We can consider Irwin as a teacher, his viewers as students and the medium of television coupled with our homes as the classroom. Like any teacher, Irwin needed to engage his students and find ways of building positive emotional energy about shared experiences. These experiences were the content of his programs. While Turner (2002) focuses on face to face interactions, I think this can be expanded and his framework used to understand interactions between individuals and media figures such as Irwin. Irwin (perhaps through the energy and excitement about the area he was working in as the post by K Tobin suggests) was able to engage many people in his work. This teacher spoke and acted in ways that engaged his viewers (students). As a result the viewers kept tuning in (made an ongoing commitment to the class and the material). What was created is known as a capital spiral or, in another way, an unending feedback loop. Irwin engaged the audience, the audience was excited which resulted in higher ratings and/or criticism and support of the work, using this feedback Irwin makes more programs, the audience watches these and gives more feedback which only spurs more programs and more viewers watching, more feedback which informs future programs and on and on.

As an educator one needs to learn how to engage students. Much in the way that Irwin used feedback to inform future programs, an educator needs to listen to the feedback given by students (through their words, actions, facial expression, etc.) and use it as a guide when developing future lessons and activities. Modifying instruction to meet the needs of one’s students is a crucial aspect of being an effective educator. There should be an emergent and reflective process where past interactions guide new interactions all with the goal of creating positive emotional energy about shared classroom experiences. Turner (2002) explains that building positive emotional energy is a key to effective classroom practice. Similarly, the building of positive emotional energy was a key to Irwin’s success and the effectiveness of his programs. After all, if those who watched his programs were not invested in them emotionally, and did not feel an emotional connection to the work they were observing, they would have gotten up, turned off the tv and walked away. The build up of positive emotional energy leads to solidarity (Tobin, ***) demonstrated by the multitude of consistent fans Irwin has. In the classroom solidarity is a staple of effective classroom environments. Without positive emotional energy around shared experiences there is no solidarity and without solidarity our students would metaphorically turn off the televisions and walk away (tune out and disengage). This piece certainly does present a lot of helpful information that educators need to reflect and grapple with.

Turner, J. H. (2002). Face to face: Toward a sociological theory of interpersonal behavior. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Wesley–I loved the connection between emotions and participating in the viewing of a TV program. THis is a promising theoretical lens and the work of Jonathan Turner and Randall Collins is salient.

I am certain that Irwin’s show had contradictions that Greer and others are happy to point out. However, it is the agency within Irwin’s transactions with wildlife itself that earned him a lot of capital among his audience. We viewed his transactions in the third person perspective as active learners. The positive emotional valence he created tapped into our emotional gyroscope and as a result has encouraged us to be co-participants and active viewers. It was as though we were not involved in the third person perspective anymore. A recent episode of the show I watched found Irwin bitten by a poisonous snake. As he was about to pass out, while his aides ran to his side, he began to talk about the dangers of the venom and what would happen if he did not get the anti venom serum. In between all of this he gives us a few tips on what to do if a poisonous snake were to bite. I was at the seat of my pants while listening and watching Irwin. My primary emotions ran from aversion-fear, when I first realized what happened to Irwin, to satisfaction when I knew he would be all right. I also felt relieved as a secondary emotion. Irwin continually has taken us down a path that has allowed us to attach emotional valence to his actions in praxis and emotional valence to alternatives. When Irwin was bitten, I knew it was serious and felt emotionally invested in that he should have chosen a different venue for this episode. We like his show because Irwin built culture around successful transactions. As Ritchie writes, Irwin was a passionate entertainer, educator, conservationist, research scientist, and wildlife ambassador. Many of us loved him and felt the need to protect his symbolic capital because we each shared various levels of positive emotional valence and solidarity with his character. We also wanted him physically protected from harm.

Irwin’s work does leave us with a lot to think about in terms of science education. I remember telling my daughter that science and learning both involve taking sensible risks that my lead to unexpected results. Some may take a misguided approach toward Irwin’s show and claim it to be a validation for ultimate ‘hands-on’ learning. Irwin’s show, to the contrary, has evidenced that teaching and learning science in appropriate ways can and does sustain chains of successful transactions, positive emotional valence and mutual focus. Ultimately, his pedagogy enabled him to use the medium of television fluently and in an extremely engaging manner.

Most vignettes I have seen do not seem to harm the animal and he really does seem to care about wildlife and preserving animals in their habitats. He seems to know what he is doing and I decide that he knows enough not to harm the animal and to keep himself and those around him safe as well. In terms of primary emotions, as a coparticipant I can imagine that there is ample satisfaction — happiness and a touch of aversion–fear. According to Jonathan Turner the first order elaborations that are likely are wonder, hope, relief, and perhaps gratitude. So, the likely emotions for me would include those.

Germaine Greer might experience assertion anger as a primary emotion with a significant valence pointing toward anger. If she also experiences disappointment–sadness as a primary emotion the first order elaborations might include bitterness.

Just as all the colors can be produced from the primaries through color addition, so Turner theorizes that emotions are generated by mixes of primary emotions to produce first and second order emotions. Turner has many interesting books and papers to which someone might turn. I like a book called Face to face: Toward a sociological theory of interpersonal behavior. It is published by Stanford University Press in 2002.

I am sure that not everybody resonates with someone like Steve Irwin in a positive way that gets them involved actively. However if individuals do appropriate his practices as they unfold ln ways that allow them to meet their goals, then the successful transactions witll be associated not only with the procduction of culture as schema and practices–but also as emotions. Over time the positive emotions might build to create a store of positive emotional energy that is associated with participation in the activity. That is the participant can create a social bond with the activity and when he or she participates in activities like it in the future the reconstruction of the memories of the activity can provide a resonance for the emotions to be enacted. For sure, I would expect that participation in another Steve Irwin TV show would likely produce similar stocks of emotional energy.