Changing Paradigms in Media Education: From Literacy Towards an Environmental Approach?

The aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical reflection on the relevance of the construct of “media literacy”. Over the last few decades, it has come to dominate and has become synonymous with “media education” and “digital education”. We know, however, that it is only a partial synonym, since it expresses only one specific way of understanding media education. Therefore, we will show that current media education is no longer represented by this term, as the words and concepts of both media and media education have changed in the last decade. Finally, we will show how another paradigm, based on the metaphors of environment and environmental education, can better explain today’s media literacy phenomena than “literacy”.