The International Sesame Street -Convergence and Divergence in the Age of Globalization

Nguyễn Thanh HàMichigan State University & Vietnam National UniversityCIES 2015 March 11

Sesame Street in the United States

- Launched in November, 1969- Targeted 3 to 5 year-olds, including racially and geographically diverse communities- Extensive program of formative research & testing

- "The CTW model": a system of television show planning, production, and evaluation based on collaborations between producers, writers, educators, and researchers.

The Sesame Street curriculum

The first season- symbolic representation; - cognitive processes; - the physical environment;

- the social environment

“The guiding curriculum has evolved over time in response to changing circumstances, to reassessments of needs, and to opportunity”

(Lesser & Schneider, 2001, p.37)

Going Global

lShown in over 140 countries by 2009

Going Global

lCo-production format: lHalf of the materials from the original series in the United States

lThe other half are made locally

lMain licensing policiesl(1) broadcast without commercials;

l(2) any changes would have to meet high production standards;

l(3) all versions had to reflect the country's cultural values and

traditions;

l(4) all changes would have to be approved, initiated, and

supervised by a local committee working with the CTW

Plaza Sésamo in Mexico and

Latin Americalpremiered in Mexico in 1972

laired throughout Latin America, to a potential

audience of 25 million children in 34 countries

lAdaptation

lNew music & set

lMore emphasis on problem solving and

reasoning

lLocally relevant topics (community

cooperation, family life, nutrition, health,

safety, self-esteem, and expressing

emotions)

lTeach reading through the “whole

language” method

lThe fourth season, filmed in 1995, was

broadcast in the U.S.

Sesame Tree in Northen Ireland

lFirst series debuted in April 2008. Second

series began airing November 2010.

lBroadcast throughout the U.K. but was

"rooted in everyday life in Northern Ireland"

lTargets 3-6 year-olds

lNew set inspired by a centuries-old “fairy

tree” in Irish folklore

lSeveral new muppet characters

Potto, Hilda the Irish Hare

and Claribelle.

l“It is especially apt at this time that the focus of

[Sesame Tree] is on helping children learn about

each other and the diverse society in which they

live.” (Deputy First Minister McGuinness)

lTakalani Sesame (South Africa)

lTargets children aged 3 and 7.

lInspired to be distinctly South African

lPromotes literacy, numeracy and basic life

skills

lHigh awareness across all age groups.

Sesame Street in JapanlImported in 1971 to teach English to NHK audience of

students in their third year of junior highschool

l2004 replaced by a local Sesame Street, to

lFacilitate socio-emotional development of young children

lHelp them to “use their imagination, think independently,

appreciate diversity”

lTeach simple English phrases

lCancelled in 2007

Conclusion

lTelevision as a medium for education and identity constructionlChildren as learnerslLocal needs, priorities, values, culture & current eventslGlobalization as the traveling of ideas, products, images, in full or in parts