Teach students to identify the sources of information, to identify a fake video, or to help them discover the process of making a newspaper: so many actions related to this media education that politicians and the general public more and more worries as news accelerates and “fake news” surges on the Internet. But what does this education really cover? What are the foundations?

It was in the second half of the XX ^th  century that it gradually formalized. After experimenting with media education, using video articles or reports as teaching aids to illustrate the subjects taught, teachers took stock of the need to study the media for themselves. International meetings under the auspices of Unesco have initially sought to define it , to encourage scientific research of this new field and to convince decision-makers of its importance.

At a symposium held in 1982, a declaration from the countries represented noted that the media are an important element of contemporary culture and that their instrumental function, aimed at promoting the active participation of citizens, should be taken into account. A call is then launched to develop programs to understand and analyze the phenomena of communication, from the first degree to the superior.

Civic and technical skills

Disrupting the relationship with knowledge and information, the arrival of the Internet raises new concerns. Seized by the urgency of thinking about media education as society shifts towards digital technology, the Council of Europe and the European Commission have, over the last 15 years, been making recommendations to their Member States so that each country can introduce media education in his school curriculum.

The European Union defines it as

“An extended expression that encompasses all the technical, cognitive, social, civic and creative capabilities that enable every citizen to access, be critical and interact with the media”.

In France, it has been present since 2006 in the common base of knowledge that all students are expected to master at the end of the college. Listed in the law of refoundation of the school in July 2013, she is assigned as objective

“To enable students to exercise their citizenship in an information and communication society, to train active, enlightened and responsible” cybercitizens “of tomorrow”.

She is present in the course of citizenship , with the challenge “to teach students to read, to decrypt information and image, to sharpen their critical thinking, to form an opinion, essential skills to exercise an enlightened citizenship and responsible in democracy “.

It also appears in dotted lines in the five areas of the new Common Knowledge Baseimplemented in September 2016. The student must know the basic principles of algorithms and the purposes of computer languages. It is also about the treatment of information and its hierarchization, the functioning of the media and their stakes, the production of content, digital culture, the ethical management of social networks and digital identity …

Important expectations

The issue seems all the more crucial as the frequent attendance of young people in the mass media worries as much as it concerns a plurality of actors with divergent interests. The mass media have become essential in the cultural practices of the younger generations, there is a broad consensus for the school to be interested, proposing their study: what they are, the messages they convey, the system merchant in which they fit …

However, the choice to make media education a cross-cutting education can weaken because it relies heavily on the commitment of teachers who have not necessarily received specific education and may feel deprived or insufficiently trained. The expectation is immense when it comes to finding words in front of traumatized students, while managing their own emotions, hot, during dramatic events that tear the social and media time.

French research, though active, suffers from a cruel lack of university professorships, which hampers the training of young doctoral students.

Finally, media literacy, through its desire to forge the critical thinking of students, is sometimes called into question  : it could even, it is said, help to cast doubt on everything. The temptation would then be for the youngest, to put on the same level the journalistic sources and conspiracy theories circulating on the Net.

“Learning by doing”

To avoid this pitfall, it is crucial to combine in classrooms the analysis of media messages with a creative practice , from kindergarten to university. By manipulating texts and images, making newspapers, exhibitions, reports, or blogs, students will understand the technical constraints and ethical requirements that accompany any quality media work.

Teach students to identify the sources of information, to identify a fake video, or to help them discover the process of making a newspaper: so many actions related to this media education that politicians and the general public more and more worries as news accelerates and “fake news” surges on the Internet. But what does this education really cover? What are the foundations?

It was in the second half of the XX ^th  century that it gradually formalized. After experimenting with media education, using video articles or reports as teaching aids to illustrate the subjects taught, teachers took stock of the need to study the media for themselves. International meetings under the auspices of Unesco have initially sought to define it , to encourage scientific research of this new field and to convince decision-makers of its importance.

At a symposium held in 1982, a declaration from the countries represented noted that the media are an important element of contemporary culture and that their instrumental function, aimed at promoting the active participation of citizens, should be taken into account. A call is then launched to develop programs to understand and analyze the phenomena of communication, from the first degree to the superior.

Civic and technical skills

Disrupting the relationship with knowledge and information, the arrival of the Internet raises new concerns. Seized by the urgency of thinking about media education as society shifts towards digital technology, the Council of Europe and the European Commission have, over the last 15 years, been making recommendations to their Member States so that each country can introduce media education in his school curriculum.

The European Union defines it as

“An extended expression that encompasses all the technical, cognitive, social, civic and creative capabilities that enable every citizen to access, be critical and interact with the media”.

In France, it has been present since 2006 in the common base of knowledge that all students are expected to master at the end of the college. Listed in the law of refoundation of the school in July 2013, she is assigned as objective

“To enable students to exercise their citizenship in an information and communication society, to train active, enlightened and responsible” cybercitizens “of tomorrow”.

She is present in the course of citizenship , with the challenge “to teach students to read, to decrypt information and image, to sharpen their critical thinking, to form an opinion, essential skills to exercise an enlightened citizenship and responsible in democracy “.

It also appears in dotted lines in the five areas of the new Common Knowledge Baseimplemented in September 2016. The student must know the basic principles of algorithms and the purposes of computer languages. It is also about the treatment of information and its hierarchization, the functioning of the media and their stakes, the production of content, digital culture, the ethical management of social networks and digital identity …

Important expectations

The issue seems all the more crucial as the frequent attendance of young people in the mass media worries as much as it concerns a plurality of actors with divergent interests. The mass media have become essential in the cultural practices of the younger generations, there is a broad consensus for the school to be interested, proposing their study: what they are, the messages they convey, the system merchant in which they fit …

However, the choice to make media education a cross-cutting education can weaken because it relies heavily on the commitment of teachers who have not necessarily received specific education and may feel deprived or insufficiently trained. The expectation is immense when it comes to finding words in front of traumatized students, while managing their own emotions, hot, during dramatic events that tear the social and media time.

French research, though active, suffers from a cruel lack of university professorships, which hampers the training of young doctoral students.

Finally, media literacy, through its desire to forge the critical thinking of students, is sometimes called into question  : it could even, it is said, help to cast doubt on everything. The temptation would then be for the youngest, to put on the same level the journalistic sources and conspiracy theories circulating on the Net.

“Learning by doing”

To avoid this pitfall, it is crucial to combine in classrooms the analysis of media messages with a creative practice , from kindergarten to university. By manipulating texts and images, making newspapers, exhibitions, reports, or blogs, students will understand the technical constraints and ethical requirements that accompany any quality media work.

Author Bio: Laurence Corroy is a Lecturer HDR at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris 3 – USPC