Abstract:

Digital media increasingly shapes socialization and education, making media literacy development a core educational responsibility. At the same time, contemporary societies are shaped by cultural diversity. According to a transcultural understanding, this diversity emerges as cultures become interwoven. This development is evident in educational contexts, where different cultural backgrounds must be considered and education aligned accordingly. Linking these perspectives, this study aims to examine how international students describe the current state of media education in their home countries (RQ1) and how they envision its future development (RQ2). This constitutes the exploratory phase of a design-based research (DBR) cycle. The findings are expected to inform the further development, implementation, and evaluation of a pedagogical concept and a corresponding higher education course for promoting media education competence among international teacher education and adult education students. The underlying pedagogical concept draws on an established competence-standard model for media pedagogy in the academic phase of teacher education. Additionally, it incorporates action-oriented principles, flipped classroom elements, peer feedback, and learning and assessment portfolios. The study is embedded in an international course in the 2025/ 2026 winter term at a German university. The convenience sample of n = 17 comprised students from Germany (4), Italy (4), Nigeria (3), Ghana (2), Georgia (2), Turkey (1), and Pakistan (1). To assess students’ experiences and perspectives, focus group interviews were conducted. The focus groups included four to five students from different national backgrounds. The interviews were held in English during regular course sessions and lasted around 45 minutes. Demographic and individual data on participants’ experiences, knowledge, and skills were collected via a questionnaire. The focus group data were transcribed and then analyzed by two independent researchers using qualitative content analysis. A deductive category system based on established multi-level perspectives on professionalization in educational contexts was applied, and it comprised three superordinate categories: the macro-level (state and society), meso-level (educational organizations), and micro-level (educators and learners). Findings regarding the current state of media education (RQ1) indicate that participants primarily referred to the meso-level (32 codes), focusing on organizations such as schools or universities and their curricula. Other references concerned the macro-level (19 codes), addressing prevailing conditions in the state and society, and the micro-level (16 codes), highlighting characteristics of professional staff and learners. In contrast, perspectives about the future of media education (RQ2) mainly emphasized governmental action at the macro-level (31 codes), followed by changes in teaching and learning practices at the micro-level (21 codes) and structural developments at the meso-level (19 codes). These findings identify both addressed and underrepresented areas of media education, providing indications for the further development of a pedagogical concept to enhance media education in transcultural educational settings.

Keywords:

Design-based research, qualitative research, initital teacher education, adult education, media education, cultural diversity, multicultural inclusion.