'De-Americanizing' News Literacy: Using Local Media Examples to Teach Critical Thinking to Students in Different Socio-cultural Environments

Abstract

This commentary explains how a curriculum using news media to teach critical thinking that was developed at an American university is being adapted for non-American university settings, particularly in Asia. The authors explain the importance of focusing on key course concepts and of finding and applying local media examples to illustrate those concepts and, most importantly, to keep the students actively engaged. Early results indicate that this approach can succeed, though it does require a great deal of effort developing examples that clearly illustrate the course concepts and, at the same time, are fresh and relevant to the students.