Knowledge and Knowing in Media and Film Studies

Abstract

For traditional subjects such as History, Art and Science, debate about the nature of knowledge in the school curriculum has produced a growing literature on the relationship between disciplinary knowledge and what is taught in schools. For newer subjects, however, the path is less clear.

Knowledge and Knowing in Media and Film Studies is the first book to grapple with the question for these two related subjects. Steve Connolly argues that, while Media and Film Studies each have a clear epistemological base, consideration of craft skills alongside factual knowledge and criticality has led to the development of different criteria for what constitutes valuable knowledge than in traditional school subjects. The book problematises this difference through a genealogy of both subjects as they appear in the English school curriculum, charting their historical and disciplinary origins within that system. In so doing it finds that, far from being ‘new’ subjects, Media and Film Studies have parallel histories with more established subjects. Using a range of primary and secondary data, including interviews with media and film teachers, case studies and historical sources, the book provides an account of knowledge and knowing in school Media Studies and Film Studies, which both consolidates existing views and proposes some new perspectives.

Praise for Knowledge and Knowing in Media and Film Studies

‘The status of Media and Film Education has been contested for a very long time. In this book, Steve Connolly drills down beneath the surface level of debates about academic rigour and what education is for. He analyses how knowledge works in these subjects, how it differs from other educational processes, why this is important and how this matters for more recent endeavours in “media literacy”. No future conversation about the value of these subjects in education should begin without attention to this rich contribution.’ Julian McDougall, Bournemouth University