A CONTRIBUTION TO DEVELOP MEDIA EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL - THE PROJECT 'MEDIA EDUCATION IN CASTELO BRANCO REGION'

Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy. Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all. In the 21st century to be literate means to deal with the new tools citizens have available in their daily lives. Two of these important tools are technology and media because we live in a technological world dominated by media. The great majority of information that comes to us comes through media and technology. Citizens must be prepared to deal with them. They must be digitally and media literate.

The European Parliament recently approved a document that recommends the state-members to include Media Education in the curricula of all schooling levels in order to develop the capacity to access, analyze and produce media messages, crucial skills to be considered e-citizens in the 21st century. However Portuguese schools have huge problems to tackle this issue: the lack of educational resources and teacher training in the field.

This paper presents the Project “Media Education in Castelo Branco region” whose main aim was to provide students the right tools in order they can decode critically media messages and write reflexive ones, in short ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, and PRODUCE media. It will also present (1) the tools developed - a DVD with a handbook full of pedagogical activities and a platform with a common template for producing online school newspapers, a website and a discussion forum – (2) the teacher training and (3) the outcomes of the project that was developed with all the basic schools of the region - 26 schools and involved 573 students and 50 teachers.