Confronting the post‐truth phenomenon in literacy education
The need for a critical media epistemology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15016002 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Benjamin N Lathrop (0000-0002-9720-6624, Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 665-678 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1081-3004 • E-ISSN: 1936-2706 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/jaal.1407 |
| OpenAlex | W4406253830 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 32 |
The 2016 presidential election marked the beginning of a so‐called “post‐truth era” in which mis‐ and disinformation have contributed to political polarization and violence, the acceleration of global warming, and thousands of preventable deaths. In this paper, I draw on the results of a 2‐week, practitioner inquiry‐informed case study in an 11th‐grade English language arts (ELA) classroom situated in a small, conservative Midwest town to explore the affordances of integrating two theoretical frameworks, one rooted in media literacy and one in epistemic cognition, in planning and implementing a unit designed to support students' critical engagement with digital media texts related to climate change. The findings point to the need for a new framework that draws on insights from both sociocultural and cognitive approaches to literacy. Implications for classroom practice include the importance of teaching students how to evaluate their positionality using platforms they already engage, creating authentic epistemic environments, leading students in explorations of different ways of knowing, helping them understand knowledge systems and processes, and promoting epistemic virtues and autonomy
Critical literacy · Critical thinking · Epistemology · Literacy · Mathematics education · Media literacy · Pedagogy · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Post truth · Sociology · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Literacy, Media, and Education · Philosophy · Psychology
Epistemic Cognition and Evaluating Information
Critical Media Literacy
A review of educational responses to the “post-truth” condition
The art of case study research
Post-Truth and Education
Lateral reading on the open Internet
Middle School Students’ Analysis of Political Memes to Support Critical Media Literacy
Social Media Texts and Critical Inquiry in a Post‐Factual Era
Working Critically and Creatively With Fake News
Learning to Talk Back to Texts
Climate change skepticism as a psychological coping strategy
Fake news
Media education and the limits of “literacy”
Education for a “Post-Truth” World
Qualitative inquiry and research design
In Search of Subjectivity-One's Own
Toward Critical Media Literacy
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |