Media education:
let’s build competences for citizens of today and tomorrow

Media are present in every moment and place of our daily life: we are literally immersed in media. We shouldn’t think only to traditional mass media (printed and online newspapers, radio, tv), but consider the extraordinary number of channels, devices and formats through which we receive and send contents.

Social platforms, chats and messaging systems, TV series, music, as well as celebrities, advertisement, product packaging or clothes are media in full effect. Even if not immediately recognized as such, they contribute to the representation of our world, the evolution of our lifestyle, the foundation of our perceptions, opinions and behaviours.

How to decode the language of new media, their specific grammar and syntax?

How to check content sources, their prestige and accuracy?

Media education is definitely needed to support people – specifically children and teens – and shape competences to navigate in a world dominated by media, seizing emerging opportunities and mitigating risks.

Media education is neither a discipline nor a school subject, but a framework and a pedagogy to enable people access, analyze, work and participate to social life through a variety of messages, both textual or in other forms, shaping the abilities of inquiry and self-expression that are fundamental for citizens of any democracy.

It doesn’t limit to the presentation of media persuasion techniques, or to the mere recommendation of best practices to save children and teens from inappropriate contents and undesired messages. Media education has three main goals:

• create media awareness and know-how, offering a methodology and practical tools to decode contents and messages 

• promote the responsible use of media, favoring creativity along with respect for freedom and human rights

• contribute to the foundation of a critical thinking to foster personal growth and the active participation to social life

Media education at school

In Italy, media education is mentioned by Piano Nazionale Scuola Digitale, as for ‘La Buona Scuola’ directive (law 107/2015), that has the innovation of the school system and the opportunities generated by digital technologies at its core. The plan encourages schools to include media literacy among educational objectives and integrated it in existing curricula, while promoting trainings for teachers and engaging families whenever possible.