National educational policy for media literacy education: Media arts in the Australian curriculum

here is widespread recognition that children and young people living in post-industrial societies require educational experiences to prepare them for success in digital cultures and economies (Hague and Payton, 2010; Jenkins, 2006). In addition, the governments of most OECD countries (and beyond) have identi"ed the development of 21st century knowledge and skills, including Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as a priority for educational policy development (OECD, 2013). Despite this focus on digital education as a priority, though, few countries have recognized media literacy education as a signi"cant priority and it is seldom a mandatory curriculum requirement. Where media literacy education is supported by government, it often takes the form of courses in secondary school media studies (for instance, the United Kingdom’s GCSE elective Media Course and the GCE elective Media and Film courses); or it exists as a curriculum policy that supports Media Literacy implementation as an aspect of an existing curriculum (for instance, the media literacy and Media strands and options within Ontario, Canada’s English curriculum). Other countries such as the United States have opened the door to Media Literacy through policies such as the Common Core State Standards (NAMLE, 2016), some of which can be met through media literacy curriculum initiatives such as critical viewing and creative digital work. In many countries such as Spain (del Mar Grandío, et al., 2014), educational policy promotes generic ICTs...