Media literacy, curriculum and the rights of the child

Bibliographic Data

ID2931177
AuthorsMichael Cannon (0000-0002-1954-5727, UCL Institute of Education, corresponding author), Sara Connolly (0000-0001-5262-1296, University of Bedfordshire), Steve Connolly, Rebecca Parry (0000-0001-8285-2191, University of Sheffield)
Year2022
Volume43
Issue2
Pages322-334
Publication date2022-03-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0159-6306 • E-ISSN: 1469-3739
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01596306.2020.1829551
OpenAlexW3092227672
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited28

Engaging with digital media is part of everyday living for the majority of children, yet opportunities to learn about, through and with media are denied many pupils in compulsory schooling. Whilst Media Studies in the UK is internationally reputed to be well established, changes made to the primary and secondary national curriculum in 2014 included removal of existing media study elements. We demonstrate what is lost by these actions in relation to the United Nations Rights of the Child and, in particular, the right of the child to express identity. We demonstrate how media literacy had previously been included in curriculum, enabling opportunities to address children’s rights, and propose that the absence of media education is part of an overall trend of the non-prioritisation of children’s rights in England and Northern Ireland. The paper calls for media literacy to be reintroduced into primary and secondary curriculum

Art · Curriculum · Literacy · Media literacy · Media studies · National curriculum · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Child Development and Digital Technology · Children's Rights and Participation · Gender Studies · Literacy, Media, and Education

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