A Thematic Framework for Communication and Mass Media Education: Global Metatheme Literacies

Paul A. Silva

Abstract


This article introduces the Metatheme Framework for Communication and Mass Media Education, a curriculum model that embeds universal yet culturally grounded themes—identity, belonging, alienation, cultural relevance, resilience, and time—at the heart of media pedagogy. Drawing on Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970), Paul Ricoeur’s theory of narrative identity (Ricoeur, 1984), Fredric Jameson’s concept of the political unconscious (Jameson, 1981), and James A. Banks’s principles of culturally responsive education (Banks, 2015), the framework advances beyond existing critical media literacy models by systematically pairing canonical theories (e.g., Hall’s encoding/decoding, Herman & Chomsky’s propaganda model) with grassroots and community-produced media artefacts.


The study adopts a mixed-methods approach that brings together three strands of evidence: surveys charting media literacy gaps, case studies of higher-education curricula, and a bilingual pilot workshop. The results show that learners are especially drawn to the theme of Time, often turning to proverbs and idioms to express cultural meaning across languages. They also reinterpret accent and identity as sources of strength rather than deficit. In addition, the framework situates Africa at the centre of global educational history, highlighting the importance of decolonising curricula that have overlooked African intellectual traditions (Herodotus, Isocrates, Plato, Iamblichus).


Institutional recommendations include embedding thematic modules across programmes, recognising multimodal and translation-based outputs as legitimate scholarship, and supporting faculty through professional development in bilingual and multimodal pedagogy. Ultimately, the Metatheme Framework reconceptualises mass media education as both academically rigorous and socially urgent, equipping learners to resist cultural erasure and participate as reflective citizens in globalised media environments.


Keywords: communication and mass media education, critical media literacy, culturally responsive pedagogy, decolonial knowledge, global metatheme literacies, thematic curriculum design.


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