Critical news assessment by montessori, steiner and traditional students

Children’s critical media assessment which involves “ ability to access, analyse, evaluate and create messages across a variety of forms” (Aufderheide 1993, p. xx ) became one of the big debate for scholars. According to Hobbs (2004) noted that children’s critical media literacy has a crucial role in education system. Critical media literacy are defined as “ the ability to reflect on the pleasures derived from massmedia and popular culture practices (e. g. radio, TV, video, movies, SDs, the internet, gang graffiti, and cyberpunk culture); the ability to choose selective among popular culture icons.” (Hobbs, 2004, p. 194). Hobbs noted that critical media literacy is widely used in cultural studies and it addresses questions such as “ who does this text address trough its words, images and sounds? Who is absent in this text, and what might explain that absence? Whose interests are served in this text? How am I positioned by it”?(p. 195)

Elizabeth Thoman and Tessa Jolls (2004)argued importance of teaching critical media analysis at school and noted that “ media literacy education provides framework and a pedagogy for the new literacy needed for living, working, and citizenship in the 21st century”. (p. 18). They noted that “ today, information about the world around us comes to us not only by words on a piece of paper but also, more and more, through the powerful images and sounds of our multimedia culture”. (p. 18).

Developing critical media assessment to young children at school is crucial process but still educators have different opinions about, According to Hobbs (2004) argued that “ educators have diverse and conflicting perspectives about the mass media. Most have a love-hate relationship with the mass media that is complex and multi-dimensional, which shapes their instructional practices in the classroom” (p. 43).

In fact today’s technological era everyday increases children’s internet use and their social media consumption. Social Media Networking Sites (SNS), such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram become very popular in young children age(Sampasa-Kanyinga, Rosamund F. Lewis 2015 ). According to Leslie Haddon and Sonja Livinhstone (2012) EU kids online reported that 60% of age 9-16 year olds children’s internet usage are almost every day. In activities and skills study showed that 59% of 9-16 year olds have a social networking profiles.

On the other study of Kleemans M, N. H. de Leeuw, Gerritsen J. & Buijzen M. (2017) found that in age 8-12 children are interested in to read news, moreover in this age children are able to differentiate negative and positive news.

Since children’s news critical media assessment among young children becomes important task for educators and scholars and on the other hand increases interest towards different study of educations such as Montessori and Steiner which suggest different approach of education methods and focuses on child’s individual development this paper will argue if different study of education methods have an impact on children’s critical assessment of news on social media such as Facebook.