Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts and Debates

Toward Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts, Debates, Organizations, and Policy 

by Kellner and Share

1.     “Computer and multimedia technologies demand novel skills and competencies and if education is to be relevant to the problems and challenges of contemporary life, engaged teachers must expand the concept of literacy and develop new curricula and pedagogies” (Kellner & Share, pg.369).

I completely agree with this quote. It is our job as teachers to continue to keep up with technology and learn new ways to implement it into our classrooms. We want to become professionals when it comes to utilizing technology and resources that are available to us. In order for our students to be successful in the 21^st century, we need to make sure that we are creating a curriculum that is meaningful and relevant for each and everyone of our students.

2.     “Critical media literacy not only teaches students to learn from media, to resist media manipulation, and to use media materials in constructive ways, but it is also concerned with developing skills that will help create good citizens and that will make individuals more motivated and competent participants in social life” (Kellner & Share, pg.372).

I think that this quote is 100% true when it comes to teaching students about the media. Students need to have the skills to be able to create their own identities online and be able to socialize with others as well. They need to know how to thoroughly evaluate the media to see whether it is credible or not and find sources that can help them become successful learners. By using media students are able to participate in various things online and become an active citizen as well. They need to create themselves and share their thoughts and opinions with others and stand for what they believe in.

3.     “The ability for students to see how diverse people can interpret the same message differently is important for multicultural education, since understanding differences means more than merely tolerating one and other” (Kelner & Share, pg.375).

This quote is completely true and I agree with all of it. Every person, student, teacher, etc. views things differently no matter what the picture or message is. An entire class of students could look at the same picture but have a different interpretation of what it’s meaning is. Everyone thinks differently and that’s what students have to consider when people are looking at different things on the Internet and in the real world. Looking at the document for this course is a great example. All of us had to deconstruct the same document but I am sure that we all have different interpretations of the subtext. We need to understand the differences of others interpretations and learn to respect them as well and not just tolerate them.

TED video by Cameron Russell

Watching the video by Cameron Russell, I wasn’t sure where she was going with her speech at the beginning when she was talking about being pretty and skinny. All of the images that she showed from modeling have deeper meanings than just pictures of her. Pictures are worth a thousand words and everyone interprets them in a different way. The way people see her, as a model is different than how she sees herself.  I can relate to how she said that she is very insecure about herself but her pictures don’t show that. When she showed pictures of her modeling compared to how she looked that day without all of the glam, it was very eye opening to see. People expect models to look and dress how they are when they are being photographed all the time but that is not the case. No one should be judged on the way they look at any time of their lives. When looking at images and the media students really need to know how to deconstruct the meaning of what they are looking at. They need the critical media literacy skills to help them find the meaning of social media documents.

“Critical media literacy not only teaches students to learn from media, to resist media manipulation, and to use media materials in constructive ways, but it is also concerned with developing skills that will help create good citizens and that will make individuals more motivated and competent participants in social life” (Kellner & Share, pg.372).

 “It takes a comprehensive approach that would teach critical skills and how to use media as instruments of social communication and change” (Kellner & Share, pg. 373).

“Demystifying media messages through critical inquiry is an important starting point for media literacy” (Kellner & Share, pg.374).

When using digital resources and print resources we need to be able to critically evaluate what we are reading. Students need to gain the skills in order to be evaluating websites and images like we did this week. We need to make sure that our students are digital literate and understand everything that they are finding on the Internet and in print.

I believe that I would fall into this category: A ‘‘media literacy’’ movement, in contrast, attempts to teach students to read, analyze, and decode media texts in a fashion parallel to the advancement of print literacy. Media arts education, in turn, teaches students to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of media and to use various media technologies as instruments of self-expression and creation.

I chose this YouTube video because it reminded me of deconstructing the document for our activity and the video that we watched this week. Students are looking at pictures presented by their teacher and are asked to share their feelings. Students give their insight on the pictures and analyze the pictures by looking at the background and what is going on. When we start teaching our students how to deconstruct videos and images we need to give them guiding questions to help them. Once they start learning the correct questions to ask themselves they will have success with analyzing, understanding, and evaluating different media sources.