the setting that Cooney was working in and the research she did to justify her decisions. I wish I had the book here so I could find some quotes for you, but it has disappeared back into the interlibrary loan system. My impression and what I remember from the book is that Cooney was working against a lot of nay-sayers. People were criticizing head-start programs so the education purposes she wanted were under scrutiny. Parents were up in arms about what the television was doing to their families and the violence it was bringing into their homes. This meant that she was under attack for her choice in medium. Despite that, she wrote grants that funded research that ultimately shaped and justified Sesame Street.

The Polsky book is a little different. Let me share with you a paragraph from the second page.

One evening in February or March 1966 in New York, at a dinner party given by Mr. and Mrs. Cooney, the conversation turned to television. Among the guests that night were Lloyd Morrisett, vice-president of Carnegie Corporation and log associated with the foundation's activities in early childhood education and its more recent interest in television, and Lewis Freeman, director of programming at WNDT. As. Mrs. Cooney recalled that evening, Freedman said he felt television was going to be the great educator of the future. Morrisett then became intrigued with designing a TV series for educating young children and suggested that Carnegie representatives soon meet with Freeman and Mrs. Cooney to discuss in detail television for preschoolers.

That difference has really struck me. In one book she is a heroine standing against criticism and fighting for low-income children. In the other a television show was seemingly handed to her on a sliver platter (or her own china). I don't want to be overly critical of Polsky or call him sexist. I've just started the book, and it was published in 1971. I am just fascinated by my own reaction. I had to actually set the book aside because I was put off by my hero being described as a housewife. I am going to be working woman who also has a husband, children, and dinner parties. In fact, I've thought a lot about how much time I want to take off of work when my children are born. I am not at all put off by the idea of staying home with them while they are babies. If my perception of her is changed this drastically just by reading a second book, won't it be great to actually meet her and see how she conveys herself instead of how other people present her.

Bad Headlines Cause Brain Damage

I've already talked about how upset I was to discover how sensational news has become. I mentioned news bias, but I didn't really get into it. It is generally not something that I have an issue with. In my opinion, it is a side effect of things that I think are good, so I just try to be aware of it. More often than not, I actually find it entertaining. One of my favorite assignments as an undergrad was on news bias. We were given the headlines from a dozen different papers across the country on the same event. We had to write out the political party of the paper and the connotations created by their headline. I am sharing all of this to explain why I am surprised by how upset I am about a headline I recently read. Some other factors that might be fueling my disgust are that one of the journalist's sources is the Joan Ganz Cooney Center which is the new research center of Sesame Workshop, and the article completely betrays the study and the purpose of the Cooney Center.

The topic at hand is the the release of the D is for Digital report at the Sandbox Summit in Las Vegas. The Reuters headline was: Joan Ganz Cooney Center Finds Cause For Both Concern and Optimism in Billion Dollar Digital Media Industry Targeting Kids, but the article that has really been bothering me was titled: Under 7's Should be Banned From Playing Computer Games or Risk Damaging Their Brains'. The difference is obvious, and I've seen worse headlines, but this one has just gotten under my skin. The Cooney Center was named after the remarkable woman who created Sesame Street at a time when people were claiming that under 7's should be banned from watching television or risk damaging their brains.

The Daily Mail says, "They looked at more than 300 products including computer games, toys, virtual worlds for children and supposedly educational software to be run on home computers. Of these, only two educational video games employed proven learning techniques." about the D is for Digital findings. Reuters said, "Of the 300+ products studied,...the survey yielded only two education video games based on explicit educational curriculum design available in the market." This may be an educational nuance to some, but in my opinion there is a huge difference between "educational curriculum" and "proven learning techniques." Here is an example based on my understanding. Repetition is a proven learning technique, however having repetition does not mean you have an educational curriculum. Based on The Workshop Model, having a curriculum would be best, but that does not mean that a lack of curriculum leads to brain damage.

The mission of the Cooney Center is, "to catalyze and support research, innovation and investment in digital media technologies to advance children's learning." I do not speak on behalf of The Workshop or the Cooney Center, but it seems to me, based on the history of Sesame Street and the development of this new center, that they strive to help these 300+ educational products incorporate an appropriate and research supported educational curriculum. I am upset that their research has been warped into something that could scare parents away from good resources.

A Piece of Me

This weekend I put together a viewing of The World According to Sesame Street on campus. It was mainly an Honors College event, but I wanted it to be for anyone who was interested and more importantly the people I care about. I called some of my friends and asked them to make it a priority to be there. It wasn't until after I saw it for the second time that I realized why I want to share it so much. It is going to sound cheesy, and this is going to be more personal than I normally get for this blog, but I found myself in Sesame Workshop, and in sharing this film, I'm sharing a piece of me

I entered Public Relations as an undergraduate because I wanted to work for Disney. At the time, they were making great movies with Pixar and getting a lot of flak for the children's books they were publishing about hot topic issues like having two moms. I was inspired by the reach they had to children and I was in love with how easily a picture of Mickey Mouse could make the whole world smile. After spending a semester working there, I realized that Disney had the ability to do what I wanted but not the mission. As much as I wanted to influence children's lives, the education aspect was more important to me than the entertainment. I continued on with PR thinking I would eventually work for a local non-profit like Boys and Girls Club or maybe a Haven House. At this point I had never heard of Sesame Workshop or realized that Sesame Street was anything more than a Jim Henson children's show.

When the opportunity for me to stay at UCA and get a masters came up, I was torn about what to do. I was drawn to my current program because the topics that I was researching and interested in at the time were appropriate for older students and I believe that higher education should be a right. I care about issues in higher ed like cost, curriculum, retention, and technology. I value student services and I believe the field needs more research and support so it can become better recognized and more credible. Since starting in this field I've seen a lot of jobs I would enjoy and even more that I know I would be good at, but I have only seen a couple that make me excited the same way my imaginary role and Disney did; the same way Sesame Workshop makes me feel now.

I saw the documentary for the first time less than a year ago. Within a week I had researched Sesame Workshop, found an entry level position that I was qualified for, talked with Mike about my need to move to New York if it came though, and applied. I keep trying to be realistic and telling myself how the job search will go next semester, but I really want to be at Sesame Workshop. That film expresses a piece of me. It was a piece of me before I even saw it; I just didn't know it was there. I was looking for a way to educate and empower children through entertainment at Disney because I thought that Disney did things like Sesame Street (since they now do the Muppet stuff). I was in the wrong place. Disney is wonderful, but Sesame workshop believes, "All children deserve a chance to learn and grow; to be prepared for school; to better understand the world and each other; to think, dream and discover; to reach their highest potential." I want to work towards helping children worldwide reach their highest potential.

Finding the altruistic organization that believes everything that I couldn't articulate has given me a new mission. I know right now that someday I will work for Sesame Workshop. I tried to convince myself that it was something that I could do at any point in my life. I was telling myself that I can just wait and volunteer my time after I retire if nothing else, but I can't wait that long. I have so much to offer, and there is so much good that I could do between now and then. I'll start as soon as they'll take me.