Abstract
This study examines the experiences of 15 Latinx sixth-grade students in Los Angeles who participated in a yearlong journalism-based media literacy program embedded in their social studies classes. Students researched, interviewed, wrote, and published articles on the Internet about social justice themes, like immigration, racism, and LGBTQ rights. The intervention uses critical pedagogy and social justice pedagogy. This study seeks to understand how key aspects of these philosophies emerge in students’ reflections of their journalistic learning experiences. Deductive qualitative analysis of focus group data indicates that students experienced transformational, agentic experiential learning that allowed them to explore and question the world. The limited comments about funds of knowledge, local communities, and critical co-investigation suggest that these areas need additional attention during intervention implementation. The journalistic approach illustrates new ways educators can engage in critical and social justice pedagogy in middle school media education.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Guldin, R., Madison, E., & Anderson, R. (2021). Writing for social justice: Journalistic strategies for catalyzing agentic engagement among Latinx middle school students through media education. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 13(2), 71-85. https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2021-13-2-6
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Other Education Commons
