Teaching students to be critically engaged consumers of information:

Evaluating for truthfulness and usefulness

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Teachers need to first be aware and alert to the hidden curriculum, and the need to be able to recognise it behind all media (Horn, 2003). Information and media literacy is vital for teachers as well as students. As Horn concludes, “critical awareness through media literacy can be liberating. Through awareness, choice becomes a possibility. Through awareness, individuals can be stronger and more effective advocates for themselves and others. Through awareness and media literacy, critically informed decisions can be made about the curriculum that is attached to all media representations” (2003, p. 300, emphasis added).

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In the age of information, these skills have become more and more urgent. Harvey and Daniels (2015) state, in the context of inquiry but also more generally, that “[o]ur job as teachers is [to] teach kids how to find information they can trust online” (p. 88). I would add that our job as teacher-librarians is to lead and support both teachers and students in this process.

 

Explicit instruction in critical evaluation of sources is necessary; teachers can not assume that their students will simply pick these skills up along the way, or in some other class. There are applications to every subject, including math! For example, the article “Fake News: How Bad Data and Misleading Graphs are Fueling Fake News” (Stoffers & Hackett, 2017) specifically has clear and relevant connections to Grade 6 and 7 math standards in statistics. Teachers can add awareness of source evaluation into their lessons in little and regular ways, too, such as modelling their thinking on how they knew a site was credible when first using it in a lesson.

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Students need to know how to sift through the many to find the few most useful to them, being credible, reliable, current, accurate, unbiased, and appropriate for their specific needs. Information is everywhere, and when students know how to appropriately question and evaluate the information they receive, that fact is no longer threatening. 

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References

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Harvey, S., & Daniels, H. (2015). Comprehension & collaboration: Inquiry circles for curiosity, engagement, and understanding, Revised Ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Horn, R. A., Jr. (2003). Developing a critical awareness of the hidden curriculum through media literacy. The Clearing House, 76(6), 298-300.

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Stoffers, C., & Hackett, J. (2017, September 25). Fake News: How Bad Data and Misleading Graphs are Fueling Fake News. Scholastic Math, 30(2), 8-11. Retrieved from https://math.scholastic.com/issues/2017-18/092517/fake-news-fake-data.html

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