Media Literacy in the Risk Society: Toward a Risk Reduction Strategy

Abstract

The idea of media literacy prompts an increasingly divisive debate between educators who wish to protect children from the commercialization of global markets and those who challenge critical media studies as misguided, outdated, and ineffective. We have provided a historical overview of changing conceptions of media literacy as preparation and protection in market society, arguing that contemporary concerns about children's fast food marketing and sedentary lifestyles call for new approaches to the education of citizen-consumers in a risk society. Our case study demonstrates that a media education programme can provide scaffolding for children's critical thinking about their sedentary lifestyles and media consumption.

Learner engagement under the ‘regulatory gaze’: possibilities for re-positioning early childhood pre-service teachers as autonomous professionals

“…As a result, research which has looked at the notion of risk in educational institutions and pedagogies suggests that, whether perceived or real, risk leads to fear. This then leads to social control via the domination of normalised discourses; or greater socio-political management of risk (that is, surveillance under the guise of 'transparency') (Kean 2005;Kline, Stewart, and Murphy 2006;Robinson 2005;Robinson 2008;Smeyers 2010). However, the resulting expansion and heightening of the intention of control ultimately ends up producing the opposite.…”

Media Literacy and Communication Rights

“…Within academic and educational circles, there has been much discussion and debate about the term 'media literacy', its imprecision and the manner in which it has been transposed into this public policy context (Kline et al, 2006;Livingstone, 2008). There is concern that the definitions adopted are too vague and do not provide sufficient scope for developing the skills of critical analysis which media educationalists seek.…”

Classroom contradictions: Popular media in Ontario schools’ literacy and citizenship education policies

“…The relationship between popular media and schools has long been an uneasy one. While for much of the last century North American educators have steered clear of the media's most commercialized children's ventures such as Hollywood films, pro-sports shows, comic books, videogames and cartoons, their avoidance was never total (Kline, et al, 2006;Stole, 2006). Schools generally positioned themselves as gatekeepers, allowing in only those media products whose content reflected the given era's education and socialization goals.…”

“…Rather than ban the popular from classrooms, however, most advocate supplementing it with lessons in critical media literacy through which students learn to contextualize and deconstruct commercial texts. In this way, educators can fortify students against the risks posed by consumer society, and help them develop the requisite identities to become active and engaged citizens (Kline et al, 2006).…”