Young Children and the Need for Critical Literacy and Epistemic Cognition Skills in the Post-Truth Era

Abstract

Many children are active on the internet and on social networks, but their capacity to evaluate online information is limited. However, in the current era of post-truth and the infodemic, even young children are exposed to inaccurate information online. They need to understand how the internet works and how to evaluate the information they find there. In the digital information age, critical literacy is important for everyone. In<br/>this article, I focus on an aspect of critical literacy that has been neglected in the field of media education, namely epistemic cognition. I argue that children—even young ones—need to learn epistemic cognition skills and epistemic practices. I also argue that the AIR model of epistemic cognition theory and theories of making thinking visible could be used as a basis for teaching children critical literacy and metacognition in the post- truth era. I use these theories to create a framework that also includes principles of reliable science and journalism. Science and journalism are part of the so-called Constitution of Knowledge, an epistemic operating system that establishes rules for transforming disagreement into knowledge. In addition to critical literacy, children need scientific literacy, which can help them understand how accurate information and knowledge are (in ideal situations) created and evaluated, both on and offline.