1. Media Literacy in the Ontario
Curriculum
Alison Mann
October 31, 2012
CTL 1000
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2. Rationale and Identity of the
‘content reviewer’
I have been teaching English Media Studies and
Arts courses for 13 years now, and seven years
ago, I completed my Media Specialist. Most
recently, I have been using my Media Literacy
skills in teaching IB Film Studies and Media Arts.
Media Literacy plays a large role in all the work
that I do both in class and extra-curricular
activities. For this reason, I was interested in
analyzing the content of the Media Strand
throughout the English Curriculum at the
Secondary Level with an overview of how it
connects to the Media Literacy Strand in the
Elementary Language Curriculum.
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3. A leading Curriculum Document
In July 2012, I was invited by Kyoto University and the media literacy organization
“Television for Children” to speak about the Media Literacy program in Ontario. Currently in
Japan, there are no Media Literacy courses in schools, but there is a ground swell of support
from teachers, students and parents to include this in future curriculum documents.
Japanese educators look to Ontario for our progressive curriculum documents and teaching
approach. Below are some photos of a workshop with Japanese teachers at a middle school
just outside of Kyoto. I provided an overview of the Ontario curriculum followed by a brief
lesson using curriculum expectations.
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4. Context
Ontario was the first educational jurisdiction in North America to
make media education a mandatory part of the curriculum.
Founded in 1978, the AML (Association for Media Literacy) was
the first comprehensive organization for media literacy teachers
in Canada. (Duncan and Wilson, 2009).
Media Literacy has been a part of the
Ontario English curriculum at the
Secondary level since 1987.
In 1995, Media education was
introduced to the Ontario Language
Curriculum for grades 1-8
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5. Overall Expectations for Media Literacy Strand in Elementary
Language Curriculum
In 2006 and 2007, the Ontario Ministry of Education released revised curriculum
documents that mandate media literacy from grades 1 to 12. Specifically, media
literacy is now a distinct strand in the Language programme at the elementary
level (grades 1-8) and in the English programme at the secondary level (grades 9-
12). The curriculum documents identify media literacy as one of four program
strands that also include oral communication, reading and writing (Ministry of
Education, 2006: 13)
• There are four overall expectations for students at both the elementary
and secondary level in media literacy. Students are expected to:
• * Demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts.
• * Identify a variety of media forms and explain how the conventions and
techniques associated with them are used to create meaning.
• * Create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using
appropriate forms, conventions and techniques.
• * Reflect on and identify their strengths as media interpreters and creators,
areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in
understanding and creating media texts (Ministry of Education, 2006: 147)
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6. Approach
Questions adapted from the U.S. Department of
•I will be looking a Media Literacy in Education’s Criteria for Content Analysis (1999)
both the Grade 9-10 as well as the
Grade 11-12 English Curriculum
Documents. I will also look at the
1. Are the program’s learning goals challenging, clear, and
dedicated course, Gr 11 English Media appropriate; is its content aligned with its learning goals?
Studies 2. Is it accurate and appropriate for the intended audience?
•A series of questions modified from the 3. Is the instructional design engaging and motivating for the
U.S. Department of Education’s Criteria intended student population?
for Content Analysis 4. Is the system of assessment appropriate and designed to guide
teachers’ instructional decision making?
5. Can it be successfully implemented, adopted, or adapted in
•Connections to foundational figure
multiple educational settings?
6. Does it address important individual and societal needs?
• Final Thoughts
(National Research Council, p.68)
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7. Word Cloud created with Curriculum Document Text
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8. TEACHER, EXPLAIN MEDIA
The Word Cloud created on Wordle using text from the
Grade 11 English Media Studies curriculum document. It
was helpful for looking at the initial language used in the
document.
Observations:
Fourth most commonly used word in the document is
television.
“Social Media” is not represented although it is one of the
most discussed themes in English Media Studies. The
same goes with gaming
Teacher is more commonly used than Student.
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9. Are the program’s learning goals challenging, clear, and appropriate; is its
content aligned with its learning goals?
The learning goals, or Overall Learning Expectations use clear and consistent language through all
grade levels. At each grade, the specific learning goals build on the year previous. The content
also includes a ‘teacher prompt‘ to help generate ideas or discussion. The Specific Expectations all
provide examples in brackets following the description. While there is some choice as to how the
expectation will be met, the degree of challenge will be dependent on a number of factors. It is
evident to see that the content is aligned with the Overall Expectations.
Left: English Curriculum
Grade 9, Right: English
Curriculum Grade 10
Language used changes
by grade
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10. Is it accurate and appropriate for the intended audience?
-Although the overall outcomes are the same for all grades, there is a
reasonable amount of progression under the specific expectations. The
suggested activities are age and skill appropriate.
This document also takes into account diverse
audiences: Note the specific expectation below
‘explain why different audiences (e.g. with respect to
nationality, ability/ disability, income level) might have
different responses to a variety of media texts.
At each grade level, students are asked to consider
the backgrounds, attitudes and beliefs of others and
not just of themselves. In this way, I think that students
can see themselves reflected in the curriculum.
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11. Is the instructional design engaging and motivating for the intended student
population?
Curriculum planning is flexible; unit planning can be thematic, genre or media based. Students
are often ‘experts’ in the class as they have plenty of experience with a variety of forms of media.
The Media Studies strand and Media Studies course provides a framework to better understand
the mediated environment. Media Studies are explored through three interconnected areas: text,
audience, production. As a result of our ever changing media environments, the course works
best when it’s modified each year with student input. What appears to be of particular interest to
the student population is the ‘production’ aspect in the course in which students create their own
media products.
“There are several approaches for teaching media literacy. Many teachers make use of more than
one approach in the classroom, shaping the curriculum to meet the needs and interests of their
students. Whichever is pursued, there is a strong emphasis on the importance of analysis--the
deconstruction of a media text or message, and production--learning how media industries operate
and developing the skills and knowledge needed for students to produce their own stories”
(Duncan and Wilson, 2009).
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12. Is the system of assessment appropriate and designed to guide teachers’
instructional decision making?
The English Curriculum document clearly
takes the reader through the details of the
achievement chart:
categories of
knowledge and
skills criteria
descriptors
qualifiers
Sample of ‘Thinking’ category in the achievement chart for the English Gr. 9-10 Curriculum
Again, as mentioned in other parts of this presentation, the language used provides enough detail and support
for teachers to develop their own rubrics/ frameworks for assessment and at the same time, leaves space for
teachers to make tailored rubrics/ assessment tools to suit the task and students needs
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13. Can it be successfully implemented, adopted, or adapted in multiple
educational settings?
Technology Issue:
Depending on teacher’s level of experience
with technology and accessibility, the course
can look very different for students across
Ontario
EG: In ENG3U, students are expected to
produce ‘increasingly complex texts’ and the
example given is a website. Whether this can
happen comes down to accessibility, funding
and teacher experience with technology in
the classroom. With that said, using available
technology, students can still fulfill the
curriculum expectations. The result can be an
equity issue due to the imbalance of Media
experiences and ‘products’ from schools
across Ontario.
“These and other studies collectively depict the material conditions of technology
(dis)use in formal K-12 education, where digital technologies are very much in
schools, but very infrequently in pedagogical practice. While ‘good news stories’
abound in regards to students and teachers using digital technologies in innovative
and educationally significant ways, the overall context remains that of substantial,
persistent and complex barriers to the consistent implementation and recognition of
ICT-enabled teaching and learning” (Jenson, p.39)
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14. Does it address important individual and societal needs?
“ Studies explores the impact and influence of mass media and popular culture by examining texts such
as films, songs, video games, action figures, advertisements, CD covers, clothing, billboards, television
shows, magazines, newspapers, photographs, and websites.3 These texts abound in our electronic
information age, and the messages they convey, both overt and implied, can have a significant influence
on students’ lives” (Ministry of Education).
“To develop their media literacy skills, students should have opportunities to view, analyse, and discuss
a wide variety of media texts and relate them to their own experience”. (Ministry of Education)
The Curriculum document appears to take into account the needs of both the
student and societal needs. Teachers are able to take advantage of up to date news
media stories for use in class. Media Logs and Journals are strongly encouraged in
Media AQ classes for student use to provide a space for expression and an
opportunity to make sense of the world around them. Under the ‘reflecting on skills
and strategies’ expectation, there is mention of the use of a log to keep track of their
process work
Additionally, the Media Studies strand and course offer ample opportunities for civic-
minded teachers and students. There are a number of examples and ‘teacher
prompts’ in the document that encourage students to create a public service
announcement, civic minded texts etc.
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15. Connections to foundational figures:
The Reconceptualist Movement (Grumet and Pinar) in education has built on the ideas of John
Dewey. From my understandings, the reconceptualists focus on the learner and the ever evolving
curriculum as a social, interactive and reflective process (Graham, page 7). They argue that the
purpose of curriculum studies is less about curriculum management and more to do with a
scholarly understanding of educational experience, with regards to political, cultural, historical and
gender dimensions.Under reconceptualism, there is a move towards ‘curriculum understanding’
(Cupp, page 2).
While I have not come across any perspectives on the Ontario Curriculum by Pinar (currently a
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British
Columbia) it would be likely that he would be concerned about the lack of opportunities teachers
have to engage with scholarly issues around curriculum (unless teachers take it upon themselves
to return to school for further education). Reconceptualists may also object to how seldom the
curriculum documents are revised to address changes or how the curriculum document is static
until revised.
Pinar is also deeply involved with equity issues and gender studies throughout his career. The
Media Studies strand does appear to be civically minded and written in consideration of the
diversity of Ontario students, and is concerned with equity issues such as representation, gender
in the media and diversity of audience.
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16. final thoughts and musings:
Having worked with this curriculum document since its release in 2007, I would consider it to be
quite a well planned and executable document. As a teacher, there are of course some final
thoughts I’d like to share about possible amendments for consideration:
Updating language/terminology: Any Media Literacy document/ text can run the risk of becoming
outdated fast. The Ontario Curriculum document is carefully worded so as not to outdate itself, in
my opinion. However, as mentioned previously in the word cloud example, it would be helpful if
some updates to the language used could be modified during the next revision. In our quickly
changing times, media can become obsolete and unfamiliar to our students in no time. Much of
the media students consume today cannot all be considered ‘mass media’ anymore. Such terms
as ‘social media’ ‘citizen media’ and web ‘2.0’ should be added to curriculum documents and
corresponding examples should be used. It should be noted that the AML (Association for Media
Literacy) updates their online resources regularly to reflect the changes in contemporary media.
Media Studies in the English/ Language Curriculum: For now, it is well situated in the English and
Language curriculum. This means that Media Studies will be experienced by all students each
year in Ontario schools. However, with the interdisciplinary nature of post-secondary schools, it
would be helpful to see Media Studies as a series of stand alone courses, much like Gr. 11
English Media Studies. It is a challenge to study Media in isolation as it can fit into almost every
other subject area.
More teacher training: More teacher training specifically in the Media Studies strand is greatly
needed.
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17. The Ontario Ministry of Education (2007), The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11-12 English: Revised,
Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
The Ontario Ministry of Education (2006), The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8 Language: Revised,
Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
References
The Ontario Ministry of Education (2007), The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9-10 English: Revised,
Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
The Ontario Ministry of Education (2007), The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11-12 English: Revised,
Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
Duncan, Barry, and Carolyn Wilson. Implementing mandates in media education: the Ontario experience." Comunicar
16.32 (2009): S127+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.
Committee for a Review of the Evaluation Data on the Effectiveness of NSF-Supported and Commercially Generated
Mathematics Curriculum Materials, National Research Council. "4 Content Analysis." On Evaluating Curricular
Effectiveness: Judging the Quality of K-12 Mathematics Evaluations. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press, 2004
http://chelangat.hubpages.com/hub/RECONCEPTUALISTS-VERSES-TRADITIONALISTS-CURRICULUM-
THEORISTS
http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-curric.htm
Accessed October 27, 2012
Jenson, Dr. Jennifer, Critical Review and Analysis of the Issue of “Skills, Technology and Learning”:Final Report
www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/research/Jenson_Report
Accessed October 26, 2012
Graham, Robert J. (1992): Currere eand reconceptualism: the progress of the pilgrimage 1975 ‐ 1990 , Retrieved
September 29, 2012, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 24:1, 27-42
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