I hope to be a leading voice for my community in understanding media literacy in broad terms and driving further conversations on mindful media consumption and production.”
Michael A. Spikes (he/him)
PhD Candidate in the Department of Learning Sciences
Michael A. Spikes is a PhD candidate in the Department of Learning Sciences in the School of Education and Social Policy. He has been teaching, writing about, and developing curriculum on the subject of news media literacy and its production for more than 15 years. Michael’s research focuses on connecting cognitive, social, and learning environmental design theories to news literacy pedagogy. He was awarded the Advanced Cognitive Science Fellowship in 2020 and a Graduate Research Grant in 2021.
How would you describe your research and/or work to a non-academic audience?
I study and teach others about news media literacy, a subset of media literacy education that encourages the mindful consumption and production of media. News media literacy uses the skills and practices of journalism to teach mindful engagement with media and also uses the news media as a platform for practicing those skills.
What have been some of the most memorable twists and turns of your career?
I've spent a lot of time in classrooms, both teaching and now studying the teaching of various areas of media education. The most memorable though, involves my time teaching news media literacy skills to teachers in the country of Bhutan, as part of an effort to build its citizens’ civic knowledge and engagement as the country transitioned from an absolute monarchy form of government to a constitutional monarchy. This offered citizens the opportunity to vote and become more involved in civic matters. It was not only my first time teaching in another country, but my first trip overseas! It also was the first task I was given when joined the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University in 2012.
Tell us what inspired your research and/or work.
I have always been interested in how media works, and as a kid, I frequently tinkered with media technologies, such as radios, record players, CD players, and eventually PCs. I can recall that I was the go-to person in my family whenever someone got a new TV and needed to figure out how to hook it up.
I also was really interested in sharing what I was learning with others and finding ways to do so. I have a younger sister to whom I was always explaining what I was doing (and despite that, she's not involved in media but has pursued a career in education).
I later got involved in media production and journalism as a youth radio producer in an out-of-school program in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and later parlayed that into a career teaching other young people how to produce journalism and other media.
I then got into media literacy education as internet technologies, and specifically "web 2.0," began to make inroads and have impacts on society as a whole as user-generated content began to have as much, if not more, influence on people's beliefs and actions. A big example of this came with the Arab Spring that started in late 2010. We saw the benefits that connecting people through internet communications could do, but we later saw the perils of that, which we're still dealing with.
What is a mistake you have learned from in your career?
Never bad-mouth or react poorly to someone or something in an email or other piece of recorded media.
Whom do you admire in your field and otherwise, and why?
This is very broad, but I’ve always admired grade school teachers, especially those who teach kindergarten and middle schoolers (grades 6-8). I’ve personally found these grades to be some of the most formative for students and the most difficult because of the changes that happen in young people at those ages. Students in kindergarten are just beginning to learn what “school” is and what it's for, and teachers in that grade have to deftly move those students from play to formal learning. Middle schoolers, as early adolescents, are going through all kinds of transitions in their lives that can make school and the goals of learning seem very minuscule as they’re trying to figure out who they are and their place in the world.
What do you find both rewarding and challenging about your research and/or work?
The most rewarding for me is teaching. I love talking to and learning from my students, whether they be classroom teachers or librarians (another group I take much interest in) or undergrads here at Northwestern or another institution. (I’ve been an adjunct at Columbia College Chicago and have co-taught with colleagues in the City Colleges of Chicago.) I also really enjoy exchanging ideas with my colleagues. The most challenging has been finding a balance between the worlds of research and practice and establishing an identity as a practitioner and researcher. I get lots of people who admire that I do this kind of work, but I’ve so far met very few who can provide models for how to do it well, sustain it, or mentor me on what it looks like on the professional side.
What is the biggest potential impact or implication of your work?
I hope to be a leading voice for my community in understanding media literacy in broad terms and driving further conversations on mindful media consumption and production. I’ve been fortunate to see the impacts of my work in classrooms and with teachers who have adopted and used the model of news media literacy that I’ve trained them with. In the future, I hope to add to our understanding of how people are approaching media literacy education by developing and improving means for assessing the skills and practices that are part of the discipline.
How do you unwind after a long day?
Chatting with my husband after he gets home, playing video games, and reading the news.
What books are on your bedside table?
I’m usually reading e-books or listening to audiobooks – but most recently, I’ve read: Columbine by Dave Cullen, Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination by Mark Bergen, Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.
What inspires you?
The work of journalists around the globe, helping to make sense of a chaotic world.
How would your closest friends describe you?
Smart, thoughtful, and funny (I hope).
What advice would you give your younger self or someone considering a similar path?
I would tell them to always stay curious about the world, and not be afraid to follow a path that they might not have intended to go down — there’s always something new to learn.
Tell us about a current achievement or something you're working on that excites you.
My work on media literacy implementation has earned my colleague and me the 2022 Illinoisan of the Year award from the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. This certainly gives us both motivation to continue working to improve media literacy education in our state.
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish so far in my career, along with being labeled an “expert” in my field by others. I also have been very proud of progressing in my pursuit of a PhD and obtaining a faculty role at Medill before finishing my dissertation (which I intend to defend during the Winter Quarter of 2023). I’ve admired Medill as one of the world’s premier schools of journalism for a long time and am over the moon to now be a part of it.
To learn more about Michael, visit his website.
Published: December 6, 2022
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