Table 1.

Strategies for promoting and measuring critical thinking in intervention programming.

	Area	Strategies
Promoting critical thinking	Content for children	• Use a co-creation method with different stakeholders to design effective interventions • Ensure lessons are flexible and reflect the changing media environment • Prioritise the ability to recognise persuasive intent across a range of mediated messages and formats • Include real-world examples, and allow children to be the content experts
	Teaching practices	• Integrate critical media literacy into existing subject-area lessons across all grades (from K-12) • Use a key concepts approach • Design inquiry-based lessons • Incorporate hands-on learning activities • Provide children with the opportunity to make media • Acknowledge children's positive feelings towards brands and food products • Acknowledge the instructor's own vulnerability to media • Foster an environment of critical respect • Encourage scepticism, not cynicism • Encourage action and engaged citizenship
	Teaching support	• Support and facilitate professional development and training on media literacy/critical thinking • Create curriculum-linked lessons-in-a-box (tool-kits; lesson plans) • Encourage peer training opportunities
	Parent/caregiver involvement	• Engage parents/caregivers in media literacy activities • Provide support to increase parental/caregiver media literacy and facilitate professional development and training on media literacy/critical thinking
Measuring critical thinking	Program effectiveness	• Use a mixed methods approach • Use quantitative methods (i.e., pre/post-test) for measuring recognition and understanding (changes in knowledge levels) • Use qualitative methods to explore analysis and evaluation skills (changes in perceptions/attitudes)
	Broader/longer-term impacts	• Track reach of program (i.e., number of children exposed) • Use post-post-evaluations to gauge learning over longer term • Measure capabilities and confidence of the children's community of trusted adults to support the development and application of critical media literacy skills
Resources	• Media Literacy & Food Marketing (MLFM) Lesson Plans and Tool-Kits (https://www.ucalgary.ca/food-marketing/knowledge-translation, includes lessons on persuasive elements of food packaging, interactive tool-kits, fact sheets for parents/caregivers). • Making Media for a Healthier U: Nutrition and Advertising Literacy (https://makingmedia.media.illinois.edu/curriculum/waukegan-pilot-nutrition-and-advertising-curriculum-may-2014/, includes lessons on nutrition and advertising literacy, student worksheets, teacher guide). • Project Look Sharp (www.projectlooksharp.org, includes lessons on health and consumer education, and professional development resources for teachers). • ReclameWijs [Advertising-Wise] (https://reclamewijs.ugent.be/, includes interactive media literacy games and vlog content around brand awareness). • MediaSmarts (www.mediasmarts.ca/marketing-consumerism/resources-teachers, includes lessons on food advertising, the nutritional value of foods advertised on television/magazines, and an interactive unit on food marketing on the web) • Apple Schools (www.appleschools.ca/monthly-campaigns-march, includes teacher materials on nutrition and food advertising).