{"id":3041,"date":"2022-12-01T13:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T19:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ic4ml.org\/?post_type=journal-article&p=3041"},"modified":"2022-12-05T20:21:41","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T02:21:41","slug":"a-media-literacy-case-in-peru-reflections-on-a-10-year-journey","status":"publish","type":"journal-article","link":"https:\/\/ic4ml.org\/pt-pt\/journal-article\/a-media-literacy-case-in-peru-reflections-on-a-10-year-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"A Media Literacy Case in Peru: Reflections on a 10-year journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Abstract<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This paper compares media literacy understanding through 2009 post-test results to 2019 comparison post-test at three schools in Lima. These post-test studies were sponsored by Medios Claros, a Civil Association in Lima devoted to advancing media literacy; administered and analyzed by researchers at the University of Lima; with media literacy training for participating teachers provided by the Center for Media Literacy (CML, Los Angeles, CA).  To understand study results in this 10-year comparison, the context surrounding the study is examined, including CML\u2019s methodology used for training teachers and Peru\u2019s approach to national standards and curriculum.  But perhaps the most impact on results in the 10 year period between the student post-tests resulted from the rapid technological changes that influenced the youth\u2019s media environment and usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keywords<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Media Education, Media Literacy, Media Culture, Schools, Educomunicaci\u00f3n<\/em>, Paulo Freire, Core Concepts, Empowerment Spiral, Peru, Latin America<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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1. Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As digital media technologies drive global culture, media literacy has emerged from the periphery of education and increasingly become recognized as an imperative for preparing citizens of all nations to be active, engaged and resilient. Latin America is no exception: for the past 30 years, Latin American governments have connected schools with digital technologies, and there are public education policies that validate ICT as a transversal core concept (Mateus, Andrada, Quiroz, 2019). However, much of this investment has prioritized buying devices over building skills (Peru was one of the most enthusiastic participants of One Laptop per Child<\/em> project acquiring almost 1 million laptops, but most of them are underused or stacked at school\u2019s warehouses) (Mateus, Quiroz, 2017).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading academic researchers from Latin America have long contributed to the media literacy field since the 1960’s, and two regional organizations promote media literacy:  the Latin American Researchers Association (ALAIC), founded in 1978, and the Latin American Federation of Social Communication Schools (FELAFACS).  Liberation pedagogy \u2013 originating with Brazilian educator Paulo Freire (1970) \u2013 and the concept of educomunicaci\u00f3n<\/em>, a word that combines education and communication, has contributed to the thinking behind media literacy for decades. \u201cFreire criticized the vertical and authoritarian sense of the education system, proposing the construction of a dialog enriched by the students\u2019 experiences and their way of viewing  the  world\u201d (Mateus, Quiroz, 2017, 155).  Thus, \u201ceducomunicaci\u00f3n<\/em> assumes that education and communication are interrelated, part of a transformational and liberatory process that is dialogical, critical, relational, collaborative, and participatory\u201d (Lombana, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this concept of literacy has taken hold \u2013 a concept that incorporates contextual understanding of media messages as well as the reading and writing of a text, whether digital or print, video, or audio \u2013 youth are challenged to interrogate the media on a deeper level to make meaning in their every-day lives.  No longer is it enough to \u201cread\u201d and \u201cwrite\u201d in the traditional sense, but instead, to filter through the plethora of information available, it is essential to understand the deeper nature of media and information, and how media work as a global symbolic system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Methods and Materials<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Medios Claros, a Civil Association that emerged in Lima in 2008 to publicize, disseminate and promote Media Literacy in Peru, uses the evidence-based methodology of the Center for Media Literacy (CML). Motivated by the challenges of living today in mediated cultures and faced with fragmented media that increasingly press for attention, Medios Claros contributes to awakening parents, children, educators and citizens to the need for how people should freely interact with the media and its messages and thus, encourage the critical thinking necessary for free decision-making. The goal of Medios Claros is to create a demand for media literacy in society and therefore, to encourage the acquisition of tools from an early age through education, and in all possible areas of society, both for the consumption of messages and for the responsible production of the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2009, Medios Claros sponsored CML to conduct a two-day teacher training for 100 teachers at four private Lima-based schools (with 25 teachers from each school):  Am\u00e9rica del Callao School; Newton College; Villa C\u00e1ritas School (Catholic School -Women); and Colegio San Pedro (Catholic School – Men).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequent to the teacher training, each school administered a post-test for all students, grades 2-11.  The purpose of this post-test was reported as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n