To guide or to be the sage: children’s responses to varying facilitator prompts following a media literacy education curriculum in the United States

The study is a qualitative analysis of how sixth graders responded to varying homework prompts from a media literacy education curriculum that focused on the prevalence of media violence and gender stereotypes in media. Textual analyses with constant comparisons suggested that students’ engagement with critical thinking differed across the prompts provided by the media literacy facilitators primarily in their responses to the question about the production and distribution of violent media. Compared to students who received the prompt that referenced both the entertainment and problematic aspects of the production/circulation of violent content, students who received the unfavorable prompt or no prompt at all were more likely to demonstrate richer thinking and go beyond mere description to discuss potential implications of media violence for audiences and/or consider the profit-seeking aspect of the media industries.