Media literacy

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Media literacy is the process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating messages in a wide variety of media modes, genres and forms. It uses an inquiry-based instructional model that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see, and read. Media literacy education provides tools to help people critically analyze messages to detect propaganda, censorship, and bias in news and public affairs programming (and the reasons for such), and to understand how structural features -- such as media ownership, or its funding model[1] -- affect the information presented. Media literacy aims to enable people to be skillful creators and producers of media messages, both to facilitate an understanding as to the strengths and limitations of each medium, as well as to create independent media. Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy. By transforming the process of media consumption into an active and critical process, people gain greater awareness of the potential for misrepresentation and manipulation (especially through commercials and public relations techniques), and understand the role of mass media and participatory media in constructing views of reality.[2][3]


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[edit] History

Media education is developing in Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, Canada, the United States, with a growing interest in the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, India, Russia and among many other nations.

Media literacy was originally conceived as an educational tool to protect people from what many perceived to be mass media's ill effects. The earliest country known to use this inoculative paradigm was Great Britain in the 1930s. In the 1960s, there was a paradigm shift in the field of media literacy to emphasize working within popular culture rather than trying to convince people that popular culture was primarily destructive. This was known as the popular arts paradigm. In the 1980s, there came a recognition that the ideological power of the media was tied to the naturalization of the image. Constructed messages were being passed off as natural ones. The focus of media literacy also shifted to the consumption of images and representations, also known as the representational paradigm.[4] In the United Kingdom and Australia media literacy is often a stand alone credit course, as well as part of the English curricula.

[edit] In Australia

In Australia, media education was influenced by developments in Britain related to the inoculation, popular arts and demystification approaches. Key theorists who influenced Australian media education were Graeme Turner and John Hartley who helped develop Australian media and cultural studies. During the 1980s and 1990s, Western Australians Robyn Quin and Barrie MacMahon wrote seminal text books such as Real Images, translating many complex media theories into classroom appropriate learning frameworks. Currently, in most Australian states, media is one of five strands of the Arts Key Learning Area and includes "essential learnings" or "outcomes" listed for various stages of development. At the senior level (years 11 and 12), several states offer Media Studies as an elective. For example, many Queensland schools offer Film, Television and New Media, while Victorian schools offer VCE Media. Media education is supported by the teacher professional association Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) which publishes a range of resources and the excellent Screen Education.

[edit] In Europe

In areas of Europe, media education has seen many different forms. Media education was introduced into the Finnish elementary curriculum in 1970 and into high schools in 1977. But the media education we know today did not evolve in Finland until the 1990s. Media education has been compulsory in Sweden since 1980 and in Denmark since 1970. In both Nordic countries, media education evolved in the 1980s and 1990s as media education gradually moved away from moralizing attitudes towards an approach that is more searching and pupil-centred. In 1994, the Danish education bill gave recognition to media education but it is still not an integrated part of the school. The focus in Denmark seems to be on information technology. France has taught film from the inception of the medium, but it has only been recently that conferences and media courses for teachers have been organised with the inclusion of media production. Germany saw theoretical publications on media literacy in the 1970s and 80s, with a growing interest for media education inside and outside the educational system in the 80s and 90s. In the Netherlands media literacy was placed in the agenda by the Dutch government in 2006 as an important subject for the Dutch society. In April, 2008, an official center has been created (mediawijsheid expertisecentrum = medialiteracy expertisecenter) by the Dutch government. This center is more a network organization existing out of different partners who have their own expertise with the subject of media education. The idea is that media education will become a part of the official curriculum.

The history of Media Education in Russia goes back to the 1920s. The first attempts to instruct in media education (on the press and film materials, with the vigorous emphasis on the communist ideology) appeared in the 1920s but were stopped by Stalin’s repressions. The end of the 1950s - the beginning of the 1960s was the time of the revival of media education in secondary schools, universities, after-school children centers (Moscow, Petersburg, Voronezh, Samara, Kurgan, Tver, Rostov on Don, Taganrog, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, etc.), the revival of media education seminars and conferences for the teachers. During the time when the intensive rethinking of media education approaches was on the upgrade in the Western hemisphere, in Russia of the 1970s–1980s media education was still developing within the aesthetic concept. Among the important achievements of 1970s-1990s one can recall the first official programs of film and media education, published by Ministry of Education, increasing interest of Ph.D. to media education, experimental theoretic and practical work on media education by O.Baranov (Tver)[2], S.Penzin (Voronezh)[3], G.Polichko, U.Rabinovich (Kurgan), Y.Usov (Moscow)[4], A.Fedorov (Taganrog)[5], A.Sharikov (Moscow) and others. The important events in media education development in Russia are the registration of the new specialization (since 2002) for the pedagogical universities – ‘Media Education’ (№ 03.13.30), and the launch of a new academic journal ‘Media Education’ (since January 2005), partly sponsored by the ICOS UNESCO ‘Information for All’[6]. Additionally, the Internet sites of Russian Association for Film and Media Education (English and Russian versions) [7] were created. Taking into account the fact that UNESCO defines media education as the priority field of the cultural educational development in the XXI century, media literacy has good prospects in Russia.

[edit] Canada and the United States

In North America, the beginnings of a formalized approach to media literacy as a topic of education is often attributed to the 1978 formation of the Ontario Association for Media Literacy (AML). Before that time, instruction in media education was usually the purview of individual teachers and practitioners. Canada is the first country in North America to require media literacy in the school curriculum. Every province has mandated media education in its curriculum. For example, the new curriculum of Quebec mandates media literacy from Grade 1 until final year of secondary school (Secondary V). The launching of media education in Canada came about for two reasons. One reason was the concern about the pervasiveness of American popular culture and the other was the education system-driven necessity of contexts for new educational paradigms.

Two of Canada's leaders in Media Literacy and Media Education are Barry Duncan and John Pungente. Duncan is now retired from classroom teaching but is still active in media education. Pungente is a Jesuit priest who has promoted media literacy since the early 1960's.

Media education is growing in the United States because of the increased emphasis on 21st century literacy, which now incorporates media and information literacy, collaboration and problem-solving skills, and emphasis on the social responsibilities of communciation. More than 600 educators are members of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) [8], a national membership group that hosts a bi-annual conference. Another membership group, the Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME) split from the primary group in 2001 as the result of debate about whether or not the media industry should support the growth of media literacy education in the United States. Renee Hobbs of Temple University in Philadelphia, wrote about this as one of the "Seven Great Deates" in media literacy education in an influential 1998 Journal of Communication article.

There are several on-line resources that help organizers and educators with their endeavours. One very popular site is hosted by Frank W. Baker, a former broadcaster and administrator in educational television systems. The Media Literacy Clearinghouse is on-line at www.frankwbaker.com. Media Awareness Network [9], a Canadian non-profit media education organization, hosts a Web site which contains hundreds of free lesson plans to help teachers integrate media into the classroom. MNet also has created award-winning educational games on media education topics, several of which are available free from the site, and has also conducted original research on media issues, most notable the study Young Canadians in a Wired World [10]. MNet also hosts the Talk Media Blog [11], a regular column on media education issues.

Because of the decentralized nature of the education system in a country with 70 million children now in public or private schools, media literacy education develops as the result of groups of advocates in school districts, states or regions who lobby for its inclusion in the curriculum. There is no central authority making nationwide curriculum recommendations and each of the fifty states has numerous school districts, each of which operates with a great degree of independence from one another. However, most U.S. states include media literacy in health education, with an emphasis on understanding environmental influences on health decision-making. Tobacco and alcohol advertising are frequently targeted as objects for "deconstruction, " which is one of the instructional methods of media literacy education. This resulted from an emphasis on media literacy generated by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which held a series of conferences in 1996 and 1997 which brought greater awareness of media literacy education as a promising practice in health and substance abuse prevention education. Nearly all 50 states have language that supports media literacy in state curriculum frameworks. A breakdown of each state's standards which include "elements of media literacy," can be found at The Media Literacy Clearinghouse [12]. In 1998, both Texas and Massachusetts had included media literacy in English language arts education. In 2004, Montana developed educational standards around media literacy that students are required to be competent in by grades 4, 8, and 12. Additionally, an increasing number of school districts have begun to develop school-wide programs, elective courses, and other after-school opportunities for media analysis and production.

Leading universities such as Appalachian State University, Columbia University, New York University, the University of Texas-Austin, and Temple University offer courses and summer institutes in media literacy for pre-service teachers and graduate students. Brigham Young University offers a graduate program in media education specifically for inservice teachers. In 2009, a scholarly journal launches, the Journal of Media Literacy Education [13], to support the work of scholars and practitioners in the field.

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) The National Association for Media Literacy Education is a membership organization dedicated to advancing the field of media literacy education in the United States.

Beginnings 
 For the history of the organization prior to 2001 go to www.namle.net.

NAMLE was officially founded as the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) on June 23, 2001, at the National Media Education Conference in Austin, Texas. In order to accomplish its goals, NAMLE has forged alliances with national education, youth, health, advocacy, and media organizations. It also holds bi-annual conferences – Baltimore (2003), San Francisco (2005), St. Louis (2007), and Detroit (2009) – designed to educate, encourage, and develop leaders in the field of media literacy. In support of its initiative, NAMLE received a sizeable grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Core Principles of Media Literacy Education (MLE) For the complete document (PDF) including implications for practice, go to www.namle.net/core-principles.

The Core Principles of Media Literacy Education is a NAMLE project to expand the boundaries of the field and encompass the opportunities and possibilities of 21st century learning technologies to transform both learning and teaching.

1. Media Literacy Education requires active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive and create.

2. Media Literacy Education expands the concept of literacy (i.e., reading and writing) to include all forms of media.

3. Media Literacy Education builds and reinforces skills for learners of all ages. Like print literacy, those skills necessitate integrated, interactive, and repeated practice.

4. Media Literacy Education develops informed, reflective and engaged participants essential for a democratic society.

5. Media Literacy Education recognizes that media are a part of culture and function as agents of socialization.

6. Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages.

[edit] In Africa

In South Africa, the increasing demand for Media Education has evolved from the dismantling of apartheid and the 1994 democratic elections. The first national Media Education conference in South Africa was actually held in 1990 and the new national curriculum has been in the writing stages since 1997. Since this curriculum strives to reflect the values and principles of a democratic society there seems to be an opportunity for critical literacy and Media Education in Languages and Culture courses.

[edit] References

  1. ^ See Corporate media and Public service broadcasting
  2. ^ e.g., Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997
  3. ^ e.g., http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/Standards/ContStds-Media%20Lit.pdf
  4. ^ Buckingham, David, [1]

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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