The Construction of Subjectivity in Educational Television. Part Two:You and Me‐‐a case study

Abstract

This case study represents an application of the theoretical approach outlined in the first part of this article, published in the Journal of Educational Television, 13 (2). It is based on an analysis of programmes in the BBC series for preschool children You and Me, transmitted in the school year 1984-85. It provides an illustrated typology of the modes of subject positioning employed in the series, and a comparative analysis identifying changes in its pedagogic style over the past five years. It concludes with a critique of the 'child-centred' emphasis of the more recent programmes, and their models of social regulation.

Understanding Television Audiences

“…Analysis of the interviews showed that responses to the programmes varied in ways which were not directly related to social class variables but to gender and ethnic differences (Morley, 1980). Similar responses were shown by viewers in studies carried out by Buckingham (Buckingham, 1987). In an earlier study, he found that some viewers of the programme 'The Whites of their Eyes' in Thames' Viewpoint 2 series had difficulty in distinguishing the voice-over commentary from individual views expressed in the programme, and that their failure to understand its basic mechanics meant that they failed to grasp many of the points it was trying to make.…”

Failing our Children? The comprehension of younger viewers

“…There have been a number of approaches to the problems of increasing the skills of the viewer, and these are by no means similar in their theoretical approach or their practical implications (Buckingham, 1987(Buckingham, , 1990Buckle & Kelley, 1990;Dorr et al, 1983;Lloyd-Kolkin et al, 1980;Roberts et al, 1980;Rapaczynski, 1982;Singer et al, 1988). It is interesting that many of these approaches were predicated on the supposed negative effects of the medium (the contrast here with attitudes to reading are quite striking).…”

“…He made the important point that each of the approaches tended to evaluate the success of programmes of learning by different criteria. More recently Buckingham (1987) and others have suggested the 'negotiated meaning' approach. This model suggests that the individual members of the audience have a important part in creating the meaning of any television broadcast.…”