MESHing the future: Re-considering early childhood education through media literacy, ethics, sociology, and history

In many early childhood education contexts, greater attention has been given to academic readiness and measurable learning outcomes, while opportunities for engaging with social issues, ethical questions, and critical inquiry have received comparatively less emphasis. As concerns have grown regarding the narrowing of educational aims, increasing attention has been given to interdisciplinary approaches that foster critical, ethical, and socially informed forms of learning. Within this context, this study introduces the MESH Pedagogical Module, an interdisciplinary module that integrates Media Literacy, Ethics, Sociology, and History and is designed to support children’s critical thinking, media literacy, and ethical understanding. Using a mixed-method design with a sample of 117 children, the study examined changes in children’s critical thinking, media literacy, and ethical understanding following the implementation of the module. Findings indicated significant gains in critical thinking scores among children in the experimental group. Changes related to media literacy were more limited, although teachers reported emerging awareness of digital content and increased questioning of media messages. Teacher interviews also revealed developments in children’s ethical understanding, particularly in their sensitivity to fairness, cooperation, and respect for others. Taken together, the findings highlight the potential of integrating media literacy, ethics, sociology, and history into early childhood curricula to create opportunities for interdisciplinary inquiry, dialogue, and reflection.