In my paper, I will look at the popular children’s television show Sesame Street. Indeed, today it is just as hard to avoid Sesame Street references in popular culture as Star Wars references. Sesame Street, in terms of popularity, is a televised monster: A survey in 1996 shows that 95% of American preschoolers have been exposed to the show by the age of three.
The show is hailed as the first educational show for children to successfully combine education and entertainment. The main focus of the essay is to examine Sesame Street as a unique and original experiment, blending education and entertainment. Why will children be content to sit in front of the screen for extended periods of time learning? What is it about the show’s construction that appeals to children? Most importantly, how do all of the adult producers and adult writers and teachers and psychologists and others who devoted their time and energy into making the show take the tool of television and create something educational and entertaining for preschoolers?
First I will discuss the context in which the show came out (the late 1960s) and the public hesitancy and discontent about exposing children to television. Then I will discuss the creation of the show and examine its structure, content, and form in an attempt to determine why televised education appeals to preschoolers. Then I will discuss Sesame Street‘s role in educational reform and promoting multiculturalism.
For primary sources, I will use a few episodes of the early Sesame Street (not the “For Adults Only” episodes, but still early ones), as well as “The First Year of Sesame Street: The Formative Research” by Barbara Frengel Reeves of the Children’s Television Workshop.
For secondary sources, I will use the following books:
Morrow, Robert W. Sesame Street and the Reform of Children’s Television. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2006.
Lesser, Gerald S. Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1975.
This proposal has been brought to you by the letter “P”
G is for “Good Idea” and “Groundbreaking Show.” A lot of us in this course were raised on “S Street” as I used to call it, so a thorough analysis of its educational role should be very interesting
I *heart* Sesame Street. It is a wonderful show, so I agree with Noah, great idea.
You mentioned at the start of your proposal that there are so many pop culture references to Sesame Street in our society it is impossible to avoid them, and I think it would be really interesting to study some of these (like Avenue Q!). Sesame Street is so much more than a television show and I think it would be really interesting to look at the breadth of Sesame Street as well as the depth.
Neil,
This is a strong topic & proposal, with good research and ideas. I would suggest looking at some of the controversies when the show debuted, as many critics and educators were highly skeptical about the potential for TV to educate. One good source for this is Heather Hendershot’s book Saturday Morning Censors – you could also look at the critical writings about the show in the late-60s/early-70s as primary research. We have the DVDs of the early eps, with some good bonus materials as well. Good luck!
-JM