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

• In Event: Using technology and/or data to improve literacy

Abstract

Sesame Street can be considered a phenomenon in educational television, without which the face of educational television and research on television and children would be totally different. Shortly after it was first aired in the United States, many countries expressed interest in adopting the series. This paper looks at the international co-production format aired outside of the U.S. and explores patterns of adoption as well as its outcomes. In this format, approximately half of the materials are taken from the original series produced in the United States while the rest are made locally.
Television as a medium is unique in the sense that it provides an audiovisual experience that is shared among a large number of people. It is considered a powerful vehicle for socialization and hegemonization. Such effects are arguably at a more influential and widespread level in the age of globalization, which is characterized by the intensification of social processes, communication and economic interpenetration (Caruso, 2008). Through studying publications on the adaptations and use of the series in other countries, both on peer-reviewed journals and popular media, I aim to explore the patterns in this process, how local actors interact with the series, what changes in curriculum and production are made, and what effects it brings about. It is found that each country actively introduces and integrates its own goals and flavors into the series through a shared understanding of the importance of the medium, and the child as a learner. There are efforts to keep content, objectives and references culturally specific. The use of materials from the original series inevitably introduces certain American ideas, narratives or aesthetics, but their effects are not yet addressed in research.

Author

• Ha Nguyen Nguyen, Michigan State University