Multiculturalism, Diversity and Stereotypes: Engaging Students with Images in Media

Commercial interests invariably become entwined with making films, with reporting the news and with other forms of information and entertainment. Pervasive mediagenerated gender and racial stereotypes distort cultural representations and negatively impact users' perceptions of society. As students learn to create various forms of media, their points of reference are often these negative images, which are then reflected to some extent in their content. This creates a worrisome cycle reinforcing the stereotypes in the present and perpetuating these for the future. While there are clearly no right or wrong answers in art, there are good and bad interpretive choices in pedagogy. This essay explores and articulates a more useful method of student engagement, especially in reference to media literacy, multiculturalism and stereotypes and presents pedagogical methods and strategies to combat negative images in the media.