Media Literacy Education and Curriculum Integration: A Literature Review

Abstract

Researchers have explored the benefits and significance of media literacy education (MLE) in school education. Media literacy possesses much potential and its application in education has seen much research interest lately. However, little systematic work currently exists on how researchers have applied MLE for education purposes that considers the integration of media literacy and curriculum. To this aim, we systematically reviewed the literature of the last three decades and found 222 articles, of which only a sample of 98 were considered. We performed a narrative analysis of the relevant studies concerning the integration of MLE in school curriculum based on European countries and non-European countries, namely, objectives of MLE, learning experiences of MLE and assessment of MLE. Our review emphasizes three key dimensions of MLE objectives: the knowledge of media, create media product and develop the understanding of mass media. Furthermore, our analysis has uncovered several differences in the stage of MLE integration in the school education sphere—for instance, MLE was approached in a cross-curricular or a subject-specific way in different countries. Finally, MLE assessment should take into account students as well as teachers in training.