Page 343 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
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critical media literacy: a new tool and pedagogy for tackling esl
Based on Masterman’s core concepts of media literacy1, the Centre for
Media Literacy (CML) in its CML MediaLit Kit (Thoman & Jolls, 2004) in-
troduced five core questions to help educators teach media literacy (Kellner
& Share, 2007). Further, if applied correctly these five questions can help
students (and the rest of the population) change the way they interact with
and learn in today’s media culture, their communities and their lives in
general and can even help them to develop critical thinking and become
active citizens (Erjavec, 2010; Kellner & Share, 2005; Thoman & Jolls, 2004).
Key question 1: Who created this message?
The first key question covers the principle of non-transparency and the re-
alisation that all media messages are constructed (Kellner & Share, 2005).
This is the foundation of media literacy since it challenges the power of me-
dia which tend to present their messages as non-problematic and transpar-
ent. Media messages do not present reality as it is or a simple reflection of
the world, they are created, shaped and positioned through a construction
process that includes many decisions about what to include or exclude and
how to represent reality (Erjavec, 2010; Kellner & Share, 2005; Thoman &
Jolls, 2004). This concept helps students understand that media creators de-
cide what to present and what to leave out, resulting in media shaping our
knowledge and understanding of the world (Thoman & Jolls, 2004).
Example: The movie Dangerous Minds2 is based on a true story of a
white teacher and recounts her story of teaching problematic students (at
risk of ESL) in an American context. The storyteller is a member of the
1 Key concept of media literacy is representation; key goal of media literacy is denat-
uralisation of media; media education is primarily investigative; media education is
organised around core concepts, which use analytical and not substantive tools; me-
dia education is a lifelong process; media education tries to stimulate not only crit-
ical understanding but critical autonomy; effectiveness of media education can be
measured by the ability of students to apply what they learned through media educa-
tion (critical ideas and principles) to new situations and the amount of commitment,
interest and motivation displayed by students; media education seeks to clarify the
life-situations of students by stimulate the motivation, interest and enthusiasm gen-
erated by the media’s coverage of topical events (Masterman, 1994).
2 This American movie is based on a true story of Louanne Johnson who is hired as
a teacher in a high school in a poor area of the city where most of the students are
African-American and Hispanic and at high risk of ESL due to their poverty-strick-
en, racially segregated, economically deprived environments. Most students’ par-
ents show little interest and enthusiasm in the education of their children. After a
terrible reception from the students, Louanne tries many unconventional methods
of teaching to gain the students’ trust.
343
Based on Masterman’s core concepts of media literacy1, the Centre for
Media Literacy (CML) in its CML MediaLit Kit (Thoman & Jolls, 2004) in-
troduced five core questions to help educators teach media literacy (Kellner
& Share, 2007). Further, if applied correctly these five questions can help
students (and the rest of the population) change the way they interact with
and learn in today’s media culture, their communities and their lives in
general and can even help them to develop critical thinking and become
active citizens (Erjavec, 2010; Kellner & Share, 2005; Thoman & Jolls, 2004).
Key question 1: Who created this message?
The first key question covers the principle of non-transparency and the re-
alisation that all media messages are constructed (Kellner & Share, 2005).
This is the foundation of media literacy since it challenges the power of me-
dia which tend to present their messages as non-problematic and transpar-
ent. Media messages do not present reality as it is or a simple reflection of
the world, they are created, shaped and positioned through a construction
process that includes many decisions about what to include or exclude and
how to represent reality (Erjavec, 2010; Kellner & Share, 2005; Thoman &
Jolls, 2004). This concept helps students understand that media creators de-
cide what to present and what to leave out, resulting in media shaping our
knowledge and understanding of the world (Thoman & Jolls, 2004).
Example: The movie Dangerous Minds2 is based on a true story of a
white teacher and recounts her story of teaching problematic students (at
risk of ESL) in an American context. The storyteller is a member of the
1 Key concept of media literacy is representation; key goal of media literacy is denat-
uralisation of media; media education is primarily investigative; media education is
organised around core concepts, which use analytical and not substantive tools; me-
dia education is a lifelong process; media education tries to stimulate not only crit-
ical understanding but critical autonomy; effectiveness of media education can be
measured by the ability of students to apply what they learned through media educa-
tion (critical ideas and principles) to new situations and the amount of commitment,
interest and motivation displayed by students; media education seeks to clarify the
life-situations of students by stimulate the motivation, interest and enthusiasm gen-
erated by the media’s coverage of topical events (Masterman, 1994).
2 This American movie is based on a true story of Louanne Johnson who is hired as
a teacher in a high school in a poor area of the city where most of the students are
African-American and Hispanic and at high risk of ESL due to their poverty-strick-
en, racially segregated, economically deprived environments. Most students’ par-
ents show little interest and enthusiasm in the education of their children. After a
terrible reception from the students, Louanne tries many unconventional methods
of teaching to gain the students’ trust.
343
