News Literacy & K-12 Teaching Standards.
I was pleased to be among those participating in "Rebooting The News," a three day event at Temple University in Philadelphia. (read School Library Journal's preview) Attendees came from journalism, news, education and activism, just to name a few. Among the highlights (to me) was hearing details of the newly developed News Literacy college course at Stony Brook University, New York. The developer of that course, Howard Schneider, spoke at the event on Friday morning, and according to what I saw/heard, what his students are going through is rigorous.
This is not about journalism education, but rather education for all. Working groups had lengthy discussions about what this might look like in American schools and why all of this is critical. Details are available at the event's wiki.
Another related initiative, dubbed The News Literacy Project, aimed at middle and high school students, is the brainchild of former Los Angeles Times reporter Alan Miller, and has just gotten started: details here. As part of the continuing project to spread the word about "news literacy" and its importance in K-12 education, I have volunteered to assist the RTN project's co-directors, Renee Hobbs (Temple University) and Bill Densmore (University of Massachusetts), correlate the program's goals and objectives to current K-12 teaching standards. In addition, I will use this space to provide links to news stories, previous research and surveys regarding young people, civic engagement and news. Frank Baker, (Media Literacy Clearinghouse) October 26, 2008 NOTE:
Read the Connected Classroom Wiki blog post about this project; or Inkworthy's post What is news literacy? A definition offered by Howard Schneider (Dean of Journalism, Stony Brook University): “the ability to use critical thinking skills to judge the reliability and credibility of news reports, whether they come via print, TV, on the Internet” (we don’t use the word truth) “reliable information is actionable information-- it allows news consumers to make a judgment, reach a conclusion, or take an action”
Rebooting The News conference participants' definition: "News surrounds us and as such news literacy is an essential life skill for everyone. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson: Knowledge of current issues is essential to informed citizenship in a democracy. We are concerned about the effects of media messages on children and others. Modern participatory culture makes every citizen a potential creator of news in social media, blogs, email and the web. We believe a literate citizen understands the purposes, processes and economics of news.
Therefore, it is time for American education to include the acquisition of 21st-century, critical-thinking skills for analyzing and judging the reliability of news, differentiating among facts, opinions and assertions in the media we create and distribute. News literacy standards can be research based in multiple content areas. It can be taught most effectively in cross-curricular, inquiry-based format at all grade levels. It is a necessary component for literacy in contemporary society. "
News Literacy & Media Literacy: What's the difference? Not much really. If you take the time to read NAMLE's media literacy core principles and critical thinking questions, you might agree that news literacy does not have to be invented: much of the work exists already. K-12 Teaching Standards When we think about the news and how young people are exposed to and think about news, a number of topics arise, all of which can be used as teachable moments for educators.
News comes in all forms (TV, newspapers, magazines, Internet, cable TV and more). How do students use "critical thinking skills" (if at all) when they are exposed to news/information? Why do they seemingly believe everything they, see, read and hear? What are the pressures on news organizations today; how is news made and who makes it; what is the function of a gatekeeper of news; how is news received and understood? Why do Comedy Central and cell phones get more attention than traditional news sources? Who sets the news agenda; and who owns the media and why does it matter? All of these topics are perfect opportunities for educators to meet state standards requirements- for example: - critical thinking; critical viewing - media codes & conventions; - distinguishing fact vs. fiction; - understanding techniques of persuasion; - word choice; - point-of-view (perspective); author bias; - understanding informational texts and text features; - information/media/visual literacy; - economics and more.
