Media Education in Schools

The optional course of “Media Education” has been introduced this autumn in 22 educational institutions of the country. This initiative belongs to the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and it is a continuation of the IJC’s effort of the past several years in promoting media education.
 
The lessons are taught by the teachers who participated in the training courses organized by the IJC in July and September. The training was based on the “Media Education” curriculum, which had been developed under the aegis of the IJC and approved by the Ministry of Education, and on the textbook with the same title, developed for the trials of this optional course. Thus, 53 teachers were prepared for launching the new course. The textbook includes such topics as initiation into the media, multimedia and new media in the child’s life, health of the young media consumer, among other things.

“The optional course of “Media Education” is useful and necessary by its content. It aroused the students’ interest. Curiosity grew especially when they received the colorful and well-structured textbook. I hope to educate my students to analyze the information they get from the press, radio, television and internet,” says Maria Duplava, 4^th grade teacher from Cigârleni village (Ialoveni district).

“Students are impressed by the course; they are most curious to study page by page. The content is at the students’ level of understanding, accurate and current. Learning activities and experiments are quite varied. The vocabulary and the language used take into account the peculiarities of the students’ age,” noted Natalia Butuc from the gymnasium of Lărguța village (Cantemir district).

The purpose of the optional course “Media Education” is to develop the analysis skills and critical thinking in relation to the messages delivered by the media, as well as the capacity to recognize true information and manipulation. The course also aims to increase the understanding and rational use of the media by students and to educate a well-informed and responsible citizen and media consumer.
The IJC is also currently implementing some other initiatives aimed to contribute to promoting media literacy in society.
 
Textbook for optional course of “Media Education” was developed within  the "Strengthening Freedom of Opinion in Repubiic of Moldova" project, implemented by the IJC in the period of March to November 2017 with the support of Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.