Political Literacy & Media Literacy
Our Approach
We are on a mission to safeguard and amplify democracy by ensuring Political and Media Literacy education is as widespread as possible, and available to all young people, regardless of their socio-economic background, ethnicity, or gender.
In a time of rising political inequality, our goal is to build young people’s understanding of the world around them, help them see how politics affects their wellbeing and how they can be the most powerful voice of change in our society.
The Missing Link Report
In 2021, Shout Out UK and Dr James Weinberg released a report titled ‘The Missing Link’, which examined the state of democratic education (i.e. the teaching of politics and political literacy in all forms) in English schools. The report concludes that democratic education exists as a peripheral feature of secondary education in England and is being delivered by non-specialists who neither feel prepared to teach it nor favour appropriate pedagogic practices.
Political Literacy Day
For the past two years, Shout Out UK has celebrated Political Literacy Day. This is a day where we discuss the current provisions of political literacy and think about solutions to improving the current quality and quantity of democratic education in England.
Shout Out UK is also the secretariat of the APPG on Political Literacy, which you can find out more about here.
Our Services
Youth programme
Shout Out UK’s bespoke Political Literacy course for young people teaches participants about the bear bone basics of how our democracy functions, along with the critical thinking skills to make informed decisions. They will learn:
- Local, regional, devolved and national institutions.
- Our voting system and new electoral changes.
- International Relations and institutions.
- Media Literacy (how to critically analyse the media and deal with misinformation).
- Employability skills (debating and public speaking).
This course empowers participants to understand how our democracy functions and how to critically engaged with the information they received.
Train-the-trainer (CPD) course: Teaching political and media literacy
Shout Out UK’s CPD course in Political Literacy helps you provide the next generation with the skills and knowledge required to engage with our democracy.
Whatever subject you teach, it is imperative that you are able to grapple with controversial issues and can interact with young people on issues that will affect them.
Be prepared to guide your young people to understand the political system they are a part of, and ensure that they are equipped with the tools needed to become critically engaged digital citizens.
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