The Coming of Age of Media Literacy
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by DigitalCommons@URI Available online at www.jmle.org The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:1 (2011) 8 - 10 The Coming of Age of Media Literacy Vanessa Domine Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA A decade into a new millennium marks a com- on education—as evidenced by the National Educa- ing of age for media literacy education (MLE). Born tional Technology Plan that outlines technology-driven from teaching the critical analysis of media texts, MLE educational reform (rather than educationally-driven has evolved into helping individuals of all ages “de- uses of technology) (USDOE 2010). In U.S. schools, velop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that technological proficiency is a separate subject area test- they need to be critical thinkers, effective communi- ed both at state and national levels. The digital-centric cators and active citizens in today’s world” (NAMLE definition of technology ignores the fundamental prin- 2007b, 1). This broadened scope and purpose of MLE ciple that most messages are mediated by some form was quickened by rapid evolution of communications of technology. While one cannot achieve media literacy technologies over the past several decades. In its in- without acquiring some level of technological proficien- fancy, the foci of study were print and electronic media cy, technical skills are not enough. Regardless of what texts. However, in its current post-digital stage of ado- medium or technology we choose (whether low-tech lescence, MLE includes texting, gaming, blogging, and or high-tech), our success as media literacy educators tweeting. Like an awkward teenager trying to locate his will ultimately be measured by our own ability (or lack place in the world, MLE struggles to gain prominence thereof) to think critically and communicate effectively. as a discipline. Although it has gained entry into K–12 In contrast to technological literacy, media lit- schooling in the United States (Hobbs 2005), standards eracy encompasses a variety of technologies through and methods for its implementation vary considerably which learners access, analyze, evaluate, produce, and across all 50 states (Kaiser Family Foundation 2003). communicate information. As educators we must con- Even at the postsecondary level, media literacy lacks sistently widen the definition of technology to refer to a common understanding and foundation for what, ways of seeing the world and to be inclusive (rather than where, how, and among whom it is taught (Mihailidis exclusive) in our uses of media forms and their associ- 2008; Silverblatt, Baker, Tyner, and Stuhlman 2002). ated devices. In other words, it is insufficient for media On the verge of adulthood in the Unites States, MLE is literacy educators to simply critique texts—we must caught in a tense relationship with its siblings: technol- lead the field through our own lived examples of tech- ogy and schooling. In this dysfunctional family of sorts, nological proficiency. technology receives far more attention than it deserves, Ultimately, we must recognize and acknowledge schooling is continuously blamed for the ills of society, that the primary challenges of education in the United and MLE is perpetually marginalized as extra-curricu- States are not technical, but rather social, political and lar. economic in nature. Despite the recent trajectory to- wards “career-readiness” the reality is that for every Technology as Favored Child high-tech job created, there are five low-skill, minimum In the U.S., the term technology is often as- wage jobs created (Hodgkinson 2008). Furthermore, we sumed to mean exclusively computers or digital devic- see local cities increasingly segregated along economic es. The original denotation of technology was “meth- and racial lines; therefore, our understanding of others od” or “know-how” for the purpose of solving technical who are different from our selves is much more likely problems and not necessarily to advance knowledge to be mediated through TV, film, or the internet and less (Domine 2009). The economic imperative in the United likely to occur authentically through face to face inter- States privileges the technical and industrial emphasis action (Hodgkinson 2003). These challenges beckon for 9 V. Domine / Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:1 (2011) 8 - 10 media literacy education—not just within the four walls ing. Yet the three find common ground in the shared of the classroom, but in every home, community center struggle between the democratic ideal of participatory and workplace. citizenship and the bureaucratic realities of govern- ment. Schools have traditionally been resistant to the The Abuse of Schooling implementation of new technologies, yet in the post- In the United States, schooling is arguably the digital age have yielded to the top-down push from most abused child in the institutional family. While the government and corporations to produce technology- acquisition of literacy has been the role of schooling in driven curriculum. MLE will most likely remain in the the United States, mass media have surpassed schools margins because of its interest in overcoming the very as a dominant agent of socialization. Technology has bureaucracy of its existence through the critical ques- rapidly evolved, yet schools remain the same bureau- tioning of authorship, ownership, motive, and ultimate- cratic institutions—maintaining a delivery model of in- ly leveraging communications technology to give voice struction based on an agrarian calendar, discrete subject to the disempowered. MLE is already a major influence areas, and an age-level grading system. MLE clashes in driving democratic practices among young people with schooling as it refuses to belong to one discipline in the United States and even worldwide, providing and therefore cannot be bureaucratized. As a cross-dis- young people a sense of accomplishment, ownership, ciplinary field of study, MLE helps students and teach- and empowerment individually and collectively (Ast- ers better understand and communicate their under- hana 2006). From this perspective, MLE is synony- standing of any subject area—including math, science, mous with democratic education. technology, social studies, and language arts. More than Ushering the field of MLE into adulthood ulti- half of all students in the Unites States are already con- mately requires that we as educators widen our focus to sidered digital content creators (Lenhart and Madden include an increase in our own technological proficien- 2005) only not in the school classroom. cy level as well as an expansion of our understanding of MLE also clashes with schooling in part because technology as a way of seeing and mediating the world. it challenges the traditional delivery model of schooling MLE also requires us to more deeply understand the through social constructivism and asserts that although interplay of the democratic purposes and bureaucratic media messages can influence beliefs, attitudes, values, constraints of schooling in the United States and to ul- and behaviors, ultimately people use their individual timately move beyond merely consuming information skills, beliefs, and experiences to construct their own to the creation and sharing of information in ways that meanings (National Association for Media Literacy are socially meaningful and civically responsible. Education 2007a). Production of mediated messages is an essential component of media literacy and requires References students to be deeply engaged in Dewey-like settings Asthana, S. 2006. Innovative Practices of Youth Partici- that are characterized by curricular experiences that are pation in Media. Paris: United Nations Educational, authentic and relevant—not just to students’ lives but Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). also to the needs of society for which students are pre- Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education. New York: paring to enter (Dewey 1916). The promise of school- Macmillan. http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publica- ing is that it is inherently a highly social activity. The tions/dewey.html perpetuation of democracy depends upon this sociality Domine, V. 2009. Rethinking Technology in Schools. of young people and their ability to master the art and New York: Peter Lang Publishing. science of civil dissent, debate and deliberation (Parker Hobbs, R. 2005. “Media Literacy and the K-12 Content 2003). One could argue that the absence of MLE (criti- Areas.” Yearbook of the National Society for the cal analysis and creative media production) in schools Study of Education 104(1): 74-99. jeopardizes the very social and political democratic pur- Hobbs, R. 2010. “Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan poses for which public schools were designed. of Action.” A White Paper on the Digital and Media Literacy Recommendations of the Knight Commis- Ushering MLE into Adulthood sion on the Information Needs of Communities in The corporatization of America (Sandlin and a Democracy. http://www.knightcomm.org/digital- McLaren 2010) provides fertile ground for perpetuating and-media-literacy-a-plan-of-action the sibling rivalry among MLE, technology and school- 10 V. Domine / Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:1 (2011) 8 - 10 Hodgkinson, H. 2000. “Educational Demographics: What Teachers Should Know.” Educational Lead- ership 58(4): 7-11. Hodgkinson, H. 2008. “Demographic Trends and the