Landscape Scan of Media Literacy Education: A Situated Educational Inquiry for State Policymakers and School Leaders

• In Event: Learning Across Contexts

Abstract

This study examines the instructional practices, definitional debates, and policy opportunities shaping the future of media literacy education in K–12 public schools in NAME OF STATE. Drawing from a year-long, state-commissioned landscape scan, the research combines an educator survey, long-form interviews, document analysis, literature review, and a Delphi expert panel study to investigate how media literacy is conceptualized and enacted across educational contexts. Findings reveal widespread support for media literacy as essential to civic life and student engagement but significant evidence of fragmentation in both theoretical conceptualization and curricular implementation. This paper argues that media literacy in K-12 education contexts is best understood as a contested and evolving educational project, shaped by sociopolitical context, institutional structures, and shifting epistemologies.

Authors

• Renee Hobbs, University of Rhode Island

• Yonty Friesem, Columbia College Chicago

• Catherine Morris, Media Education Lab, Inc.