Testing a theory: Towards a multiliteracies oriented media education

Abstract

In 2019, the need for expanding literacy to include other platforms and channels in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual society seems evermore pertinent. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for testing the New London Group’s theory and proposing new means of teaching media education. We posit that a media education based on a multiliteracies pedagogy should be interdisciplinary and expansive. We argue that while there has been a proliferation of platforms in the digital age, non-digital media should be included in media education because digital and analog media are interconnected. Furthermore, given the diversity of literacies (textual, visual, audio, gestural) this approach takes into consideration, we argue that it is inclusive, allowing students to access knowledge regardless of their academic level or disabilities. Thus, a multiliteracies oriented media education must be able to absorb all available literacies, becoming greater than the sum of its parts.