ComTheory: Social Learning Theory and Entertainment Education (W13-P1) [VID]

Entertainment education is part of a larger concept called development communication.

With this type of development we are working with the development of nations.

Development: "purposive changes undertaken in a society to achieve what may be regarded generally as a different ('improved') state of social and economic affairs"(Hernández-Ramos & Schramm, 1989).

Development projects typically focus on certain areas/issue of a society (e.g. agriculture, health, nutrition, family planning, women's empowerment, etc.)

Development communication: the use of communication technology and principles to aid in the development of a society.

The idea of presenting a development message within a fictional program is the type of development communication that is called entertainment education.  The World Bank is a multinational organization that uses entertainment education in their work.  See the video below for examples and background information.




Below is another example of entertainment education.  Tim Reid, noted Norfolk State University alumnus and actor/director/producer, and NSU students (Maryna Kariuk and Shimira Cole) were involved in the making of "Hear My Son".  How exactly is this an example of entertainment education?


Hear My Son from Legacy Media Institute on Vimeo.


One of the key originators of the entertainment education concept is Miguel Sabido.  He used entertainment education strategies in television, specifically soap operas in Mexico and other countries.

Sabido developed a theory for the construction of successful entertainment education projects.  It was perhaps more a meta-theory in that it brought together a variety of theories from a variety of fields into one meta-theory.

One theory that Sabido drew upon was that of Bandura's social learning theory. Two key concepts in social learning theory are imitation and identification.

imitation: "The direct reproduction of observed behavior" (Baran & Davis, p. 170).

identification: "A special form of imitation that springs from wanting to be and trying to be like an observed model relative to some broader characteristics or qualities" (Baran & Davis, p. 170).

Do you see how Bandura's concepts of imitation and identification fit in the videos above?

If you were to develop a development communication project that was entertainment education how would you used social learning theory?





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