Digitization: What Is Political Media Literacy

Politics

Questions about political media competence are becoming increasingly important.

Digitization as a methodological and content-related challenge for critical political education

Digitization must be designed as a major social transformation. Within this framework, there are numerous opportunities for political education to open up new perspectives through offers to increase political media competence.

It is important to take up current developments for and with educators and participants in educational offers. Educators and participants need to discuss them and make them understandable with regard to their importance for democratic processes. In terms of a democratic community, it is important that as many people as possible.

People can participate in shaping this transformation and be able to recognize and evaluate the relevance of emerging questions to their own lives. It is not just about imparting knowledge and skills that enable participation. It is also in particular about raising awareness of structural exclusion mechanisms and discrimination in order to overcome them in the long term and sustainably.

You can impart political knowledge through visualization using images.

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Political education with digital media

For political educators and teachers, the progressive digitization of society means a change in their canon of methods and the basic setting of educational situations. Digital media are not only used privately but also in learning contexts. The learners are also confronted with settings that did not exist just a few years ago. While this is apparently self-evident and therefore supposedly easier for young learners, people who have been involved in educational systems for a longer period of time are faced with new challenges. In summary, both teaching and learning habits and needs are changing overall.

Politics-related media literacy

Formal and informal politics, explicitly the different components and phases of political processes, have also changed significantly in the course of digitization. Numerous digital elements have found their way into the work of parties, associations and initiatives. According to studies, informal digital engagement is becoming more and more important without completely replacing other forms of political participation. Digital media enable a high degree of “simultaneity” of the most diverse information and formats. In addition, it leads to an amount of data that you cannot record in its entirety.

Political education in schools

Politics

Enabling young people to participate in society in a self-determined manner, to actively and responsibly help shape democracy – that is the main goal of political education in schools. They should learn to take responsibility for themselves and others, for nature and the environment. They should meet people of different origins and convictions without prejudice, get to know the values ​​of different cultures, and stand up for peaceful, non-discriminatory coexistence.

Political education more important than ever

In view of the current political and social mood, political education is more important than ever. Because the general political weather situation – nationally and internationally – is characterized by turbulence. You see how one can win people over with blunt xenophobia and the targeted use of fake news, that political parties, whose attitude to liberal democracy can be argued about, achieve enormous gains in elections. That should make you think. Because the past teaches you, just like a look over the fence, that democracies are often successively eroding without being noticed by many.

Education for democracy

Political education, especially education for democracy should start with the social reality and the concrete everyday reality of young people. It should be imparting knowledge about the values ​​and norms on which it is based. It should, at the same time, be education through democracy, and schools and lessons should become a space of lived democracy, in which everyone can exercise the right to democratic participation, in which free and equal – but also different in their interests and identities – recognize each other. And it should be education for democracy, empower people to realize their own rights and stand up for the rights of others, resolve conflicts peacefully, and find compromises. Just like businesses such as carcover.com must enjoy their rights in managing their businesses.

In order for civic education to achieve all of this, it must be given sufficient space in everyday school life. It has to be up to date, use new communication media, social networks, and innovative formats in order to appeal to the students and not be perceived as out of date. Furthermore, political education must not be perceived as an appendix, as a “nice to have” in school, but should represent a fundamental component of school education, teacher training, and school development.