The scientific journal on media education COMUNICAR released its issue no. 39, which is dedicated to the UNESCO curriculum and teacher training in media education. The introduction to the main theme, “Teacher Training in Media Education: Curriculum and International Experiences”, was prepared by José Manuel Pérez Tornero and Tayie Samy, director and partner of the Cabinet of Communication and Education, respectively, and editors of the current number.
The report is the result of a request made by José Manuel Pérez Tornero to UNESCO in 2008 to create a curriculum for teacher training in media literacy. This curriculum was presented in Fez in July 2011 by several experts after three years of work. This month’s issue of COMUNICAR aims at reflecting on the universal challenge of media literacy and teacher training in this area and presents several articles on the strategies and development of teacher training.
Experts and researchers from a wide range of fields contribute to this month’s issue, especially members of the “UNITWIN: Cooperation Program on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue” as well as professionals involved in the development of the UNESCO curriculum.
The publication includes a systematic review and critique of the UNESCO curriculum, approaches to media literacy in a comparative perspective among countries and the needs and initiatives in the field of media education in different contexts. It also presents research findings on practices of media use. For example, it provides information on the pilot study “The World Unplugged” and research by universities in Egypt, Finland and the United States. The report also includes analyses of experiences pertaining to media education in order to enhance the training of a citizen body capable of being critical in different media contexts (Portugal, United States, Belgium and Venezuela).
The findings of research on the empowerment of youth when confronting the risks posed by the Internet, carried out by Santiago Tejedor and Cristina Pulido, professors from the Cabinet of Communication and Education at the UAB, can also be viewed in this month’s issue.
The UNESCO Curriculum on “media and information literacy” and its framework of competency aims to integrate: A) the information literacy tradition, committed to issues such as information access and responsible use of ICT’s, and B) media literacy focused on issues such as the roles of the media, critical interpretation of media content and the expression for democratic participation.