Media Literacy Is Elementary: Teaching Youth to Critically Read and Create Media

This book provides a practical and theoretical look at how media education can make learning and teaching more meaningful and transformative. It explores the theoretical underpinnings of critical media literacy and analyzes a case study involving an elementary school that received a federal grant to integrate media literacy and the arts into the curriculum. The ideas and experiences of working teachers are analyzed through a critical media literacy framework that provides realistic challenges and hopeful examples and suggestions. The book is a valuable addition to any education course or teacher preparation program that wants to promote twenty-first century literacy skills, social justice, civic participation, media education, or critical technology use. Communications classes will find it useful as it explores and applies key concepts of cultural studies and media education.

The Author: Jeff Share worked for ten years as a freelance photojournalist documenting situations of poverty and social activism on several continents. He spent six years teaching bilingual primary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. After working as the Regional Coordinator for Training at the Center for Media Literacy, Share earned his Ph.D. in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. His current research and practice focuses on the teaching of critical media literacy in K-12 education. He is currently a faculty advisor in the Teacher Education Program at UCLA.