The educational institutions of the Drohobych City Territorial Community have recently completed a series of trainings entitled “Media Literacy: Knowledge, Implementation Skills”. During October last year and May this year, 260 teachers had the opportunity to improve their media literacy competencies and develop the ability to better navigate the information space, which will undoubtedly become an important element in preparing students for the challenges of the modern information environment.
Presentations and handouts developed using the IREX methodology were great helpers in implementing the project. The main goal of the events was to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to critically analyse information and further integrate media literacy into the curriculum.
The eight-hour in-person training was conducted by Oleksandra Petskovych, media literacy trainer, a consultant at the REC, for teachers of 11 general secondary education institutions in the Drohobych community. Lesia Khrun, media literacy trainer, teacher of Ukrainian language and literature at Lesia Ukrainka Lyceum No. 4, and Oleksandra Markevych, media teacher at Yevhen Konovalets Gymnasium No. 10, also joined the training sessions at their educational institutions.
The training programme was carefully designed to ensure a comprehensive approach to media literacy. After all, the ability to critically perceive information content is one of the most important skills today. So, among the topics covered were how to avoid becoming passive consumers of the information space and victims of information warfare? Whether teachers and students have basic infomedia literacy skills. The training sessions also covered the following topics:
– Disinformation. Propaganda and critical thinking.
– Hate speech, stereotypes, discrimination.
– Security on the Internet. Social media. Neural networks.
– Integrating media literacy into academic subjects.
Being media literate is extremely important today. Therefore, the Media Literacy: Knowledge, Implementation Skills training series was one of the important steps in rethinking ourselves in the media space and helped teachers develop the skills of healthy interaction with the media. Thanks to the knowledge gained, teachers will be able to prepare students more effectively for life in the modern information world, as they have a unique opportunity to promote a conscious approach to information consumption among young people.
It should be added that the media literacy training cycles were organised by the Centre for Professional Development of Teachers of the City Council at the initiative of the Lviv Institute of Postgraduate Education, which trained media literacy trainers, as part of the Comprehensive Programme for Strengthening the State-Building and Consolidation Role of the Ukrainian Language in Lviv Oblast for 2023-2026 – the Infomedia Literacy in Lviv Oblast Educational Institutions project.