Critical analysis involves examining a text (whether a media representation, cultural artifact, practice, or other communicative act) for the purpose of considering its myriad connections/intersections with contextual factors and the ways that culture reproduces dominant relations of power and subordination and thus serves the interests of ruling groups.
Published in Chapter:
Critical Media Literacy as Transformative Pedagogy
Steven Funk (University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA), Douglas Kellner (University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA), and Jeff Share (University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA)
Copyright: © 2016
|Pages: 30
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9667-9.ch001
Abstract
This chapter provides a theoretical framework of critical media literacy (CML) pedagogy and examples of practical implementation in K-12 and teacher education. It begins with a brief discussion of literature indicating the need for educators to use a critical approach to media. The historical trajectory of CML and key concepts are then reviewed. Following this, the myths of “neutrality” and “normalcy” in education and media are challenged. The chapter takes a critical look at information and communication technologies and popular culture, reviewing how they often reinforce and occasionally challenge dominant ideologies. Next, this critical perspective is used to explore how CML interrogates the ways media tend to position viewers, users, and audiences to read and negotiate meanings about race, class, gender, and the multiple identity markers that privilege dominant groups. The subjective and ubiquitous nature of media is highlighted to underscore the transformative potential of CML to use media tools for promoting critical thinking and social justice in the classroom.