In March, 44 Year 10 Geographers took part in a ‘Geography and the Role of the Media’ Masterclass. The Masterclass was delivered by Curriculum Leader for Geography at Salford City College, Helen Chambers.
The students were challenged to complete six demanding activities. These were all designed to demonstrate how the media can shape and manipulate our perceptions of the world around us.
Unwittingly students chose images of Syria as places they would like to live. Our students were shocked to see how beautiful this war torn country is.
Students then investigated how the media can give rise to stereotypes about our own home areas of Manchester and Salford. For example how the music where to buy imitrex generic scene and bands such as The Stone Roses, The Smiths and Oasis made Manchester an iconic trendsetting city. Conversely, TV programmes such as Coronation Street, Shameless and the Royle Family may mean that Manchester is perceived as ‘gritty’ and industrial.
Life expectancy data really challenged our Geographer’s traditional views, particularly when they were shown that the life expectancy in Broughton in Salford, Syria and Mumbai is 66 years! Crime statistics for Irlam were also analysed.
After this challenging and enjoyable session students had the added bonus of being given GCSE resources to support their course.