ABSTRACT
Since the rise of the digital age, media education policies in Canada have been developed by education ministries. This chapter suggests a framework for expanding the policy discursive space that is restricted today to policymakers by creating a policy community that meaningfully engages diverse actors in the co-construction of knowledge to inform media education policy research and advocacy agendas. Drawing on political theory, communication activist scholarship, and critical research methods, a deliberative approach is detailed in the chapter as a methodological framework for rethinking media education policy research and advocacy. After briefly discussing the rise of the deliberative approach in policy research and its application in the field of communication studies in Canada, this chapter discusses how the deliberative approach can be used as a methodology for facilitating engaged, participatory, and action-oriented research that seeks to inform media education policies and practices. In conclusion, the chapter reflects on the factors and challenges that arise in using a deliberative approach in media education policy research to advance public policy solutions.
