Critical Media Literacy and Social Justice: A Critical, Creative, and Collaborative Approach
Poster by: Monica Bhattacharjee
Sessions B/D | 9:45 – 10:00/10:45 – 11:00 | Room Main Corridor, 2nd Floor
Abstract:
The poster intends to provide a graphic snapshot of the ways in which critical, creative, and collaborative inquiry (C3I) may be harnessed in media and information literacy (MIL) studies to serve a greater purpose in social justice education. I explore how the exponential growth of multimedia platforms powered by the ICT revolution necessitates the need for newer critical pedagogies that understand knowledge as being in the process of continual construction, as plural, multiple, and capable of being reshaped and re-crafted. C3I is particularly helpful in the domain of media studies as it enables us to consider sociocultural, geopolitical, economic, and corporate factors that affect information production, representation, dissemination, consumption, interpretation, and evaluation. Based on my learning experiences, fieldwork, and curriculum design in the M.Ed program in C3I, I think that this approach provides powerful lenses for critical praxis action research by enabling deeper consideration of issues pertaining to diversity, difference, power, and privilege.
Some features of the poster include i) a visual framework to show how C3I, MIL, and Social Justice interact and synergize, ii) an exploration of instructional approaches and assessment practices that are compatible with the domain, and iii) specific examples of activities along with the key competencies these would support. It also features part of a recent international survey that reflects the rising interest and conviction of young people in affecting positive social change where ICT-enabled transnational communication and collaboration are expected to help people-powered collectives to realize the enormous potential of grassroots new media activism.
