Learning and teaching media literacy in Canada: embracing and transcending eclecticism

Because of the small number of trained teachers, the majority use only snippets from a variety of sources: a few quotes from McLuhan, English studies, a diatribe from Neil Postman, a bit of Noam Chomsky, and the rest culled from resource guides, mass media text books, articles, television documentaries and news programs. Teacher-led networks such as the Canadian Association for Screen Education (CASE, founded in 1968), the Association for Media Literacy (AML, 1978), and the C anadian Association of Media Education Organizations ( C AMEO, 1992 ) have impacted directly on educational practice, and have seen through a variety of outcomes: almost every province has at least some provincially mandated curriculum requirement in media literacy; thousands of teachers across the country have been exposed to some form of professional development in media literacy; Media Awareness Network (MNet), a non-profit clearinghouse for media literacy materi- als (www.media-awareness.ca) has been established; up-to-date Canadian research on media literacy has been undertaken by teacher activists, university scholars, and non-profit organizations (Canadian Teachers Federation [CTF], Vanier Institute for the Family, and MNet); major international conferences have been organized here in Canada (New Literacy Conference, 1990; Constructing Culture Conference, 1992; Summit, 2000); and many thousands of high school and elementary students have been exposed to at least some instruction in media literacy.