Global Perspectives on Children's Media

This special issue of the journal Early Education and Development (Volume 13, Number 4) focuses on the production process that has shaped the development of Sesame Workshop productions in countries around the world. Formative research, in particular, has been used to create what is intended to be engaging, entertaining, educational media for young children (ages 3 to 6) in the United States, South Africa, Egypt, China, and many other countries around the world. The papers in this issue explore this process in detail, providing insights into the development of methodologies used to carry out formative research with children - as well as offering insights into the knowledge and learning of children from different cultures.

Special Editor of this issue, Dr. Charlotte F. Cole (Vice President for Education and Research at Sesame Workshop), begins with an introductory overview of the formative research component of the Sesame model. In "Learning from Moshe, Hu Hu Zhu and Khokha: Insights into the Global Application of the Formative Research Component of the Sesame Workshop Model", Cole articulates several purposes of this research - such as fostering the development media that reflects, and has meaning in the context of the experiences of children in international settings who encounter Sesame media productions with very diverse cultural backgrounds and worldviews. One key component of this paper is the presentation of the model itself, which involves:

1. A needs and feasibility assessment in which producers solicit advice from experts on the educational needs of the intended audience and aspects of the "media landscape";
2. Curriculum development by educational specialists;
3. Production (development of scripts, storyboards, and other prototypes), some of which are tested using formative research "to discern the elements that engage children and the degree to which children comprehend intended educational messages";
4. Distribution - through television, radio, or other channels; and
5. Summative evaluation to assess the impact of the project and to offer insight for future production.

In the context of this framework - and by drawing on the examples that are explored throughout the rest of the issue - Cole highlights how "effective educational experiences result when media are created with a systematic plan that brings together individuals from different backgrounds and includes the voices of the children for whom the media are targeted."

Following this paper is "Developing an HIV/AIDS Education Curriculum for Takalani Sesame, South Africa's Sesame Street." The authors carefully situate their work in the context of the South African AIDS epidemic, where health officials have estimated that 15% of children will have lost one or more parent by 2015 if there is no significant intervention. Aware that some question the age-appropriateness of the topic of HIV/AIDS, the authors report how they engaged in a "carefully and responsibly executed" process of strategizing about how to provide HIV/AIDS information to children ages 3-7, such as the fact that it is safe to play with HIV-positive children. The authors detail the process of developing a curriculum, which involved formative research with adults and children, as well as discussions with HIV/AIDS specialists. As a result of this formative research, the authors found ways to present information in age-appropriate and culturally specific ways, and concluded that the introduction of an HIV-positive Muppet was necessary in the South African context.

Third, Jin Li and Jimei Li examine the cultural basis and relevance of the children's educational TV programme Zhima Jie (a Chinese adaptation of Sesame Street). In the paper, titled "'The Cow Loves to Learn': The Hao-Xue-Xin Learning Model as a Reflection of the Cultural Relevance of Zhima Jie, China's Sesame Street," the authors share the results of formative research conducted with 400 children aged 3-6. The goal of this research was to assess whether the programme’s educational framework was well-suited to the Chinese context for learning. The researchers found in their sample an overwhelming desire for books and learning, suggesting that the educational approach of Zhima Jie, and its focus on literacy, was appropriately matched to the cultural context of child viewers in China.

In "'The Tower in Red and Yellow': Using Children's Drawings in Formative Research for Alam Simsim an Educational Television Series for Egyptian Children," the authors illustrate how systematic analysis of children's artwork can be used as a research method, in conjunction with other research tools, to "provide insights into children's thoughts and to serve as a catalyst for children's communication" - particularly by promoting dialogues between the researcher and the child participant. They use examples from a study of six test segments of the Egyptian TV series Alam Simsim, gleaning a series of recommendations for a systematic approach to applying this methodology (one that includes interviewing children about their drawings).

Purdue University's Karen E. Diamond and Katherine R. Kensinger next detail the use of videotaped segments of Sesame Street to assess young children's understanding of Down syndrome and physical disability. A research study conducted with 41 preschool children found, in short, that these children have a better understanding of physical disability than of Down syndrome. Recognising that preschool children’s understanding of difference relies on explicit and sensitive explanations and not merely implicit exposure to difference, the authors pose questions such as, "Would explanations of a child's disability promote sensitivity and acceptance by peers, or would such explanations increase the likelihood that peers would think of the child with a disability as someone different from themselves?"

The following paper in the journal, "Interface Design and Research Process for Studying the Usability of Interactive Home-Entertainment Systems by Young Children," describes a study that evaluated young children's understanding of and ability to use technologies such as videogame players and DVDs - interactive systems that "have the potential to serve as a powerful platform for delivering interactive educational programming." The researchers found that even children as young as 3 years could learn to use these products, but recommend that a colour/shape-based interface be used in the product design, and emphasise that controllers (e.g., handheld remote control devices) are most successful when the process of selection is simplified.

Finally, "Reading Between The Pixels: Parent-Child Interaction While Reading Online Storybooks" examines whether parent-child reading of online storybooks elicits the same types of interaction that have been observed for joint reading of traditional (printed) books. Having observed 7 parent-child dyads in this exploratory study, researchers conclude that "children not only saw and heard the [online] stories, but also helped to determine the course of events, with implications for emergent literacy." That is, the common practice of asking children to predict what will happen next while jointly reading traditional storybooks, can potentially be taken a step further in joint e-reading due to the interactive nature of branching, online stories. This finding leads the authors to conclude that the internet can in fact serve as a tool to promote not merely solitary learning, but education through face-to-face interaction between children and their parents.