Medie- och informationskunnighet är mer än bara källkritik och tekniskt kunnande. Vilka behov är det som behöver mötas och hur?

Abstract

The same day as the invasion of Ukraine started, the two biggest TVnews channels in Sweden and the prime minister pointed out the problem with source criticism of media and that it is difficult to know what a reliable source is and why it is very important to be critical (SVT, 2022; TV4, 2022). This article dwells on source criticism in mainly digital media within the school subject of civics, both as a problematizing text and as a discussion. The discussion has its basis in two studies. One is a study from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate that originates from an audit of the teaching of source criticism within civics classes, mainly in regards to digital media and where there is a criticism towards the content and teaching of the subject. The other study is a study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that was published in May 2021. It is a PISA study where it was noted that 15 year old pupils all over the world had difficulties in sorting facts from opinions in digital media. The Nordic Countries were ranked high, despite only around 50 percent of the pupils managing to differ between fact and opinion. The two studies are then brought up in conjunction with previous research, which mainly focuses on the teaching of source criticism within civic classes and the mediatization process that is ongoing in society, and which forms the basis for the discussion. Based on the problematization it is evident that there is a strong need to increase the knowledge of media and information among pupils, if they are to be brought up as citizens in a democracy. The three main questions are therefore, what kind of MIL do the pupils have and do the teachers in the schools have the opportunity to further their education to a required level and is it reasonable that student teachers in the subjects they are training for should also have time to educate themselves sufficiently in Media and information literacy to be able to strengthen the pupils MIK?