AMLA Conference Names
'Six Core Principles' of Media Literacy

SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/18/2007

Educators need to take their focus off the dangers or poor quality of the new media—and instead zero-in on how their students perceive and assess those media, according to 6 "Core Principles" being presented at this upcoming weekend’s annual National Media Education Conference in St. Louis.

Sponsoring the conference, "iPODs, Blogs and Beyond: Evolving Media Literacy for the 21st Century" is the Alliance for a Media Literate America ( AMLA), a 1,000-member nonprofit organization. It’s expected that about 300 K-12 librarians, teachers, technology specialists, administrators, and youth leaders will attend the June 22-24 event.

"Media Literacy Education is not sharing a critique of media without also sharing skills so students can critically analyze media for themselves," states AMLA’s first Core Principle, which concerns the development of active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive.

"Media Literacy Education is not using media literacy videos, films, books or other curriculum materials as a substitute for teaching critical inquiry skills," the first core principle continues.

A second core principle regards expanding the media literacy concept to include all forms of media (rather than just presenting the concept as a political movement or educational discipline). Media literacy education also should reinforces skills for learners of all ages, rather than worry about "inoculating people against presumed or actual harmful media effects," the core principles.

"Someplace we have to deal with the world that kids actually live in and that’s a media-saturated world," AMLA founding president and current board member Faith Rogow told SLJ. "So the question is, what do you do? In the past many people who use the label ‘media literacy’ have believed that what that meant was ‘we teach students about the harmful effects of media or we teach how bad media are.’

"And the shift we’re talking about here is ‘this is about an educational process. It’s not about media. It’s about how we think in a media-saturated world.’"

As an example, Rogow said that instead of planning a lesson on the dangers of MySpace, a teacher or media specialist should guide children in assessing the pros and cons of social networking sites themselves. "It’s not about us lecturing at them," Rogow said. "It’s about us providing the skills to navigate the world they already live in."

A key part of the conference will be the development of an action plan for the 12 Core Principles. Some 75 workshops, panels and peer-networking opportunities in all are planned for the conference.

Also scheduled is a media literacy education research summit, where researchers will identify new techniques and practices, toward generating a research agenda. Further, a "crash course" for staying current with the evolving media landscape will be featured. MIT’s video game researcher Henry Jenkins will keynote, along with pop culture author Douglas Rushkoff.

Teaching & Learning Update

Alliance Provides ‘Core Principles’ for Media Literacy
Education Week  6/19/07

Helping students sift through the countless messages they encounter on television, on the Internet, and in video games, newspapers, magazines, and other media is a complicated task for teachers in the information age. Now, the Alliance for a Media Literate America, or AMLA, is providing some direction through “core principles” for media-literacy education that are expected to be unveiled this month. The principles outline the Denver-based organization’s recommendations for teaching children to analyze media messages critically.

“The purpose of media-literacy education is to help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, and active citizens in today’s world,” the document says.

The document, “Core Principles for Media Literacy Education,” is available online at Alliance for Media Literate American.

The guidelines are based on research in communications, media and film studies, health, psychology, and education. They include a sample grid of questions students should be trained to ask about the source and intended audience of a media message, how the message is presented, its intended purpose and meaning, and the context and credibility of the information.

Focusing on how children learn about media is a decided shift in the field, which has to this point focused on what is taught in media-literacy lessons.

Some media-literacy advocates say the principles are necessary to raise awareness among educators about the importance of teaching students how to evaluate all kinds of media.

“Teachers are telling me that young people believe everything they see, read, and hear,” said Frank Baker, a Columbia, S.C.-based media education consultant. “The AMLA is trying to get others in the education community to say this is critically important today, especially in a world where we have pervasive advertising, 30-second commercials about political candidates, and we have spin coming out of the White House.”

The alliance plans to roll out the core principles at the annual National Media Education Conference in St. Louis, to be held June 23-25.