Media education and citizenship: An analysis of the Quebec Preschool and Elementary Education Program
In Canada, the limited level of knowledge on media education content that is conveyed by academic curricula hinders its critical evaluation. This article presents the ways in which media education is introduced in the Quebec Education Program (QEP) at the preschool and elementary level. More specifically, it highlights the connections at work between media education, childhood and citizenship in the program. Our method tracks and extracts a set of statements related to information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the media, then conducts their automated classification into four principal categories: speech, verbs used that reflect the actions undertaken by categories of actors (school, pupils, teachers), learning objectives and suggestions. A subsequent classification allows for the emergence of verbs and learning objectives associated to the notion of citizenship. The latter are then subject to speech analysis. Our analysis intends to demonstrate the message conveyed by the QEP on media and ICTs. It highlights the roles, tasks and responsibilities of its various actors in relation to the acquisition of knowledge and skill development. In addition, it features the actions taken by these actors to operationalize the academic goals of the program. Our conclusion indicates a low subject implementation of the statements associated to media education and citizenship, relevant content, although thematically limited, along with the conception of students as capable of a reflection and critical thinking process.