Media Recruitment of Public Sector Workers
The public sector is the part of the United States economy that is owned and operated by federal, state, and local governments. It includes governmental agencies, police and fire departments, public schools and colleges, the military, and other agencies and departments. The U.S. Post Office, National Parks, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are all part of the public sector.
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): BC Parks Interpretive Ranger AJ and National Park Service Law Enforcement Ranger Mike work together to keep a bear out of the Hozomeen campground along the United States-Canada Border in Washington State and British Columbia | Public domain
State and local governments are currently experiencing enormous challenges in recruiting workers for public sector jobs. An ongoing "silver tsunami" (the steady retirement of older baby boom-age workers) combined with a decline in job applications due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant number of public sector employment openings throughout the country. Also, the public sector is facing increasingly stiff competition from the private sector organizations for highly talented professional, managerial, and technical workers, especially those with two- and four-year college degrees.
In these activities, you will design a job recruitment commercial and social media post to influence others to pursue careers in the public sector.
Activity 1: Design a Public Sector Job Recruitment Commercial
Imagine you work for a state government that has a significant shortage of workers in a certain public service sector (education, agriculture, postal service, transportation, etc...). In this activity you will create a TV or online commercial to recruit adults to pursue careers in that public sector area.
- Start by curating a Wakelet, Padlet, or Google slides collection of TV and online (e.g., YouTube, social media) commercials for public sector and private sector jobs.
- Use the Teacher and Student Guide to Analyzing Advertisements to take a deep dive into learning more about the production, design, and messaging of the commercials you found.
- Then, apply the design and persuasion techniques that you uncovered during your critical analysis to create your own job recruitment commercial.
- Select a public sector job and conduct research to learn more about who works in that field and why they work there (e.g., what are their goals?).
- Next, write a script and design a storyboard using the following prompts as a guide:
- Why is the job important to this state/country?
- What might happen if there is a shortage of workers and how will that influence people/society?
- What is the projected future landscape and growth potential of the job?
- Finally, use digital tools or apps to turn your script and storyboard into a TV or web commercial.
Activity 2: Post About Public Service Jobs on Social Media
- Read the article What Are Public Service Jobs (And Are They Right For You)?
- Then, create a tweet, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, or other social media post to influence others to apply to public sector jobs.
Additional Resources
- GovernmentJobs.com is the leading online job board for public sector employment
- What Are Public Sector Jobs and Are They Right for You?
Connecting to the Standards
- Massachusetts Civics & Government Standards
- Explain the importance of public service and identify career and other opportunities in public service at the local, state and national levels. (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T4.9]
- ISTE Standards
- Digital Citizen
- 2c: Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
- Knowledge Constructor
- 3a: Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
- 3b: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
- 3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
- Creative Communicator
- 6a: Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
- 6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
- 6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for the intended audiences.
- DLCS Standards
- Ethics and Laws (CAS.b)
- Digital Tools (DTC.a)
- Collaboration and Communication (DTC.b)
- Research (DTC.c)
- English Language Arts > History/Social Studies Common Core Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7
Images of Teachers and Teaching
What images come to mind when you think of the word "teacher?" What would you create if you were asked to "Draw a Teacher Teaching?"
Video \(\PageIndex{1}\): Best Teachers Quotes Compilation | Tribute to Teachers | Thank you Teachers | Teachers Day 2020. Uploaded by Kids DIY Channel.
Over the decades, when children were asked to draw a scientist, nearly every youngster in the 1960s and 1970s, regardless of gender identity, drew a male scientist (Edutopia, May 22, 2019). Gradually, over time, the pattern shifted, and today about 58% of students who identify as female are more likely to draw a woman scientist. Nevertheless, despite progress toward gender equity in many fields, at the high school level across all students and genders, drawings of male scientists outnumber drawings of female scientists 4 to 1. Longstanding educational and career stereotypes about women in science remain entrenched.
Conventional images of teachers also seem resistant to change. In a study comparing the drawings of teachers by college undergraduates, student teaching interns, and practicing teachers, the undergraduates tended to display a teacher at the front of the classroom with students sitting in rows passively listening, while student teaching interns drew students rather than adults at the center of the learning process, and practicing teachers drew more teacher-centered scenes that showed frustration and unhappiness on the part of the adults (Sinclair, et.al., 2013). What is happening that might explain these different visions of teaching and teachers?
In these activities, you will first design an interactive image of a teacher in a 21st century school before evaluating images of teachers taken from different media sources over the past 100 years. As you engage in these activities, consider: "How do you think images of teaching might impact how students in K-12 schools think about teaching and education as a possible career choice?"
Activity 1: Design an Interactive Image of a 21st Century Teacher
- Start a new Google Drawings canvas.
- Sketch an image of a 21st century teacher teaching.
- Add text boxes with more information and/or hyperlinks to external sources (e.g., to sites with information about 21st century teachers).
- Go to Insert --> Image --> Search the Web and find Creative Commons/Public Domain images to enrich your drawing. Hyperlink the images to go to external sources (e.g., a Youtube video, article, information about the image).
- Next, complete Activity 2 (below).
- Then, return to your drawing and determine whether you want to revise it based on what you learned during Activity 2.
Activity 2: Evaluate Images of American Teachers
- Curate a digital collection or a digital timeline of images of teachers and teaching. Include at least one image created during each decade from the 1920s to today. Here are some images you might add to your collection:
- 1910 imagines what 2020 will look like
- Image of teaching, 1920s
- 1957 stamp from the National Education Association
- The American teacher, 2020-2021 by Art of Al Abbazia
- Remote Teaching is Hard
- Super Teacher
- Use the Teacher and Student Guide to Analyzing Images to critically examine the production, design, and message of these images.
- Based on what you learned from your critical visual analysis of the images:
- Return to Activity 1 and consider whether you want to revise your drawing.
- Design a TikTok or Snapchat video to inform others about the role of teachers and teaching in present-day society and discuss how media can influence and distort people's perspective of teachers/teaching.
Connecting to the Standards
- Massachusetts Civics & Government Standards
- Explain the importance of public service and identify career and other opportunities in public service at the local, state and national levels. (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T4.9]
- ISTE Standards
- Digital Citizen
- 2c: Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
- Knowledge Constructor
- 3b: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
- Creative Communicator
- 6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
- 6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for the intended audiences.
- DLCS Standards
- Ethics and Laws (CAS.b)
- Interpersonal and Societal Impact (CAS.c)
- Digital Tools (DTC.a)
- Collaboration and Communication (DTC.b)
- Research (DTC.c)
- English Language Arts > History/Social Studies Common Core Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7
