Teacher Education: The Next Needed Step in Critical Media Literacy Education

Abstract

This article, part of a larger project, argues that critical media literacy is needed in teacher education. For critical media literacy to be sustainable, it needs a more structured starting point. The argument of this piece is that the starting point should be in teacher education. Tracing the state of media literacy and discussing the ‘critical’ of critical media literacy, this essay highlights that teacher training in critical media literacy will help propel the work of critical media literacy in the United States, will strengthen education and make it more relevant for teachers and students, and will make the work of inclusion of media literacy part of, not an addition to, teachers’ curriculum development and lesson planning.

Time to put your marketing cap on: Mapping digital corporate media curriculum in the age of surveillance capitalism

“…Starting in 1993, scholars in the United States have largely defined media literacy as "the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication" (Aufderheide, 1993, p. 6). Unlike schools in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia, which began offering media literacy to their students decades ago (Buckingham, 1998;Cheung, 2009;Hobbs & Frost, 2003), the addition of media literacy to U.S. classrooms has been hindered by numerous factors, including a lack of visibility, available teacher education (Butler, 2020), and funding (Heins & Cho, 2002).…”

Keeping it real: integrating critical media literacy education in a U.S. public school

“…These media sources were intentionally kept out of the classroom, and a protectionist approach sought to inoculate students from media's distracting and harmful impacts (Buckingham, 1998;Potter, 2022a). Media literacy meant knowing which media to avoid to maintain healthy habits and well-being (Butler, 2020;Potter, 2010). A few decades later, a seemingly opposite empowerment approach celebrated media, encouraging people to benefit from the wealth of creative and active engagement opportunities media offered through computer games and new interactives.…”

“…Still other media scholars view media literacy through another lens, arguing that media literacy, whether broadly stated as an overarching concept or subdivided into content-related strands, is nonetheless incomplete if it simply prioritizes content over context (Bulger & Davison, 2018;Butler, 2020;Kellner & Share, 2019). Critical media literacy scholars employ an inquiry-based lens which empowers "the bewildered herd" to interrogate how media messages reflect and reinforce societal power dynamics (Chomsky, 1997, p. 14;Kellner & Share, 2007).…”

“…Inequity in media refers to the ways in which different groups of people are represented, or not represented, in the media, as well as the ways in which media access and media literacy vary among different groups including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities (Butler, 2020;Hidgon, 2020;Critical Media Project, 2019). Critical media literacy can promote diversity and representation in media by encouraging citizens to seek out and support media outlets that give voice to underrepresented communities and to challenge media that reinforces stereotypes and discrimination (Morrell & Rowsell, 2020).…”

“…However, media literacy remains under-taught in schools across the country (Marsden, 2022). Unlike other countries including Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and several Asian nations, and despite the fact that the U.S. creates and disseminates more media than any other country in the world (Butler, 2020), the United States has no mandated national pedagogical CMLE standards (Higdon & Boyington, 2019).…”