Sarah Vaala: Reflections on the 15 Years of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Sarah Vaala was a Cooney Center Research Fellow from 2011-2012, and the author of Aprendiendo Juntos (Learning Together): Synthesis of a cross-sectorial convening on Hispanic-Latino families and digital technologies. 

 

My husband and kids know that the metal Elmo water bottle in our kitchen cabinet is off-limits. “You’d better ask Sarah before you use that,” I have heard my husband caution grandparents and other visitors. The paint is nicked and it’s a little dented after 12 years, but when I see it, my mind goes back to my first day as a Research Fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. The Elmo bottle was waiting on my desk, and Lori Takeuchi, Michael Levine, and Catherine Jhee were waiting to show me the ropes and help me launch one of the most exciting and enriching years of my life. Coming right out of a PhD program, I was used to the academic approach: a slow, plodding pace of research, a writing style that prioritized scientific jargon, complicated analytical models, and statistical significance. I learned quickly that the staff at the Cooney Center is small but mighty. They dive in quick—investigating new topics, designing nimble studies, connecting and convening stakeholders, and writing and disseminating research-driven insights (always with an eye on practical value). It’s a good thing I had that Elmo bottle to stay hydrated, because it was a busy year! 

Though I have ended up back in academia, now an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication at High Point University, I developed skills and knowledge during that year as a Cooney Center Research Fellow that continue to infuse my work. My teaching is richer for all the on-the-ground examples I can draw on and firsthand exposure to the children’s media industry. (My office is a lot more fun for students to visit as well, adorned with international Sesame Street toys). My former and current colleagues at the Cooney Center have instilled in me a little extra focus on the potential impact of my research and a deeper desire to share useful findings with on-the-ground stakeholders, beyond academic conferences and journals.

Most directly, I am proud to carry forward the Cooney Center’s legacy of mentoring young people interested in children’s media research and production. I direct the Cooney Center Research Scholars program at HPU, through which five students work with me each academic year on a research project regarding children’s engagement and learning with media. The opportunity to present our findings to the folks at the Cooney Center and other figures in the world of children’s media gives students a deeper sense of purpose for the work. They also develop an appreciation that there are organizations and individuals across multiple sectors carrying on Joan Ganz Cooney’s mission of putting in the work to ensure children’s access to high-quality educational media. And of course, I give each new undergraduate research scholar a Sesame Street water bottle on their first day.

 

Dr. Sarah Vaala is an Assistant professor of Strategic Communication at High Point University.  Her research focuses on health and learning implications of media in the lives of youth and families, as well as the ways that families and caregivers make decisions about media use. At HPU, Dr. Vaala teaches courses in research methods and health communication within the Strategic Communication undergraduate and masters programs and the Communication and Business Leadership program. She strives to teach her students the research tools at their disposal for answering intriguing and practical questions, and that “there is nothing more practical than a good theory” (Kurt Lewin).