Which media literacy do we mean?

Prof. Dr. Alexander Fedorov

Key QuestionsIn Russia as well as in foreign countries we can

witness sort of the confusion of the terms of “media education” and “media literacy”. There are quite a few differences in theoretical approaches to media education, to distinguishing of the most important aims, objectives, means of introduction into the teaching process, etc. These are the reasons why we addressed to the leading Russian and foreign media educators asking them to answer the special survey aimed at the clearing up of the following questions:

Key Questions which of the well known definitions of media education

and media literacy are supported the most among the experts;

what media education aims and theories seem as the most important;

how these theories and purposes correspond to the modern socio-cultural context of different countries;

what way of the integration of the media education into schools and universities, supplementary educational and recreational institutions is seen as the most preferable;

in what countries at the present time the level of the development of media education is the highest?

Experts supported the definition developed by the UNESCO We are very grateful to all the Russian and foreign experts in the

field of media education/literacy, who sent their answers. In the result we’ve collected data from 26 media educators from 10 countries.

So, the first point of our questionnaire offered to the experts three variants of the definitions of media education (published during the past years by the authoritative editions), that they were supposed agree or disagree with. As a result it turned out that the majority of experts (96%) supported the definition developed by the UNESCO conference seemed to the experts as the most convincing and complete.

Media Education: (96% of experts supported this definition) deals with all communication media and includes the printed word and graphics,

the sound, the still as well as the moving image, delivered on any kind of technology;

enables people to gain understanding of the communication media used in their society and the way they operate and to acquire skills using these media to communicate with others;

ensure that people learn how to * analyse, critically reflect upon and create media texts; * identify the sources of media texts, their political, social, commercial and/or

cultural interests, and their contexts; * interpret the messages and values offered by the media; * select appropriate media for communicating their own messages or stories

and for reaching their intended audience; * gain or demand access to media for both reception and production. Media education is part of basic entitlement of every citizen, in every country in

the world, to freedom of expression and the right to information and is instrumental in building and sustaining democracy

[Recommendations Addressed to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO. In: Education for the Media and the Digital Age. Vienna: UNESCO, 1999, p.273-274.]

Media literacy: Definition supported by 65% of Experts.

The media-literate person is capable recipient and creator of content, understanding sociopolitical context, and using codes and representational systems effectively to live responsibly in society and the world at large” [International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Vol. 14 / Eds.N.J.Smelser & P.B.Baltes. Oxford, 2001, p.9494].

Some experts proposed other definitions:

-Media literacy is the result of the process of media education, media literacy is the intended outcome of media education (S.Penzin, V.Gura, A.Korochenskyi, V.Monastyrsky, T.Shak, Ch.Worsnop, J.Pungente, L.Rother, D.Suess);

However, we also pay attention to the

opinion of D.Lemish who says that “originally there was a difference, with media education being more a wider concept and media literacy perceived as being more a specific translation of critical analysis of media. Media studies was more an academic term for theoretical studies. I think today it is almost impossible and unnecessary to separate between them”.

The experts’ attitude to the main purposes of media education/media literacy

to develop person’s critical thinking/autonomy- 84%) to develop an appreciation, perception and understanding &

analysis of media texts - 69% to prepare people for the life in the democratic society - 62% to develop an awareness of social, cultural, political and economic

implications of media texts (as constructions of media agencies) - 61%

to decode media texts/messages - 60% to develop person’s communicative abilities - 57% to develop an appreciation and aesthetic perception, understanding

of media texts, estimation of aesthetical quality of media texts - 55%

to teach a person to express him/herself with the help of media - 54%

to teach a person to identify, interpret, and experience a variety of techniques used to create media products/texts - 50%

to learn about the theory of media and media culture - 48% to learn about the history of media and media culture - 38%

The main theories of media education/media literacy Critical Thinking/Critical Autonomy/Critical

Democratic Approach - 85% Cultural Studies Approach - 69% Sociocultural Approach - 65% Semiotic Approach - 58% Practical/Hands-On Production Approach - 50% Aesthetical/Media as Popular Arts Approach - 46% Ideological Approach - 38% Uses an Gratifications Approach - 31% Inoculatory/Protectionist/Hypodermic Needle/Civil

Defense Approach - 15%

Three media education/literacy

components I understand media literacy as the result of

media education. In general, predominant among media

educational concepts are the cognitive, educational, and creative approaches to the use of mass media potential.

However, at the implementation level most media educational approaches integrate the three components. These are:

Three media education/literacy components: acquiring knowledge about media history,

structure, language, and theory —the cognitive component;

development of the ability to perceive media texts, to “read” their language; activation of imagination and visual memory; development of particular kinds of thinking (including critical, logical, creative, visual, and intuitive); informed interpretation of ideas (ethical or philosophical problems and democratic principles), and images — the educational component;

creative component: acquiring practical creative skills of working with media materials

The learning activities used in media education/literacy are also different:

descriptive (re-create the media text, reconstruct the personages and events);

personal (describe the attitudes, recollections, and emotions caused by the media text);

analytical (analyze the media text structure, language characteristics, and viewpoints);

classificatory (define the place of the text within the historical context); explanatory (commenting about the media text or its parts);

or evaluative (judging about the merits of the text basing upon personal, ethical or formal criteria).

As a result, the learners not only are exposed to the pleasurable effects of media culture, but they also acquire experience in media text interpretation (analyzing the author’s objectives, discussing—either orally or in writing—the particulars of plot and characters, ethical positions of personages or the author, etc.) and learn to connect it with personal experience of their own or others (e.g. putting themselves in the place of this or that personage, evaluating facts and opinions, finding out causes and effects, motives and consequences of particular actions, or the reality of events).

Table 1. Media Literacy/Competence Levels’ Classification

Motivation: Motives to contact media flow: genre- or subject-based, emotional, hedonistic, psychological, ethical, intellectual, esthetic, therapeutic, etc.

Contact (Communication): Frequency of contact/communication with media flow

Content: Knowledge of media terminology, theory, and history

Perception: Ability to perceive media flow (including media texts)

Interpretation: Ability to analyze critically the functioning of media flows and media in society and media texts of various genres and types, based on perception and critical thinking development levels

Activity: Ability to select media and to create/distribute one’s own information; self-training information skills

Creativity: Creative approach to different aspects of media activity (perceptive, play, artistic, research, etc.)

Table 2. Motivation Indicator Development Levels High: A wide range of genre- or subject-based,

emotional, hedonistic, psychological, creative, ethical, intellectual, and esthetic motives to contact media flows:

Medium: A range of genre- or subject-based, emotional, epistemological, hedonistic, psychological, ethical, and esthetic motives to contact media flows:

Low: A narrow range of genre- or subject-based, emotional, hedonistic, ethical, and psychological motives to contact media flows, including:- entertainment information and media texts only;- thrill;- recreation and entertainment;- compensation;- psychological “therapy”; Esthetic, intellectual, and creative motives to contact media are absent.

Table 3. Contact Indicator Development Levels High: Everyday contacts with

various types of media and media texts;

Medium: Contacts with various types of media and media texts a few times a week;

Low: Contacts with various types of media and media texts a few times a month only

Table 4. Content Indicator Development Levels High: Knowledge of most of the basic terms,

theories, and history of mass communication and media art culture, clear understanding of mass communication processes and media effects in the social and cultural context;

Medium: Knowledge of some basic terms, theories and facts of history of mass communication processes, media art culture and media effects;

Low: Lack of knowledge (or minimum knowledge) of basic terms, theories and facts of history of mass communication processes, media art culture and media effects.

Table 5. Perception Indicator Development Levels High: “comprehensive identification” (with the author of a

media text). Identification with the author of media text with basic components of primary and secondary identification preserved;

Medium: “secondary identification” (with a character (actor) of a media text). Identification with a character of an information message or a media text, i.e., the ability to empathize with a character of a media text, to understand his/her mentality, motives, and perception of certain elements of media text (details, etc.);

Low: “primary identification” (naïve perception of a media text). Emotional and psychological connection with the environment and story line (sequence of events) of a media text, i.e., the ability to perceive the sequence of events of a media text and naïve identification of reality with the content of any text.

Table 6. Interpretation/Appraisal Indicator Development Levels

High: Ability to analyze critically the functioning of media flows and media in society given various factors, based on highly developed critical thinking; analysis of media texts based on the perceptive ability close to comprehensive identification;

Medium: Ability to analyze critically the functioning of media stream and media in society given some most explicit factors, based on medium-level critical thinking; ability to characterize characters’ behavior and state of mind, based on fragmentary knowledge; ability to explain the logical sequence of events in a text and describe its components; absence of interpretation of the author’s views (or their primitive interpretation);

Low: Inability to analyze critically the functioning of media flows and media in society and to think critically; unstable and confused judgments; low-level insight; susceptibility to external influences; primitiveness of interpretation of authors’ or characters’ views

Table 7. Activity Indicator Development Levels High: Practical ability to choose independently and

create/distribute media texts (including those created personally or collectively) of different types and genres; active media self-training ability;

Medium: Practical ability to choose and create/distribute media texts (including those created personally or collectively) of different types and genres with the aid of specialists (consultants);

Low: Inability (or very weakly expressed ability) to choose and create/distribute media texts; inability or reluctance to engage in media self-training.

Table 8. Creativity Indicator Development Levels

High: Expressed creativity in different types of activity (perceptive, play, esthetic, research, etc.) connected with media (including computers and Internet);

Medium: Creativity is not strongly expressed and manifests itself only in some types of activity connected with media;

Low: Creative media abilities are weak, fragmentary or absent at all.

media literacy/competence of personality

is the sum total of the individual’s motives, knowledge, skills, and abilities (indicators: motivation, contact, content, perception, interpretation/appraisal, activity, and creativity) to select, use, create, critically analyze, appraise, and transfer media texts in various forms and genres and to analyze the complex processes of media flows and media functioning

As for “media illiteracy,”

I see its main danger in the possibility of a person becoming an easy object for all sorts of manipulation on the part of the media…

or becoming a media addict, consuming all media products without discrimination.

Media Education Model (Fedorov, 2001; 2005) Verification module (assessment of the level of

students' media development and level of media perception);

Module of practical creation & perception (mastering creative abilities on the media material and the enhancement of the media perception of the structure of media texts (including Internet sites);

Module of analysis (the development of abilities of critical analysis in the sphere of media);

Module of media history (acquaintance with main events in the media culture history, with the contemporary social & cultural situation).

Selected Russian websites on Media Literacy: Russian Association for Media

Education: http://www.edu.of.ru/mediaeducation IPOS UNESCO IFAP (Russia) http://www.ifap.ru Media Education on the UNESCO Bureau

in Moscow website: http://www.unesco.ru/rus/pages/bythemes/stasya29062005124316.php

Thank you for your attention!

www.edu.of.ru/mediaeducationRussian Association for Media

Education

Prof. Dr. Alexander Fedorov