Media Literacy Conceptualisations in Irish Higher Education : A Phenomenographic Analysis of Media Lecturers’ Accounts

Donnelly, Aisling and Ashwin, Paul (2026) Media Literacy Conceptualisations in Irish Higher Education : A Phenomenographic Analysis of Media Lecturers’ Accounts. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis centres on university-level media literacy (ML) and explores qualitative variation in the ML and ML teaching accounts of media educators in Irish higher educational institutions. It transcends terminological debate and conceptual complexities by advancing an alternative understanding of ML and its instruction, whereby lecturers’ conceptions are constituted in terms of expanding and structurally related dimensions of awareness. The outcomes are based on a phenomenographic analysis of interviews with 19 media educators and present four qualitatively distinct ways in which participants described ML. The hierarchically inclusive descriptive categories portray ML as: (1) media understanding, (2) practical task engagement, (3) critical analysis and (4) change and contribution. The categories are constituted along themes of expanding awareness, ranging from generalised media knowledge and conceptual/industry understanding to consideration of the civic and societal implications of media. Structurally, an inward-to-outward shift is apparent, thematised as expanding from a ‘self’ to ‘industry’ to ‘society’ orientation. In terms of teaching ML, four further qualitatively different and hierarchically inclusive categories were generated. They reflect ML teaching as: (1) building media knowledge among learners, (2) cultivating students’ critical skills, (3) facilitating considered debate and (4) enabling transformation. The findings also furnish insight into the relationship between media educators’ perceptions of their own role and the intended outcomes of teaching ML. The study is significant in moving beyond the long-standing tensions and definitional ambiguities surrounding ML and is timely given the emphasis on ML in navigating an increasingly complex media and information environment. The findings embrace and critically map variation in how educators at the forefront of university media education describe ML and its teaching, highlighting how diverse perspectives can holistically coexist. They also affirm ML’s lifelong significance and transformative potential whilst acknowledging the complexities of teaching it. The findings extend ML research into Irish higher education, offering insights and understandings which are informative in the design and delivery of MLE, particularly across university settings.