Abstract
In the western world, the public sphere and the institutions of the nation-states, such as mass media and education, promote the dominant discourse of nationalism and homogeneity, while the discourse of democracy, i.e. freedom and equality, is underestimated. For the re-introduction of the term democracy in education, as an alternative civic pluralism, we strongly believe in the students’ self-governance, in their participation, in their continually negotiating differences and in their problem-solving capacity. Drawing upon the perspective of Kalantzis and Cope, we argue the appropriateness of the transformative education and we follow the multiliteracies model. In this context, our teaching proposal could help the students to explore the (re)production of the dominant discourse of nationalism through the stigmatization and the humorous representation of the Albanian migrants in Greek television. Our data come from the recent and popular Greek series «In-laws from Tirana» (Simpetheroi apo ta Tirana), displayed on Mega Channel during 2021-2022. Our tentative proposals are designed to raise students’ critical literacy by enhancing them to identify and reflect on the language and cultural homogeneity in media texts. This teaching procedure could help the students to be aware of the inequalities reproduced and could enable them to build a more democratic identity, as future citizens. This kind of education attempts to develop active social learners and proponents of equality, rather than passive recipients of the institutional inequalities. So, the critical education is a political process with democracy at its core.
Presenters
Anna FterniatiProfessor, Department of Education Sciences and Social Work, University of Patras, Achaïa, Greece Christos Alexopoulos
Teacher, Primary School, Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Achaïa, Greece Vasia Tsami
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Patras, Greece
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus: Intercultural Learning in Plurilingual Contexts
KEYWORDS
Literacies, Multiliteracies, Democracy, Equality, Migrants, Media
