The second annual report in the ‘Charting Media and Learning in Europe’ series is now available. This report describes the extent to which media-based learning and education for media literacy is incorporated into curriculum design for compulsory level education in Estonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and the regions of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, Flanders in Belgium and Upper Austria. It also reports on organisations actively engaged in this process and on examples of good practice.
Overall the situation varies greatly from country to country and there is a variety of ways of integrating media-based learning and education for media literacy in the curriculum from an integrated approach across different subjects, to very specific subject related formulations. There is also a significant discrepancy between what is written in curricula and effective daily classroom practice. In other words, even if media literacy is integrated in the curriculum, it mostly still depends on the initiative/freedom/autonomy of the teacher whether or not it is implemented, and in what way. This has led the research team to conclude that the role played by teachers is crucial and to make a recommendation for more investment in relevant teacher training and support.
