Leadership for a Digital Age: Whole-School Strategies to Enhance Media Literacy for All Students

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-599-7_20How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Whole-School Approach; Media Literacy; Age-Appropriate Learning; School Leadership

Abstract

This study addresses the challenge of fostering media literacy in schools as a set of human capabilities that supports both overall development and digital competence. While existing frameworks such as DigComp provide structured competence goals, they offer limited guidance on how these competences can be developed in age-appropriate ways and implemented effectively within school organisations. To address this gap, the study combines three perspectives: competence-based approaches to media literacy, a developmental model emphasising age-appropriate sequencing, and a Whole School Approach (WSA) focusing on systemic implementation.

The proposed framework conceptualises media literacy as a long-term developmental process, guided by principles such as prioritising analogue experiences before digital engagement and active, creative use before passive consumption. It operationalises implementation through a Whole School Approach that integrates leadership, learning processes, school culture, staff development, and community engagement. In doing so, the study offers a coherent model that links what media literacy entails, when it should be developed, and how it can be sustainably embedded in school practice.

By structuring and systemising rather than reducing complexity, the approach provides schools with an inclusive and equity-fostering framework for aligning competence goals, developmental needs, and organisational conditions. It thus contributes to bridging the gap between knowledge and behaviour in media education and supports the development of self-regulated, responsible, and creative citizens in the digital age.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this license to share adapted material derived from this chapter or parts of it.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Matej Lozar
AU  - Igor Pesek
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/31
TI  - Leadership for a Digital Age: Whole-School Strategies to Enhance Media Literacy for All Students
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Management and Entrepreneurial Leadership for K-12 Education Excellence (LEADK12 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 324
EP  - 339
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-599-7_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-599-7_20
ID  - Lozar2026
ER  -