Allison Butler Publishes New Book on Educating Media Literacy

Allison Butler, senior lecturer and chief undergraduate advisor for the department of communication and director of the media literacy certificate program, has published a new book.

Titled “Educating Media Literacy,” Butler's book is a manifesto for the inclusion of media literacy in teacher education and, by extension, in K–12 classrooms. Through a discussion of critical media literacy's aims and the role of teacher education in the United States, this book argues for the inclusion of critical media literacy in teacher education.

Addressing teacher education and media literacy as two separate but related topics, "Educating Media Literacy" explores how the U.S. struggles simultaneously with best practices for training and retaining prospective teachers and ways to foster a better understanding of mainstream media. These two struggles can join forces and move towards a solution through the inclusion of critical media literacy in teacher education programs.

Butler's research is focused on comprehensive media literacy, particularly integrating media literacy into the primary and secondary school classroom. Prior to “Educating Media Literacy,” Butler published two books on the implications of integrating media literacy in the curriculum, “Media Literacy Goes to School" and "Majoring in Change.”