Study Of Media Literacy Education In Britain

Media literacy and media literacy education have obtained great concern in western states, it is not only be studied profoundly in academy, but also been very well practiced and developed with the support of government, schools and social communities. From an aspect of improving the citizen literacy in the information age, many states have had the media literacy been included into the primary to university education, and gave great support to national education system. The media literacy education is still at the beginning in China now; it is not included in the primary and secondary school classes. Britain was the first state which brought the media literacy education into the education system. After years development, rich experience has been gathered in theory, practice and evaluation system. Those experience could be a guide for us to improve and develop the media literacy education in primary and secondary schools in China.The whole thesis includes5chapters.In the first chapter, the reason and the structure for this study were described in chapter one. After clarified the importance of media education, the researcher divided the media education in the UK into three parts:media literacy and education, media theory and policy, and media education practice. In chapter two, the study probed the media literacy and education to clarify the purpose and the content between them. Then the researcher considered the media education as the way to cultivate media literacy. In chapter three, the study provided a historical review of media education in the UK. Three phases of media education were classified into the inoculation approach, the discrimination approach, and the demystification approach. Media education in the UK had influenced by the theory of Elitism, Cultural Studies, Semiotics, Ideology, the concept of hegemony, and the social contexts of media production and consumption. In chapter four, the researcher tried to describe the role of media education from the education policies in UK. For example, in the Nation Curriculum, the media education was infused into English curriculum. The government also cooperated with private organization to develop teaching materials for teachers and students. The administration support, curriculum development and designs, strategies of teaching, and the assessment were discussed delicately. In chapter five, the researcher criticized the media education in the UK and summed up some results to inspire the media education in China. Finally, there were four conclusions:1.the theory induced the development and practice of the media education;2.the media education policies needed to be supported by well-planned consideration;3.the curriculum development and practice needed to correspond with the aims and spirit of media education;4. well-structured teacher training system was definitely important to be built. Rethinking and suggestions on the media literacy education in China would be given at the end.