Migrant Youth Identity in Post-Referendum Scotland Perspectives on youth and media: participation and engagement Dr Mandy Powell

A question of literacy? “what it means to think of literacy as social practice... the recognition of multiple literacies, varying according to time and space, but also contested in relations of power... problematising what counts as literacy at any time and place and asking “whose literacies” are dominant and whose are marginalised or resistant” (Street, 1985) “a broader notion of literacy – a notion which is concerned with cultural and communicative competencies, irrespective of the medium in which they are exercised... a view of literacy which sees it in social, cultural and political terms, and not simply as a set of technical or intellectual skills” (Buckingham, 1993)

Why does it matter?  media education: cultural, critical and creative  new literacies: knowledge generated through everyday participation in communities  media policy: Communications Act 2003, BBC Charter 2016  media and information literacy: citizenship  European Commission & UNESCO

What is media literacy? “the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts” (Ofcom, 2003) “the ability to access, analyse, evaluate and create messages across a variety of contexts” (Livingstone et al, 2004) from access/use “to include more of the ‘understand’ and ‘create’ skills” (BBC, 2013)

Developing Media Literacy: towards a model of learning progression (RES )  critical understanding, creative activity and cultural diversity  how does knowledge relate to experience?  what counts as valid or legitimate knowledge?  how are desirable exchange rates negotiated?  critical analysis (reading) and creative production (writing)  what tools are needed to make meaning across modes and media and how are these impacted by social and cultural identities?

Questions & Methods  what might we expect young people to be capable of understanding about media?  how does media literacy as cultural practice relate to social and cultural identity?  5-16 year olds tracked over three years in two contrasting settings  four themes: language, representations, audiences & institutions  four operational contexts: film, celebrity, social media & news

Culture, criticality & creativity  everyday cultural practices and experiences in the constellations of communities with which young people participate  developing a broad understanding of the social, political & economic dimensions of media through dialogues of enquiry  developing opportunities for young people to communicate with audiences both within and beyond their ‘core’ communities

Developing new literacies for participation and engagement: boundary crossing  everyday informal media practices and cultures: resource for making connections with constellations of communities  beyond platform and form: important insights into experience offered through full range of communicative modes eg image and sound as well as text  beyond digital natives: critical and creative analytical and production skills (reading and writing) need to be supported by policy  beyond citizenship: authentic cultural production contexts matters

Social justice, equality and diversity: what are the barriers?  over-simplified media representations make it difficult to engage with individual experiences and practices and participate beyond situated communities  socio-cultural assets often regarded as deficits and either hidden or misrecognised or the exchange value is perceived as undesirable (boundary-crossing)  cultural hierarchies prevail: the sacred and the profane?

marginalised (ie under-represented socio-cultural groups) young people’s ‘situated’ knowledges and practices and their capacity to participate using different communicative modes (ie across platforms and forms) is a societal resource routinely misunderstood and overlooked

What do we know about youth media literacy in post-referendum Scotland?  what is the potential of media (articulated simultaneously as texts and technologies) for social justice, equality and diversity?  what are the implications for research, education, industry and policy?