Reflect on Your Motivations for Teaching Media Literacy
OR: You can use this short handout to invite participants to self-reflect on their motivational style preferences. You can also use these brief descriptions of the 12 motivational profiles as a tool for discussion.
The quiz is rooted in theory and based on the observation that teachers have differential levels of attachment to empowerment-protectionist beliefs about the affordances or liabilities of media and technology.
The instrument measures differential levels of teacher valuation of:
(1) technology tools, genres and formats;
(2) message content and quality;
(3) community connectedness;
(4) texts and audiences;
(5) understanding media systems; and
(6) learner-centered focus.
The digital learning motivation measures feature the these 12 profiles: Techie, Professional (technology tools, genres and formats); Tastemaker, Professor (message content and quality); Activist, Teacher 2.0 (community connectedness); Alt, Trendsetter (texts and audiences); Watchdog, Demystifier (media systems); Motivator, Spirit Guide (learnercentered).
There are four statements associated with each of the 12 profiles. Two have a valence with themes of protection and two have a valence with themes of empowerment. For example, an example of an Activist item with a valence as protection is: “It’s my job to help students examine how and why social institutions can be unjust and inequitable.” An example of an Activist item with a valence as empowerment is: “Civic engagement should be activated by the use of media and technology in the classroom.”