What Media Literacy Is and Is Not

Media literacy is not teaching with media, it’s teaching about media.  The difference between the two is not at all trivial, but indeed profound. In this issue of Connections, we explore the differences between media literacy and other approaches to media in the classroom.  Writing within a cultural studies framework, Len Masterman helped to revolutionize the field of media studies in his 1985 book Teaching the Media. In doing so, he also articulated the core principles of media literacy education.  Also, an interview with media literacy educator and scholar Gretchen Schwarz on the goals of media literacy education.