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The IJC Deputy Director, Anastasia Nani, mentioned at the opening of the training how important media literacy is for the society, making reference to IJC efforts made over the last years, aimed at promoting critical thinking among people. ‘Since 2014 the Center focused on media literacy, promoting the idea of such an optional course being taught in school. IJC developed the curricula for the three levels of education – primary, lower secondary and upper secondary, as well as manuals for the first two levels. Currently the course is taught in around 40 educational institutions at primary and lower secondary level,’ stated Anastasia Nani.
The trainers were Loretta Handrabura, PhD in Philology, associate prof., ‘Ion Creanga’ SPU, and Natalia Griu, senior advisor at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and they were also two of the curricula and manual authors.
The training program was based on the Education for Media curriculum and manual, in the Russian version. For three days participants had ‘explored’ the materials included in the manual and curriculum; they enriched their media skills and took part in various interactive activities in order to better understand the specificity of media literacy for the pupils in primary school.
The trainers mentioned that in the ‘huge ocean of information, children need to be guided in order to know what information to consume and how to develop their critical thinking’.
Natalia Leu, teacher at ‘Nicolay Gogol’ Theoretical Lyceum from Chisinau, who also took part in editing the Russian version of the Education for Media manual, for primary education, spoke of the usefulness of this subject and encouraged her colleagues to approach each topic in a way that is understandable for children in primary school, thus fostering their first notions of critical thinking. ‘This subject will let you be on the same page with the pupils, will let you understand them and help them look critically at the information in the online environment. The manual includes a useful guide for teachers, a glossary with new terms and a number of interesting topics that encourage students to apply analysis, introspection and critical thinking,’ stated Natalia Leu.
Teachers said that the three-day training had provided them with a lot of knowledge and that they were ready to teach Education for Media in primary school. Ludmila Vitneanscaia, ‘A. Puskin’ Theoretical Lyceum from Balti municipality, with 40 years of teaching experience, said that she was always open to new things. ‘It is important in media education to be aware of what the press says, be at the same pace with the pupils, in order to discover together the pros and cons of the virtual world and to learn to think critically,’ mentioned Ludmila Vitneanscaia.
Valentina Metlitcaia, ‘Guboglo’ Theoretical Lyceum from Ceadir-Lunga, highlighted the important role of the teacher in the media education of pupils. ‘We will try to pass this information to the pupils, teach them to analyse information critically, in order to become informed media consumers,’ shared her opinion Valentina Metlitcaia.
The training was attended by teachers from Stefan Voda, Falesti, Ocnita, Drochia, Ceadir-Lunga districts and from Balti and Chisinau municipalities.
So far IJC conducted four training courses for teachers from primary education, which were attended by 71 teachers. Also, there have been two training courses for teachers from lower secondary education, which were attended by 32 teachers. In the 2018-2019 academic year, more than 1.500 pupils in primary and lower secondary education study Education for Media during either optional or master classes.
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The training was organised by the Independent Journalism Center under the ‘Strengthening Freedom of Opinion in the Republic of Moldova’ Project, implemented by IJC, supported by Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.
