ABSTRACT
For this critical inquiry, the overarching goal is framed along the pedagogical imperative of surfacing the counterpoints and countercurrents in the rendering and representation of development discourses in the textbook task section of media and information literacy instructional materials. In making perceptive sense of this type of didactic media, the researcher worked on the fundamental assumption that textbook tasks “provide the terrain where meaning is shaped” (Hall, 1973, as cited in Griffin, 1991, p. 312) and, more compellingly, where the discursive intentions of the text producers (i.e., textbook authors) are expressed, enacted, and even questioned. Along this line, the textbook task section serves as a critical and potentially a transformative component of the ideological and discursive landscape. Embodied in the authors’ social mediation in the textbook tasks are converging and diverging discourses in apprehending the word (i.e., text) and the social world (i.e., context). By employing critical discourse analysis that interrogated the textual, processual and contextual dimensions, this study specifically sought to unravel and examine the counter-discourses about the material/nonmaterial realities of development/underdevelopment in various but interconnected realms of mainstream economy, politics, media, communication, and culture. Based on this research, among the alternative discourses that emerged from the thematic analysis are those that concern and revolve around (1) political values and ideologies, (2) ethical choices and practices, (3) development challenges and issues, and (4) strategic approaches and interventions which altogether complementarily contribute to the advancement of media freedom, pedagogical reform, and development justice.
KEY WORDS
Counter-Discourses. Critical Media Literacy. Critical Discourse Analysis. Media Literacy Education. Political Economy. Pedagogical Reform. Textbook Industry.