About the conference

The conference "How to Teach Media Literacy at School - Methods and Practices", which took place on November 10th in Sofia, provided an opportunity to more than 80 teachers from all over the country to get acquainted with practice-tested methodologies for media literacy training for students from 1st to 12th grade. The first of its kind conference was co-organized by the Media Literacy Coalition in Education and The Center for Safe Internet with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Freedom Foundation and the Fulbright Bulgarian-American Education Exchange Commission.

Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society in the European Commission Mariya Gabriel joined the video addressing the Commission's strategy in this important area. What are the ideas of The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) for developing critical thinking and digital skills was explained by Tanya Mihaylova, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Education and Science.

Several organizations participating in the Media Literacy Coalition demonstrated with presentations and then in practice how their digital literacy teaching methods work.

The Center for Safe Internet, in the face of the Applied Research and Communications Foundation and the Parents Association, demonstrated a methodology for the early development of digital literacy in the initial course of education (1st to 4th grade) based on the compulsory curriculum. Media literacy training (8th to 12th grade) was presented in the joint project of the Fulbright Bulgarian-American Education Exchange Commission and the Association of European Journalists - Bulgaria. The Parents Association showed to teachers how to develop digital literacy skills in grades 5-12.

Evelina Pavlova, founder of The Children's Voice Foundation, explained how to develop the media literacy of young people through the Teenstation School Media Network. Teenage Media literacy in five steps was introduced by The Center for Creative Training.

In order to be able to get involved in the conference, school teachers in the country received support for travel expenses and stays from the organizers. After the conference, there will be a report with recommendations to the MES prepared by the participants on what schools and educators need in order to be able to develop the digital literacy of the pupils.

Background

The Ministry of Education and Science provided for the first time during the school year 2018/2019 hours of media literacy in schools. Meanwhile a large proportion of teachers do not have the necessary preparation and clarity on how to teach media literacy.

According to the Media Literacy Coalition in Education, inclusion of new classes is a positive step but this must be accompanied by appropriate teacher training. With regard to media literacy classes, the Coalition issued its position as early as the end of August 2018 stating that the introduction of digital literacy elements should be on all subjects and not in a limited number of hours as a separate discipline. At the same time, teachers should be supported to acquire the knowledge and skills that will make them more effective in delivering this knowledge to the students, the members of the coalition insisted.

The lack of a methodology for media literacy training has led members of the coalition to unite their expertise and support the process of introducing media literacy classes in schools. Several of the organizations involved in the coalition have already developed and established methodologies or are in the process of developing such ones on ongoing projects. Overall, they manage to cover all classes from 1st to 12th grade.

Who are the speakers and moderators of the panels?

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society

Georgi Apostolov, coordinator of The Center for Safe Internet

Angela Rodel, Executive Director of the Fulbright Bulgarian-American Education Exchange Commission

Christina Hristova, Coordinator, Coalition for Media Literacy in Education

Evelina Pavlova, founder of the Teenstation School Media Network

Petar Kanchev, expert at The Center for Safe Internet

Tsveta Brestnichka - Parents Association

Zornitsa Stoilova, editor in Capital newspaper, section Society

Nadezhda Yurukova, Creative Training Center

About the Coalition:

The Coalition for the Development of Media Literacy in Education brings together organizations working in the fields of education, media and civil society:

The Red House Center for Culture and Debate, The Association of European Journalists in Bulgaria, The Center for Inclusive Education, Teach for Bulgaria, Uchilishta.bg, National Network for Children, National Safe Internet Center in the face of the Applied Research and Communications Foundation and Parents Association, Bulgaria 2030 Education, BlueLink Foundation, DigitalKidz, Public Council of the 5th Mithio Stanev Primary School - Stara Zagora.

The Coalition has been working to develop digital literacy in Bulgarian schools starting with 1st graders. The aim is to ensure the safety of the children as well as the development of their critical thinking and creative talents in the digital media world.