The Relationship between Prospective Teachers’ Media and Television Literacy and Their Critical Thinking Dispositions

Year 2016, Volume: 16 Issue: 63, 0 - 0, 15.04.2016

Birsel Aybek

Abstract

Problem Statement: Teachers play a significant role in shaping students on
media literacy and critical thinking. Hence, prospective teachers are
required to gain knowledge about media literacy and critical thinking
during pre-service training. Provided that prospective teachers who will
shape the next generation possess such skills as accessing to knowledge,
examining knowledge with a critical perspective and discerning what is
good and what is bad, they will be able to guide students to acquire these
skills. On this subject, the present study investigated a small number of
studies that examine the relationship between media literacy and critical
thinking.
Purpose of the Study: The aim of the present study is to analyze the
relationship between prospective teachers’ media and television literacy
levels and their critical thinking dispositions.
Method: The research used relational screening models. The sample of the
research consisted of 166 prospective teachers studying teacher training
course at one of Turkey’s state universities. The study’s research analysis
utilized descriptive statistics, MANOVA and Pearson product-moment
correlation.
Findings and Results: The current study found that critical thinking
dispositions as well as their media and television literacy differ significantly
depending on their gender and major. A medium level positive relationship
was revealed between prospective teachers’ general critical thinking
disposition scores and the media and television literacy scale literacy subdimension,
while there is a low level positive relationship exists between
critical thinking and the addiction sub-dimension. 

Recommendations: Based on the study’s findings, the following recommendations are provided: given prospective teachers’ low critical thinking disposition scores, it is important that higher education curricula be designed for the development of critical thinking skills; moreover, various measures should be taken that aim to provide the appropriate equipment and psychological environment to develop these skills. The present study determined that there is a medium level positive relationship between prospective teachers’ general critical thinking disposition scores and the media and television literacy scale literacy sub-dimension; this relationship between media literacy and critical thinking can be further investigated through different sample groups and different measurement tools.
Keywords: Prospective teachers, thinking, critical thinking, media and television literacy