Student Teachers’ Views on Media Education Related to New Literacy Skills

Abstract

High quality media education promotes media literacy and ensures citizens' smooth participation and engagement in the digital society. Digital media include powerful communication and interaction platforms that require new literacy skills. This study examines what new literacies can be found in the opinion writings of student teachers in relation to media literacy. The research material consists of 37 Finnish student teachers' opinion writings produced during the Media Education 2020 course. The aim of the study is to explore how student teachers identify new literacies as part of media education and how these new literacies are reflected in their opinion writings. As a result of the research, new literacies emerged from the data as a cultural phenomenon of our time. This was reflected in their views on the technological orientation of school and teaching and the importance of media education as a teaching task in schools. An important finding is that the textual subculture of social media is valued as a new form of literacy. The results show that while the narrative value of images, virtual game worlds and easy access to social media via smartphones were identified, the broad understanding of new literacies among student teachers is narrow. Perceptions of media education and new literacies are interlinked and the debate on their relevance as a social phenomenon should continue.