Politics,media and youth: understanding political socialization via video production in secondary schools

Research on the lack of civic and political engagement on the part of today’s youth has relied on traditional, often quantitative, measures of political knowledge that may miss important elements of the process. Using an ethnographic approach with a group of inner‐city high school students, our study reveals a richer construction of students’ awareness of political issues, or political socialization than previously documented by conventional survey measures. Notably present is a sophisticated awareness of and identification with non‐news television formats which suggests that sources such as TV talk and reality shows may be important sources of political discourse and even civic engagement. Our study also supports the value of hands‐on media production projects for understanding youth political knowledge and awareness, suggesting an additional tool for political communication and civic engagement research.     

The building blocks of digital media literacy: socio-material participation and the production of media knowledge

This article outlines the knowledge and skills students develop when they engage in digital media production and analysis in school settings. The metaphor of ‘digital building blocks’ is used to describe the material practices, conceptual understandings and production of knowledge that lead to the development of digital media literacy. The article argues that the two established approaches to media literacy education, critical reading and media production, do not adequately explain how students develop media knowledge. It suggests there has been too little focus on material practices and how these relate to the development of conceptual understanding in media learning. The article explores empirical evidence from a four-year investigation in a primary school in Queensland, Australia using actor–network theory to explore ‘moments of translation’ as students deploy technologies and concepts to materially participate in digital culture. A generative model of media learning is presented with four categories of building blocks that isolate the specific skills and knowledge that can be taught and learnt to promote participation in digital media contexts: digital materials, conceptual understandings, media production and media analysis. The final section of the article makes initial comments on how the model might become the basis for curriculum development in schools and argues that further empirical research needs to occur to confirm the model’s utility.     

Teaching media in a ‘post-truth’ age: fake news,media bias and the challenge for media/digital literacy education / La enseñanza mediática en la era de la posverdad: fake news,sesgo mediático y el reto para la educación en materia de alfabetización mediática y digital

Abstract

Digital literacy is often proposed as a means of dealing with the problems apparently caused by ‘fake news’. This positioning article considers some of the difficulties with this approach. It argues that fake news is not an isolated phenomenon, but one that needs to be understood in a much broader social, economic and cultural context. It also addresses the practical possibilities and difficulties of teaching in this area. The notion of ‘digital literacy’ appears to define the phenomenon in technological terms. By contrast, this article suggests that we need a broader notion of media literacy, which is based on critical thinking about the economic, ideological and cultural dimensions of media. Even so, the article suggests, the broader problems that are at the root of the problem of ‘fake news’ are unlikely to be solved very easily.     

Religious engagement and attitudes to the role of religion in society: their effect on civic and social values in an Asian context

This paper explored the impact of religious engagement (religious background, religious service attendance and religious activities participation) on adolescents’ civic and social values. Attitudes towards the influence of religion on society were investigated as a possible mediator/moderator of religious engagement. A model based on Western literature was tested using a sample of over 2000 Hong Kong students. Secondary data were drawn from the International Civics and Citizenship Education Study 2009. Multi-level modelling was used to assess individual and school level effects on civic and social values. Results indicated that religious engagement exerted varied effects. Religious background showed small and negative effects on students’ civic and social values. Participation in religious services indicated a small, positive and significant effect on social but not on civic values. Participation in religious activities showed no significant effect on either social or civic values. These variables exerted a small moderating effect on social and civic values through attitudes to the influence of religion on society. The latter exerted a positive and significant effect on civic values and a negative effect on social values. These results suggested that Western models depicting the positive relationship between religious engagement and citizenship values may not hold for Asian societies.     

Space Science News: Special Edition,a resource for extending reading and promoting engagement with newspapers in the science classroom

This paper describes the development of an innovative resource, comprising authentic newspaper articles and associated activities, designed to broaden the range of reading material available for use in the science classroom. Science teachers' response to the publication is discussed. The resource was very well received, indicating that, given appropriate material, science specialists demonstrate a willingness to use media text in their classrooms. However, while all viewed the publication as a valuable science resource and many saw its potential for promoting literacy through science, only a few recognised it as a vehicle for encouraging, among students, critical engagement with science in the media. This suggests that further intervention may be necessary if this outcome is to be achieved.     

The engagement agenda,multimedia learning and the use of images in higher education lecturing: or,how to end death by PowerPoint

This article is concerned with student engagement and understanding in large group teaching in Higher Education (HE). Specifically, it is concerned with the application of Multimedia Learning (MML) methods in Politics, History, International Relations, Sociology, Social Work, and Business and Economics teaching that privilege the use of images to complement text in lecture presentations. This ‘visual’ method, it is claimed in the literature, generates engagement and understanding better than text alone. This article develops, applies and empirically tests with students, MML methods across a range of Higher Education disciplines over three years. The research deploys Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods engaging students as active agents of investigation and change. It finds evidence to support the hypothesis that apposite images combined with reduced text increases students’ engagement and understanding with academic content, but that much formal research needs to expand on the range of demographics tested.     

The Spread of the Learning Outcomes Approaches across Countries,Sub‐systems and Levels: A special focus on teacher education

This article is based on the outcomes of the study entitled “The application of learning outcomes approaches across Europe”, which was funded by Cedefop and completed in 2015 (Wi?niewski et al, 2015 ). The study, aiming at exploring the implementation of the learning outcomes approach in European countries, addressed two major questions: (1) to what extent and how the shift to learning outcomes has been influencing education and training policies and strategies at macro (national) level and teaching practices at micro (institutional) level in EU and EFTA member countries, and (2) to what extent and how political priority given to learning outcomes has influenced institutional practices in the training of education and training professionals. The study, covering 33 EU and EFTA member countries and all sub‐systems of education, used empirical evidence from country case studies and also from a limited number of institutional case studies focusing on initial teacher education. The study demonstrated a significant progress in the use of the learning outcomes approach in most countries and in all sub‐systems, but also major implementation challenges. This article presents the outcomes of the study using an analytical framework combining three analytical perspectives: (1) curriculum development and delivery (2) European integration, and (3) governance and policy implementation.     

“学会共处”取向的学前教育课程论析：意义、价值取向与建设策略

“学会共处”作为教育的四大支柱之一,已成为21世纪重要的学习需求。“学会共处”作为学前教育课程的新取向对“文明交往”的同伴共处、“和谐共处”的师幼互动的形成,“关关与共”的幼儿园文化的营造具有积极意义;其价值取向主要在于培养儿童的自我意识、他者意识、群体意识;“学会共处”作为学前教育课程的建设,以弹性的游戏课程的设计、基于教师指导的课程实施和以园本课程制度为依托的课程运行为主要方向。