Mindful Approaches to Media Literacy

A major challenge surrounding misinformation is how emotionally-charged the topic can be, with misinformation itself often designed to provoke strong emotional reactions in readers, or to sow division and heighten controversy. Addressing misinformation in a classroom often involves navigating controversial or polarizing topics. One approach to empowering students with the media literacy skills they need to deal with challenges posed by misinformation is to help students reflect critically on their own media consumption habits. And mindfulness education and social emotional learning can yield some interesting ideas, principles, and approaches that can be used to help students navigate the emotional currents of misinformation and to develop self-awareness and critical reflection skills that can help empower them as savvy consumers of media. In this session, participants will explore ways in which principles and ideas from mindfulness and social emotional learning can inform approaches to media literacy education, with a focus on strategies and approaches that can encourage learners to reflect and be more self-aware in their media consumption habits. This session will also considers ways in which mindfulness principles can be used to help learners tackle challenges associated with misinformation, which often tries to provoke an emotional reaction. This session will use a blend of discussion, activities, and small and large group collaborations to engage participants. The main goal is to have participants leave with clear next steps and action plans that they can take back to their home institution in order to try out new ideas and approaches to this topic