Investigating Preservice Teachers’ Understandings of Critical Media Literacy

This paper examines preservice teachers’ understandings of critical media literacy as they designed critical media literacy lessons in an initial teacher education language and literacy course for K-6 teachers. The teachers reflected on their initial understandings about social justice, designed several pre-tasks, designed and taught critical media literacy lessons, and then reflected on teaching critical media literacy to elementary school students. The results of this two-year study indicate that while the preservice teachers seemed willing to address social justice issues and they used digital literacies in interesting and engaging ways, some of them faced challenges articulating and focusing their own understandings in media literacy lessons.