Unit 7
The Power to Educate and Inform

In Unit 6, we discussed questions raised by the power of television to create “community,” and considered the kind of community that television works for, and against. In this unit, we consider the very similar set of questions raised by educational television. Is television “educational”? If so, who learns what, and why? Does educational television serve a hegemonic function? Can it be subversive? Who produces, who funds, and who uses educational television? What is the relationship of educational television to public television? Can either make its own way in the marketplace?

Objectives

After completing this unit, you should be able to

1. identify and describe the various kinds of educational material available on television.
2. discuss the techniques educational television uses to attract and educate viewers.
3. evaluate the degree to which public and educational television advances or consolidates understanding of various issues and subjects.
4. evaluate the degree to which public and educational television contributes to the dominant hegemony.
5. discuss the difficulties of public television in the marketplace, and evaluate its competitiveness in that marketplace.
6. differentiate between what television can do in the realm of education, and what it cannot do, and so leaves out.