Teachers' perspectives for a critical agenda in media education post COVID-19. A comparative study in Latin America

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America forced a transition from a face-to-face educational model to a distance model affected by emergencies, technological precariousness, and lack of planning. This has heightened the need for media literacy in the region. In this context, the changes that have occurred were analyzed in order to propose a critical agenda from the perspective of teachers. First, a desk research of official sources was carried out to learn about the strategies of the four countries under study: Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru. Secondly, eight focus groups were conducted with primary school teachers from public and private institutions to learn about their perception of their own and their students' media competencies, the impact of the pandemic on their practices and needs, and the emerging challenges in this crisis. The results shed light on the need for relevant ICT training from a media literacy perspective, and strategies to address connectivity gaps, lack of adequate environments and work overload. The specific results per country and the differences and demands of each context are discussed in this work as contributions to the development of a critical agenda in media education. La pandemia causada por la COVID-19 en América Latina obligó a transitar de un modelo educativo presencial a uno a distancia atravesado por la emergencia, las precariedades tecnológicas y la falta de planificación. Esto ha agudizado las necesidades de educación mediática en la región. En ese contexto, se analizó los cambios ocurridos para proponer una agenda crítica desde la perspectiva de los docentes. En primer lugar, se realizó una revisión documental de fuentes oficiales para conocer las estrategias de los cuatro países de estudio: Argentina, Ecuador, Chile y Perú. En segundo lugar, se llevaron a cabo ocho grupos focales con docentes de primaria de instituciones públicas y privadas para conocer su percepción sobre sus competencias mediáticas y las de sus estudiantes, el impacto de la pandemia en sus prácticas y necesidades, y los retos emergentes en esta crisis. Los resultados apuntan a la necesidad de capacitaciones pertinentes en el manejo de las TIC, así como estrategias que atiendan las brechas de conectividad, la falta de ambientes adecuados y la sobrecarga laboral. Los resultados específicos por país, las diferencias y demandas propias de cada contexto, se discuten en este trabajo como aportes al desarrollo de una agenda crítica en educación mediática.

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