Readin note #3 - Media Literacy and civic engagement

Media literacy as a critical component of a holistic education is being increasingly stressed upon among teachers. In the reading, Carr (2011) explains the relationship between media literacy and political literacy as being crucial to making informed decisions in a democratic society and demonstrating active, participatory citizenship. He examines why it is important for critical media literacy to be integrated in schools and highlights the concern that many educators may view education as a primarily political enterprise (p. 212). Through the research and a study involving twenty teachers and groups of students, Carr shows that “students become significantly more critical about their own implication in education” (Carr, 2011, p. 217). The study highlights seven themes regarding the implementation and reception of media literacy in schools.

Theme 1: Media literacy tends to be perceived and taught in a superficial manner – teachers may not be up to date with new emerging technologies and media sources, they may apathetically incorporate media units just to fulfill curriculum requirements and may not be too concerned with using it in critical learning and thinking.

Theme 2: Traditional media outlets like newspapers and television are not the only media sources available for students to use. Both students and especially educators have to be familiar with how to critically engage with multiple media sources, pop culture, current events and technology.

Theme 3: Many people view media (esp. mass media) as a means for corporations and political organizations to push their agendas. This type of infiltration changes how educators and students experience and engage with media.

Theme 4: What are the “relevant and appropriate” forms of media literacy that schools can use? Given how standardized education and assessment have become, a concern now is that media literacy is overtaken by the neo-liberal hidden curriculum aimed at “generating certain learning outcomes” to meet mandated standards (Carr, 2011, p. 221).

Theme 5: A critical education through media involves a holistic approach to using it. So teaching and learning should include many perspectives and experiences.

Theme 6: Mass media is not always inclusive of diversity in race, age, gender, and sexual orientation. It can be very marginalizing.

Theme 7: Educators who approach media literacy though academic/university level discourse, deconstruct media in a way that changes how they teach it to high school students.

  

Westheimer & Kahne (2004) describe three types of citizens – personally responsible, participatory, and justice oriented. The ideal citizens are of course the ones who are justice-oriented, because they are not only socially conscious and actively engaged, but also seek out injustice and critically assess their surroundings. So in order to encourage students down the path of being justice-oriented citizens, educators have the responsibility to expose them to issues of injustice, not just internationally, but also locally. Making that exposure a part of the curriculum in say, grade 10 Civics, would be one such method for educators to get students actively engaged. The 40 hours of mandated community service in Ontario high schools has been successfully getting students involved in various community organizations. But perhaps this type of social engagement in earlier grades would encourage young children to be critical thinkers and civic participants.  

I appreciate Carr’s reminder that “media literacy is not about a lesson plan, a list or menu of options, a resource or an individual event or personality” (2011, p. 229). My question is: even though teaching media literacy is expected of educators, how are they held accountable for what they teach and how they use it to critically engage students?

References:

Carr, P. (2011). Does your vote count? Critical pedagogy and democracy. New York. 

Westheimer, J. & Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal 41 (2).