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David Denton

Council for Exceptional Children, Youth Enrichment Services, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Long Island Boardgamers Organi

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How closely do you feel education is related to advertising? How would you use advertising principles in education?

I have always been a big fan of Reis and Trout, and their idea of product positioning. I feel educating and preparing students for the workplace contain two main focuses: 1) guiding them towards their own career path and 2) giving students the skills to position themselves in the market.

I was fortunate enough to speak with Richard Lavoie a couple of years ago on the topic, and he told me at the time he was working on a book combining advertising and education principles.

I'm just curious if anyone has specific thoughts on the topic.

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    Robert Winner 50+

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    Mar 29 2012: Education is a subset of learning. Advertisers are idea generators. If they can put a jingle into your mind, associate the logo with a daily event, get you to tell someone else about the cool ad, etc .. they have done their job. The agency does not have any ethics about the product safety, application, etc .... I do not think that education is a great player in the selling of the ad. Give me a person who thinks outside, inside and side ways of the box .. ergo a idea generator. All the best. Bob
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    Anil Kumar Mukteshwaram

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    Mar 28 2012: Also, i feel learning is not just a transfer of knowledge of gaining certain skills and competencies for real education is one of values associated with the learning of the subject. What would be the fate of values in a learning process that is pre-mediated?
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    Anil Kumar Mukteshwaram

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    Mar 28 2012: Education as a process followed by a student is used to develop skills and competencies. Real learning however happens in the education process when the student is more involved, interested and has the basic fundamentals to take the learning to the next level by achieving the desired behavioral change. The tools that are used are the various forms of Communication.

    Advertising is a very powerful media where communication is at its best. Advertising is aimed to getting a desired behavior in spite of the best intentions of those viewing these. Advertising also influences the process of memorizing in a very unique way in that we remember what the advertiser wants us to.

    Using Advertising principles of communication in Education in molding the desired behavior is what needs to be explored. Rather than looking at it as Subliminal manipulation, we need to evolve in terms of influencing the process of influencing learning to drive towards a desired behavior.

    However, this raises certain pertinent questions such as
    1) Is it really desired as a process? We would be killing the natural creativity and stifling further expansion of thought on the matter. Would it be the death of ideas if we did that?
    2) Is it the learning that is desired? What is the students intention and inspiration in being motivated to learn the subject?
    3) What is the purpose of such learning transfer? Is it merely a transfer of knowledge/intended behavior change or a stimulation of ideas that we need to look at?
    4) When education is delivered with a specific objective how inclusive is it of all the other factors that influence the learning environment (Using Advertising principles, we would have a limited or stimulated environment of learning)?
    5) Assuming that the process is perfected for using the principles effectively, will it reduce the role of teachers to merely being facilitators? ( I believe, teachers learn more in a teaching process).

  • Gerald Palomares

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    Mar 27 2012: Education as advertising are merely communication techniques that aim to provoke a specific and planned action. Through conditioning and educating the target, the wanted action is performed. Both education or advertising establish paradigms that don't have to be necessarily legitimate but that fit the purpose. Depending on the perspective from which we look at it, we call it education, advertising, propaganda, enlightenment or brain wash. Fact is humanity is not ready to make its own choices and "guidance" remains the only way to maintain a glimpse of "integrity". We could agree this is not totally compatible with morals and ethics but who cares as long as we get the job done the way we need it to be.

  • David Denton

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    Mar 26 2012: Yeah. I can see I made a distinct error in using the word principle. i do not mean morals. I mean advertising techniques.

    I am not talking about using children as though they were chess pieces, moving them in the way WE want. My goal as an educator is to help children discover what they love and help them develop and nurture their own talents. Yes, skills do have to be marketed to help young adults eventually find their own career path.

    Looking back, I do regret using the word principle in my original question. The recent advertisements from Belvedere Vodka and Nike are reminders of how bad advertising can be.

  • David Denton

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    Mar 25 2012: Thank you Fritzie. I think advertising may be most useful not as a way to distribute information. I feel advertising techniques could help students find their own way and position themselves in the marketplace.
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Mar 25 2012: There was a most interesting thread on this subject maybe a couple of months ago. Some points of similarity and difference are: 1)Education, like advertsing, needs to engage students to be effective. 2)Education, unlike advertising, is most useful to the target when presented without bias, showing a range of perspectives, and pros and cons that are not intended to "set up" a particular answer, and 3) Education, unlike typical advertising, should not be about selling ideas or points of view on the various of subjects but rather about helping students learn to make balanced, well-considered decisions and to reach balanced, well-considered points of view 4) Education and advertizing are both most effective when they appeal to multiple senses and when they make targets feel like they are part of something, like the tribe idea that is so hot right now.
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