A Pedagogy of Holistic Media Literacy: Reflections on Culture Jamming as Transformative Learning and Healing

This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988, 1990, 2001) and self-study to investigate ways to further understand and facilitate the integration of holistic philosophies of education with media literacy pedagogies. As founder and director of the Youth Media Literacy Project and a self-titled Imagitator (one who agitates imagination), I have spent over 10 years teaching media literacy in various high schools, universities, and community centres across North America. This study will focus on my own personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1982) as a culture jammer, educator and cancer survivor to illustrate my original vision of a ‘holistic media literacy pedagogy’. This research reflects on the emergence and impact of holistic media literacy in my personal and professional life and also draws from relevant interdisciplinary literature to challenge and synthesize current insights and theories of media literacy, holistic education and culture jamming.

Keywords: media literacy
critical literacy
holistic education
culture jamming
consciousness
high school
alternative
rave
Madvertisement
Media Collective
Hodgkin's Lymphoma
qualitative research
semiotics
community center
holistic philosophy
transformation
philosophy of education
cancer survivor
school commercialism
english
alienation
public pedagogy
poetry
hip hop
underground
self-publishing
independent media
environment
internet
ecology
democratic
post-traumatic stress
hacking
holistic pedagogy
digital media
consumer culture
commercialism
graffiti
decolonize
advertising
youth marketing
sexism
embodied healing
personal professional knowledge
immune system
expression
white blood cell
street art
decolonizing
holistic pedagogy
public art
personal professional knowledge
ecology
mass media
body image
spirituality
wellness
embodied learning
embodied wisdom
awareness
relationship
meditation
visualization
communication
Billboard Liberation Front
signification
courageous vulnerability
youth
Youth Media Literacy Project
critical
Chinese Medicine
Qi Gong
holistic media literacy
obsolescence
interconnection
meta-cognitive
Kalle Lasn
transformative learning
critical viewing
critical pedagogy
integration
curriculum
teaching
subvertising
learning
positive psychology
interpretation
Megan Boler
narrative
medium
production
dancing
representation
expression
Youth Media Literacy Project
resistance
cognitive re-framing
subversion
Negativeland
reclaiming
philosophy
narrative inquiry
education
reading
alternative education
Fierce Light
students
university
No Logo
Situationists
Naomi Klein
menstruation
storytelling
experience
writing
language
emotional
physical
facebook
psychological
Guy Debord
Association for Media Literacy
grassroots
felt-sense
stories
performance
grounded authentic expression
perspective
visual culture
youtube
chemotherapy
visuality
deconstruction
women's studies
Media Education Foundation
détournement
Reclaim the Streets
movement
spectatorship
passive
medicine
social justice
arts-informed research
subway party
gratitude
guerilla
post-modern
media activism
mindshare
complex symbolic activity
CBC radio
art
Toronto
pre-service
students
oncology
fashion
healing spiral
Adbusters
sub-culture
feminism
podcast
Trevor Norris
street theater
holistic learning
medical language
inter-personal
film
David Buckingham
Renee Hobbs
training
Paulo Friere
John Dewey
political theater
Sut Jhally
Media Education Foundation
Douglas Kellner
Princess Margaret Hospital
play
Robert McChesney
Action Coalition for Media Education
Mediacs
Association for Media Literacy
Toronto District School Board
Ontario Ministry of Education
Marshall McLuhan
Susan Sontag
Jennifer Sandlin
cure
improvisation
symbolic creativity
Evolutionary Healing
Paul Willis
pop culture
media collective
Barry Duncan
Kathleen Tyner
Carly Stasko
Girls Who Bite Back
art therapy
Next Wave Cultures
zine
Imagitate the State
Intrinsik
interacting narratives
digital storytelling
technology
tactical media
public space
science
creativity
empowerment
Advisor: Miller, John P.
Megan, Boler