Upstairs – Downstairs: Representation of Information and Media Literacy in Icelandic Educational Legislation, Policy Documents and Curricula of Upper Secondary Schools

Abstract

The aim is to study if there is a connection between representation of media and information literacy (MIL) in educational legislation and other policy documents for upper secondary schools and its manifestation in school curricula. The study consists of content and discourse analysis and personal observation on one hand and a survey on the other. Data for the survey was gathered by sending an electronic questionnaire to the upper secondary schools. Response rate was 87.9%. Main findings are that information and media literacy are not strongly represented in the legislation and the policy papers. The survey revealed that information literacy is not very often included in the learning outcomes of course descriptions and 48.1% claim that not at all enough emphasis is placed on information literacy in the schools. This corresponds to its weak and unsystematic representation in the legislation and other government policy documents.