Week 5

This blog post is a critical analysis of the use of advertising in the classroom. Firstly, outlining the National Curriculum (DfE, 2013) guidance on advertising, and then moving on to what is appropriate in the classroom, before discussing the real dangers that advertising presents to children.

As a teacher, it is important to not only teach children how to use persuasive language and the formats of advertising, it is just as important to alert children to the dangers that advertising may present. The National Curriculum for 2014 (DfE, 2013) does not highlight explicitly that teachers must inform children of the formats of advertisement, or persuasive writing, however outlines a range of skills, that are associated with persuasive writing. From experience, children respond better to a task if given a meaningful context with which to draw inspiration or understanding from. In this instance, it might seem odd that when teaching advertising, a teacher would not show a real advert for children to gain a clearer understanding from. This however is where the issue lies in terms of teaching. Selecting an appropriate advert, that will not influence children’s views, but is relevant to them so as to engage them, is extremely hard. This is due to the narrow criteria for selecting an advert, because nowadays, all adverts that are aimed at children, have the primary aim of wanting children, or parents to spend money, which is not a message that should be conveyed in the classroom (Buckingham, 1993).

Dyson (2003) outlines that the use of advertising in education can boost children’s self-esteem, as it promotes critical thinking, and children can recognise themselves as individuals; giving a sense of identity. However, it could be argued that the use of popular culture or advertising in education could present false ideas to children, and promote the wrong kind of message (Banaji, 2010). Banaji (2010) present this idea as ‘manipulative advertising’, expressing while there are many benefits to using advertising in the classroom, teachers need to be extremely cautious and clearly reiterate the learning intention to justify their actions.

Gunter, Oates and Blade (2005) highlight the fact that children have an incredible amount of spending power, not only from their own money, but also influencing what their parents spend their money on. This is a direct result of advertising, as Gunter et al (2005) go on to express that much of the advertising seen on television is ain=med at children, and describes the advertising industry as ‘seducers’, whilst naming children the ‘innocents’. This relates to the claim that children are being exploited or taken advantage of in terms of advertising. This issue is so immense, due to the fact that media (particularly internet and television) is so readily available to children, and more so nowadays then ever, this media is available to children free from parental restrictions or control (Kinder, 1999). However, it could be argued that this is different for individual families, because while it is unlikely that all parents monitor their children’s media activity, it is just as unlikely that every parent is completely relaxed in this area and gives their children complete freedom.

Banaji, S. (2010). Analysing advertisements in the classroom. In Bazalgette, C. (Ed.) Teaching media in primary schools, pp. 62-75, London: SAGE Publications.

Buckingham, D. (1993) Children Talking Television: The Making of Television Literacy, London: Falmer.

Dyson, A. H. (2003) The Brothers and Sisters Learn to Write. New York. NY: Teachers College Press.

Gunter, B. Oates, C. & Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates pp 1 – 13.

Kinder, M (1999) Kids’ Media Culture London: Duke University Press.