#1

Sesame Street Joan Cooney--" The general aim of the program was to promote the intellectual and cultural growth of preschoolers, particularly disadvantaged preschoolers." Came out of the developing educational TV (Mr. Wizard, Ding Dong School) mold but went beyond. Research & Development team at work 18 months before, with five extensive seminars with these groups: Education people (Harvard School of Education especially Gerald Lesser) Child psychologists/ testing people (Edward Palmer, OSU became VP of research ) Artists including writers, puppeteers, actors, etc. Funders (Llyod Morrisett of Markle Foundation whose dinner with Joan Cooney in l966 started it all) First show was sponsored by the letters W, S, E and the numbers 2 and 3. (Carnegie, Ford, Markle, Head Start, Office of Education and WNET public TV. ) Nov. 10 l969 (SSU 16-17)

#2

Time

1960s--JFK had sparked idealism in social transformation of the country and LBJ declared War on Poverty. Government was funding Head Start, Civil Rights movement was on, it was only a matter of time till class differences in education were going to go away Get to kids before they get to school. Proposal was made to Foundations, Dept. of Education to create a program that could alleviate gaps in education and prepare inner city and poor students for school. #3 Three Strands Educational Psychological Scientific #4

Educational Outlook Seminars in l968 set out goals (5 x 3days x 100 people) Symbolic representation (letters, numbers, geometric forms) Cognitive processes- classification, ordering, reasoning, problem solving skills.

Child and the physical world --natural and man made environment, recognition of cycles in nature, id living things. Social environment community, family, home, cultural and other differences, cooperation, conflict resolution.

Result="The Writer's Handbook

#5

Educational Outlook International shows Big Bird in China in l980s as China opens Big Bird in Japan as trade with Japan gears up

#6

Psychological Outlook Advertising had developed in 20th century into a well developed, professional art. Using psychology and showmanship, Madison Avenue had revolutionized selling via the development of a TV commercial. Movement from show sponsorship (Howdy Doody) to buying time by the minute had taken place in the l950s and this led to a new kind of segmentation and placement of ads as in magazine or newspaper.

Advertising worked to make stuff visually, aurally stimulating. Compelling moments delivered in short blocks of time that impacted viewer.

#7

Psychological Outlook: Hensons Strength Work in commercials made Muppets a natural for this job Accustomed to short, clear comic message to sell product Combined puppets (for children) and commercial expertise

#8

Psychological Outlook: advertising for education Dave Connell "We're calling these things "commercials" for our own shorthand and were planning to treat them as essentially the same as a commercial enterprise would create a campaign. But we're trying to sell the alphabet to preschool children. Joan Ganz Cooney " Traditional educators may not be nuts about this, but we're going to clip along at a much faster pace than anyone's used to in Children's programs. (Kids) like commercials and banana-peel humor and avant garde video and audio techniques . . . . We have to infuse our content into forms children find accessible. (NY Times interview) As commercials look for and gained prime talent so did Childrens Television Workshop. "When people ask for a thumbnail sketch of what Sesame Street is, I always say it's a comedy show that teaches. We have the best comedy writers on TV working for us. That's why it works. (Arlene Sherman, supervising producer as quoted in Sesame Street Unpaved, 14)

#9

The Scientific Outlook

Careful testing of what worked. Test Sesame Street versus a slide show: What held kids attention? The Muppet were being watched most body puppets on street like Big Bird and Snuffy were not originally planned but grew out of testing. Animation, music, visuals proved compelling

Social Science approach: kids did the casting Bob, Susan, Gordon and Mr. Hooper were cast by a group of elementary school Highest child response won the role.

kids.

#10

Scientific Outlook: Educational Appropriateness

Big Bird--surrogate child 6 yr. Snuffy-4 yr. old Ernie-basic reasoning and logic, Bert more serious fall guy. Oscar-positive and negative emotions/ waiter from Oscars Tavern in NY. Grover-learning through struggle. Count-math (1,832,652 year old and still counting). Prairie Dawn-7 yr. old female role model, Elmo-3 1/2 yr. Zoe female monster-3 yr. old (growing feminism dictated monsters can be female too!) #11 Bert and Ernie Scientific? Basic reasoning and logic Relationships and coping skills Child who outdoes the adult figure Friendship that overcomes difference

#12

Scientific Outlook Testing of different groups to show kids were learning numbers and cognitive skills. Test groups from around the country with visits to families of 1/2 to encourage watching show while the other half not encouraged (l970-71) Boston, Durham, Phoenix, rural California, Philadelphia (second round included research groups in LA and Winston-Salem). Children were pre-tested on forms, body parts, letters, numbers and their growth was measured after watching the show. In 2nd year attitudes toward race and school we tested. Peabody picture vocabulary test was given. Testing thrown off by fact that so many non-encouraged children watched the show. 20-36% of 2-5 year olds watched in l969-70, 33-42% in l970-71. Cost $1-2 per child per year, versus teacher cost $1000 per year per child. Time of Nov. 16, l970 declared '"Straight A" for Sesame Street #13

Scientific Outlook Adults to represent a teacher role, parent intervention, and support Demographic Diversity-Maria (Sonia Manzano) Puerto Rican; Luis Rodriguiz (Elmio Delgado) New Mexican; Bob McGrath (Bob McGrath) Indiana music teacher; David (Nothern Calloway) African-American. Linda Bove (Linda Bove-deaf librarian), Gordon Robinson (Roscoe Orman-school teacher) African-American, Susan (Loretta Long-Ph. D. in education) African American, Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) Caucasian, Olivia

African-American, Buffy (Buffy St. Marie) Native American, Willy (Kermit Love) Caucasian. Mr. McIntosh (Chet O'Brien) Irish-American, Mr.. Handlove (David Smyrl) African-American, Celina (Annette Calud) Filipina, etc. Representing America Celebritiesto get adults to watch the show with their children and discuss for better learning (SSU 138) #14 Is Sesame Street America?

As the population changes on the Street does it mean something is changing about American demographics? Political representation?

#15

What Worked Short term cognitive skills Symbolic representation Child and social world

#16

What Didnt Work Gender? Do girls get equal time? Representation? Who is a part of Sesame Street (American Society) and how do you present urban America? Is this for real as an urban street? Pedagogy? Did it create passive children? Preparation for school or for more TV watching? Merchandizing? Did kids just learn to consume? #17 Other Debates Left or Right? Was there a leftist orientation (blacklisted writers)? Neo-colonial: Was its internationalism neo-colonial, developing American culture abroad? Did it serve the people it was created for (underprivileged) or represent a white, middle-class (East Coast Liberal) worldview played out by a multicultural cast? #18 But Wait a Minute! How did so much weight get laid on on one little show anyway?

Arent we just talking puppets? Or are we debating the direction of our ideal future in the images we create for our kids? Video Clips Sesame Street (Identify educational objectives achieved.) Possible Follow That Bird ( What educational and social issues are raised and how does the longer format of film allow for a different treatment of material?)