Learning, Teaching, and Television Production for Children: The Experience of Sesame Street.
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| Title: | Learning, Teaching, and Television Production for Children: The Experience of Sesame Street. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Lesser, Gerald S., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Graduate School of Education. |
| Source: | Harvard Educational Review. May 1972 42(2):231-272. |
| Availability: | Harvard Educational Review, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 41 |
| Publication Date: | 1972 |
| Descriptors: | Early Childhood Education, Educational Television, Learning Experience, Learning Modalities, Prereading Experience, Preschool Education, Production Techniques, Sound Effects, Teaching Methods, Television |
| Abstract: | "Sesame Street" has sought to provide a supplementary educational experience on television to help prepare children for school by stimulating their appetite for learning. Its specific goals include instruction in 1) symbolic representation--letters, numbers, and geometric forms; 2) cognitive processes--perceptual discrimination, relationships, classification, and ordering; 3) reasoning and problem-solving; and 4) "the child and his world"--concepts regarding the self, social units, social interaction, and the man-made and natural environment. This paper discusses 1) some informal principles of learning and teaching, and 2) some production and writing methods that have been used experimentally on "Sesame Street" to achieve those goals. Examples of the former are modeling, narrow focusing, learning from format as well as content, and cross-model reinforcement. Examples of the latter are use of music and sound to catch children's attention, repetition, use of surprise and incongruity, use of animation and pixilation techniques, and the inclusion of the symbolic material to be learned within the televised dramatic action. Use of humor and diverse activities sustains children's attention. The author is chairman of the National Board of Advisors to the Children's Television Workshop, which produces "Sesame Street." (JK) |
| Entry Date: | 1973 |
| Accession Number: | ED070248 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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