Media, Allegiance and Civic Education

Abstract

Philosophies of civilisation, nation, globalisation, and localisation manifest in educational structuring, school hidden curricula, and subject areas like social studies or citizenship education. Additionally, media play a vital role in young people’s development of their identities and civic allegiances, apart from what takes place in schools. Media may complement or contradict messages about human living together and one’s place in living together provided in educational contexts. Given media’s impact, within and outside educational spaces, it would be counterproductive to not examine this impact if one wants to understand how students learn to live together in society. Appreciating the role of media in developing civic ideas can help to enhance strategies of civic education. It can also help to identify skills related to literacy, information processing, and social networking that align with effective development of critical thinking capacities in civic education. This article first explores theoretically how people learn through and engage with media. Next, it considers ways in which media can impact civic identities. It explores how media is impacted by and reflects messages related to civilisation, nationalism, globalization and localism. The article then discusses common ways of responding to media in education. Here, critical media literacy education is examined and reflected upon. Broader educational implications of the exploration are discussed in the conclusion.