Empowering Students and Families through Digital Citizenship and Critical Media Literacy at West Hollywood Elementary

By Nelida Thomatis, Instructional Technology Facilitator, and Elizabeth Lehmann, Ph.D., Principal at West Hollywood Elementary, Fairfax Community of Schools, Local District West, Board District 4

The war in Ukraine and Russia is causing major impacts throughout the world. One in particular is the part social media has been playing in terms of dis/misinformation and the challenges this creates for teachers, students, parents, and other members of school communities. Concerns over the physical and mental safety of students and family members affected by the war have brought about the need to focus on best practices for digital citizenship and critical media literacy. The L.A. Unified Board of Education passed Board Resolution 015-20/21 to require critical media literacy instruction, beginning with the 2021-22 school year.

Digital Citizenship and Critical Media Literacy

On October 22, 2021, Principal Lehmann co-presented the activities and lessons students, teachers, and families participated in during Digital Citizenship Week, focusing on the five DigCitCommit Competencies. The DigCitCommit competencies are a proactive approach to prepare students to solve problems and become a force for good. They shift the conversation from one of fear and negativity (don’ts) to one of inclusivity, empathy, and action (do’s). The informed competency teaches students to engage in critical media literacy as students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, and validity of digital media and social posts. To be informed, digital citizens must develop critical skills of curating information from the digital world.

The Critical Media Literacy Framework provides conceptual understandings and guiding questions that teachers can use to help all students and their families engage with media culture, texts, message, and images in ways that cultivate empowered digital citizens.

Jeff Share, Ph.D. from the School of Education and Information Studies at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and its Critical Media Literacy Research Guide published a definition of critical media literacy that was written collaboratively by the steering committee of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, held from October 15 to 17, 2021:

“The goal of critical media literacy is to engage with media through critically examining representations, systems, structures, ideologies, and power dynamics that shape and reproduce culture and society. It is an inquiry-based process for analyzing and creating media by interrogating the relationships between power and knowledge. Critical media literacy is a dialogical process for social and environmental justice that incorporates Paulo Freire’s (1970) notion of praxis, ‘reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it’ (p. 36). This pedagogical project questions representations of class, gender, race, sexuality and other forms of identity and challenges media messages that reproduce oppression and discrimination. It celebrates positive representations and beneficial aspects of media while challenging problems and negative consequences, recognizing media are never neutral. Critical media literacy is a transformative pedagogy for developing and empowering critical, caring, nurturing, and conscientious people.”

The conceptual understandings and questions guide students to become digital citizens with the literacy skills to effectively and thoughtfully use the digital tools that are now the primary means of media creation. Each conceptual understanding aligns to a question that helps students think critically. For example, the Social Constructivism conceptual understanding aligns with the following question:

• 1. Social Constructivism: All information is co-constructed by individuals and/or groups of people who make choices within social contexts.
  Question: WHO are all the possible people who made choices that helped create this text?

The conceptual understandings and questions help students learn to think critically about the news and media they encounter every day. By utilizing the Critical Media Literacy Framework, teachers and students are better able to demonstrate the ability to identify, evaluate, and use information effectively, find credible and trustworthy sources, and give proper credit. The Critical Media Literacy Framework also helps learners recognize how individuals and society are influenced by the media and the misrepresentations and stereotypes they sometimes promote. As effective digital citizens, students can use the Critical Media Literacy Framework to support how they reflect on their responsibilities and rights as creators in the online spaces where they consume, create, and share information.

L.A. Unified Board of Education Requires Critical Media Literacy Instruction

The spread of disinformation on social media is not something new. Last year, shortly after the insurrection of the capitol building in Washington D.C., the LAUSD Board of Education recognized this as a key issue. On March 9, 2021, the Board of Education unanimously voted and approved Resolution 015-20/21 on Critical Media Literacy. In a news post published on Boardmember Jackie Goldberg’s website the following day, various board members commented on this important issue:

“Bombarded by misinformation posing as fact on social media, television, radio, and in publications,” Board Member Jackie Goldberg, who sponsored the resolution, said, “our students need to use their critical thinking skills to determine what to believe.”

“In light of recent and evolving and contentious political developments in our nation and misinformation spread by news outlets, social media platforms, and even local electoral campaigns, now more than ever our students need to be educated so they can differentiate fact from fiction,” Board Member Scott M. Schmerelson, a co-sponsor, said.

This landmark resolution made it so that critical media literacy instruction for students in first through twelfth grades would begin with the 2021-22 school year. On February 24, 2022, the Board of Education's Curriculum and Instruction Committee held a meeting to continue the discussion about the need for critical media literacy in our school district and what this instruction looks like across all grade levels. Professor Jeff Share presented an overview of critical media literacy to the committee.

Doctor Share referred to the Critical Media Literacy Framework and stated:

“[The] framework is really key. The better that teachers can become familiar with these conceptual understanding, the better they’ll be able to integrate this into whatever it is they’re teaching. It’s not about getting people to start teaching brand new lessons they’ve never taught before. More than anything, it’s getting them to rethink: What is it you’re already doing? What are the lessons that you have? How can you now bring these deeper critical thinking skills into that lesson for whatever you’re teaching and do it through this inquiry process where your students are asking the questions, and they’re the ones coming to the understanding about these ideas on the left.”

Also at this meeting, key points from the Spring 2021 teacher and student panels held on ​​May 13, 2021 were shown. During these panels, teachers and students from different grade levels and across the district shared example lessons and projects that implement and integrated critical media literacy.

In Board Member Jackie Goldberg’s March 2022 Newsletter, she wrote and reflected on the recent Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting:

“Young people today are bombarded by lies disguised as facts. False information appearing real on TV, radio, social media, and in publications makes people feel less safe, confused, and even more hostile. One powerful remedy is teaching kids the critical thinking skills needed to help determine fact from fiction. Developing the ability to spot misinformation and find the truth is foundational to sustaining a healthy democracy. Students at every grade level are learning how to:

• Question advertising
• Recognize disinformation in what they read and watch
• Understand why false information is disseminated
• See how media influences behavior and society

At the recent Curriculum and Instruction Committee, I met with teachers, administrators, and topical experts from UCLA. We see that media literacy instruction develops overall critical thinking skills needed for sound decision-making. As students learn to ‘decode’ the media, they prepare themselves to be meaningful contributors to public discourse and the guardians of a free, well-functioning democratic society.”

Implementing Digital Citizenship and Critical Media Literacy at West Hollywood Elementary

At West Hollywood Elementary, teachers across grade levels implement a curriculum aligned to the ISTE Standards for Students that is developmentally appropriate to support the instruction of digital citizenship and critical media literacy. Having been an L.A. Unified Practitioner School for multiple years, West Hollywood Elementary has been ahead of the game in this aspect. As a Common Sense Certified School, West Hollywood Elementary educators have empowered their students to cultivate and manage their digital identities and reputations. Students utilize platforms such as Schoology, code.org, Scratch, and Minecraft Education Edition and are aware of the permanence of their actions on these platforms in the digital world, in alignment with ISTE Standard for Students - Digital Citizenship 1.2.a. Students’ families are partners and support their children to creatively communicate on these platforms.

During 2020’s Digital Citizenship Week, first grade teacher Ms. McCormack and her students collaborated to create a video about how they’ve enjoyed the Common Sense Education digital citizenship lessons, reflecting about how they can “Pause & Think Online” to think with your head, balance with your arms, listen to your gut, stand up with your legs, make good tracks with your feet, and feel with your heart.

Board Member Nick Melvoin spoke with West Hollywood students about being balanced digital citizens and spending time online and offline. Students engage in positive and safe behavior when using technology and devices, in alignment with ISTE Standard for Students - Digital Citizenship 1.2.b.

At West Hollywood Elementary, around 25 students and their families are of Russian and/or Ukrainian origin. To foster Digital Citizenship, support the mental well-being of students and their families, and spread valid and useful information, a parent workshop was held on March 8, 2022 titled “Global Digital Citizenship: Discussion, Resources, and Student Social Media Management during the Ukraine-Russia Conflict” facilitated by Principal Dr. Elizabeth Lehmann, School Psychologist Sarah Bennett, and Instructional Technology Facilitator Nelida Thomatis.

During the workshop, Ms. Bennett provided mental health resources and answered questions related to coping and warning signs. Common Sense Media resources were shared to support parents with monitoring devices, apps, and social media accounts. These included the Parents’ Ultimate Guides for popular apps and websites and the Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Parental Controls. Links to the LAUSD’s Wellness Centers, and city services like 211 LA and the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs were also given. Communicating and working closely with experts and city services has enabled West Hollywood Elementary to have a greater impact on the community.

In addition, Ms. Thomatis shared K–5 Common Sense Education lessons teachers utilized on Nearpod that are related to media literacy and digital citizenship.

To support their learning around Digital Citizenship, West Hollywood Elementary teachers have attended the following professional development sessions offered through ITI, available through MyPLN (Keyword: ITI):

• Digital Presence with Purpose: In this two-hour session, learners will receive guidance on curating a digital presence with purpose that is aligned to District policy and the District’s digital citizenship definition. Participants will explore promising practices from experts who have successfully managed digital engagement communities.
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Digital Citizen: Learners will gain an understanding that being a good digital citizen is more than knowing your way around the web. This course is about understanding how to prepare students to make purposeful, smart, and ethical decisions in our digital world.
• ITI Reaching Beyond the Classroom - Digital Citizen (Asynchronous Self-Paced): This course is designed to support educators in preparing to engage with learners that need to be empowered to thrive in an increasingly evolving technological landscape. Through a variety of activities, this course will provide opportunities to learn L.A. Unified’s definition of Digital Citizenship, the District’s policies, and best practices around engaging in digital learning environments, as well as provide a wealth of teaching and learning resources that educators can put into practice immediately.

In conclusion, critical media literacy and digital citizenship are interconnected. Critical media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, develop, produce, and interpret media and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship. Now more than ever, we need to share the importance of digital citizenship with our students, families, and communities. World conflicts, news, and interests will continue to be discussed and spread via media. Whether it be related to an insurrection, pandemic, war, or the latest tech gadget, as educators, we have a responsibility to help cultivate effective digital citizens. All students need digital citizenship and critical media literacy skills to participate fully in their communities and make smart choices online and in life.