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Zala Volcic and Karmen Erjavec
Unlike many other countries media education is officially part of Slovenia’s educational curriculum. What has been the impact of ten years’ work? What needs to be done in the future?
Recent literature on media, education and youth portrays young people as agents of social change (Bucholtz, 2002) and as a site for imagining national futures (Hall, 2002). In most of the literature on nationalism, youth, media and education alike are prioritized as means to unify and develop national states. This is because schools and media are primary sites in which images and ideas about the nation are disseminated, and it is here that attachments to national states are formed (Anderson, 1991).
There has been a growing scholarly interest in the concept of media, citizenship, and education in the era of globalization (Hall, 1999), especially in the context of the expansion of the European Union. Slovenia was among the first post-socialist countries of Central-Eastern Europe to introduce and implement a Media Education course into its educational curriculum. In a way, the Slovenian Media Education model has set the framework and normative for the rest of the former Yugoslav countries, which after the wars were in desperate need to restructure their educational systems.
A comprehensive media education project offered an important site to investigate and develop the dynamic relationship between citizen-making and media in post-conflict situations. Following the Slovenian model, for example, Croatia and Serbia have similarly employed optional media education courses, while Bosnia is in the process of passing new (media) educational policies. In Bosnia especially, the course itself envisions playing an important political role in a reconciliation process, since the conflicting visions of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian past and future are especially visible in the domain of media and education.1
It is hoped that the media education courses will provide a space for addressing the tensions described above and the ambivalent role of media. As in the case of Slovenia, it is further hoped that critical issues that would otherwise have no space to be explored, will be addressed in media education courses: for example, how media propaganda works, or how nationalistic media representations may codify the world into ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’, of separating ‘us’ from ‘them’, the ‘national’ from the ‘alien’.
In Slovenia, media education is defined as a process of teaching about media through the media. If media education attempts to develop and create critical understanding and active participation in classrooms, media literacy denotes a larger project that involves not only students in classrooms, but includes parents, teachers, and in short, the general Slovenian public. Different media events, lectures, performances, workshops are continuously organized on a national, regional, and local level in different places, such as public squares, public libraries, and city-halls. In that way, the public is included in an overall process of thinking, negotiating, and understanding the media practices.
From 1996 a media education course has been officially and formally a part of the educational curriculum – from kindergarten to university levels. The course involves an examination of the techniques, technologies and institutions that are a part of media production and consumption, and furthermore, provides the ability to critically analyze media messages, and the recognition of the active roles that audiences play in making meaning from media messages (Curriculum for Media education, 1997).
However, how successful is the integration of the course into the Slovenian educational system really? Almost ten years on, it seems appropriate and necessary to explore the situation on the ground. On the basis of participant-observation and in-depth interviews, the aim here is to briefly present and critically assess the media education project in Slovenia and to offer some creative suggestions for the future.
The development of the media education in Slovenia
During the transformation of the education system in Slovenia (1990-98), the media education project received political and public support, and a detailed national programme was created by the Media Education Curriculum Research Group. This group framed the curriculum in a theoretical and practical manner. Ultimately, the reasoning behind the course was to craft an educational framework that makes it possible for the students to be able to speak independently, politically, and with confidence about the forms and pleasures of a range of different kinds of media texts.
This process, the authors argued, necessarily involves and encourages students to become more active media agents, citizens, and not merely consumers. Thus, during the transformation processes of political and economic systems, the Slovenian media education project did fulfil its potential for a democratic empowerment and social change and did encourage the creation of open democratic spaces of dialogue and discussions. Media education textbooks for teachers and students alike were written and translated. In addition, video-material was introduced to support the course.
At the university level, the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana started to offer a media education training course (90 hours) to students who may want to teach media education course in primary schools. The course covers both the concepts and knowledge of media studies and the pedagogical skills required to teach them effectively. Media education course teachers are organized in the Slovenian Association of Media Education Teachers, which provides opportunities for individual initiatives, project proposals, workshops, and summer schools.
In what follows, two different Media education models, as integrated into curriculum, are presented and evaluated, based on qualitative research methodologies.
Media education as an optional, independent course
The optional Media Education course is a part of a nine-grade primary school system, designed for the last three grades. In that, Media education is composed of three different one-year independent courses: the Press; Radio; and Television and the Internet. Overall, this adds up to 35 hours per year or one hour per week.
The first year focuses on topics related to print media. Media education informs students about how the press functions in a democracy, why it matters that citizens gain information and are exposed to diverse opinions, and why people need to participate in policy decision-making at the community, state and federal levels. Students learn the basic principles of mass media, and the similarities and differences between media messages.
Our evaluation shows that, after the first year course, students do indeed understand that the media create and construct the world and do not reflect it. Furthermore, they are able to comprehend how messages have social, political, aesthetic and economic purposes. They familiarize themselves with the history of media, and the role that the press plays in private and public spheres. At the end of the year, students produce their own newspaper.
The second year course explores the medium of radio and its characteristics. Students are invited to create their own radio show and they discover how individuals actively construct and make meaning from messages. According to our evaluation again, they learn successfully about the different effects of the mass media. The most popular topics discussed in classes include themes such as media violence, media heroes, and predominant media stereotypes.
The third year course deals with television and Internet. The students address questions of global imbalance of power, the history of broadcasting, and concepts such as public television, and global media. In cooperation with local TV stations, students are encouraged to create their own TV show, as imagined. The most popular format chosen among the students is a talk-show. At the end of the year, students analyze media content and write a letter to various editors in which they present their initiatives for changing television content.
It seems that the advantages of establishing media education as an independent course, i.e. as a subject specialty, are considerable. The objectives and goals of media education are easier to achieve within a specialized, independent course that has its own identity, its own teachers, class-rooms, equipment, and resources. Research shows that in the 2004/2005 school year, approximately 37% of Slovenian students in 7th grade chose media education as an optional course.
Indeed, interviews with students further show that they are very content. Out of 1,230 students currently taking media education in primary school, 81% claimed it is their favourite course because of topics that are close to their own life-experiences. They enjoy practical work, and appreciate research and production work (filming, editing). At the same time, they are interested in visiting media institutions and conducting their own media research.
Media education’s potential – so it seems – lies in its promise of including everyone in class lectures, seminars, projects, and discussions. Students respond positively when they are invited to participate and share their own media habits and experiences (67%). They appreciate reflecting critically on their personal media habits. Most of the students claim that they find topics of media education useful for their everyday life, and future studies.
Why do students choose media education? Mostly, they say, because they are interested in media, and because they spend a lot of time with the media (86%). When asked what is the most important media topic that they will remember, the students cite the argument how media do not mirror reality (65%). They want to be prepared for a mediated world and they expect to get some knowledge and skills out of this course. An important part, unsurprisingly, in the selection process of this course is the teacher – if she/he has a good reputation among the students, they also select a course.
Interviews with media education teachers show that they are very supportive of the course. They stress the importance of teaching critical media skills, and feel that the structure and organization of the course meets their needs. Most of them use textbooks and video-material, and have done some kind of media education training. The teachers belong to younger generations and they claim that they are able to understand the children more, since they share the experience of growing up in an increasingly mediated world.
The teachers were, however, critical of the educational authorities on local and national levels. Most of them expressed frustration and anger because they have to justify the course to the authorities over and over again. In the words of one teacher, ‘The course has not established itself as a really “necessary” one… so I am not taken seriously yet… as if teaching history gives you credibility and teaching media education is only for fun… No one understands and really supports the course within my school, except the students.’
A teacher in Ljubljana claims that, ‘My dean has no idea about the importance of this course. He is 65 years old, and does not take media seriously at all. He believes it should not belong in school… so I need to fight back constantly.’ Also, the teachers are unsatisfied with the technical equipment – they lack, for example, video cameras for filming. In general, there is a lack of financial support, so teachers have limited resources to work with.
In the words of another teacher, ‘This is a poor region, and we have little money at the school level… but the Ministry of Education doesn’t help us. More and more, they require us to find private, commercial sponsors for our courses… What are we supposed to do? Go to McDonalds and ask them to give us money for video-cameras?’ This is a standard response: there is a lack of institutional support for the course, and a lack of moral support from school authorities.
Media education within an integrated curriculum
Media education that takes a form of a theme within other courses starts at a pre-school level. It was envisioned and developed as an experimental integration of media education in 46 carefully selected kindergartens all over Slovenia in 2000. The main aim of the initiative at this level is to help pre-school children (4-6 years) to develop an understanding of the difference between fiction and non-fiction, ads and news, real and make-believe.
Our evaluation of how and if teaching of media topics on the ground takes place, shows the limited inclusion of media themes. Media activities seem to be rare – and according to most of the teachers interviewed, this is because of lack of resources, unwillingness and ignorance of teachers and educational authorities alike.
In this sense, teachers replace media education with teaching through the media. For most of them, media education means using the media. A typical statement of a teacher represents this view: ‘Yes, of course we teach media education. We use radio, camera, television, and a video-recorder. Children listen to diverse music… they watch fairy-tales on television… and we use computers sometimes to draw…’
Our evaluation also shows that teachers themselves are not really familiar with media education and its main goals. Even more, while discussing media themes and some of the main media theories, most of the teachers show no essential media knowledge. In short, teachers themselves are media illiterate.
Furthermore, at the primary school level, media education is an obligatory part of the Slovenian language course from the 5th to 9th grades. Media topics within the Slovenian language course provide information about the characteristics of media texts (genres, media language and media aesthetics). Media education continues to be an important part of a course in grades 7 and 8 (Curriculum for Civic education and ethics course, 1997). The attempt here is to become well informed about ethical issues in different areas of communication: advertising, television, film, print journalism, the Internet.
Research on how well media education is practiced within these two courses shows that realizing the objectives depends on the personal commitment and enthusiasm of teachers themselves. Most of the teachers interviewed feel very alone, without any support or guidelines from educational and school authorities and do not have any training in media education. The majority are self-taught. They regularly experience fear and difficulty in finding solutions to financial and organizational issues within their courses.
Thus, the main problem in teaching media education across the curriculum lies in the lack of a long-term strategy and support for teachers from the educational authorities – there is no serious continuous vision, plan, or policy. The Ministry of Education and Sport did not specify any financial support for media equipment, teacher training, material support, etc. Lack of institutional support for instruction for those teachers who are interested is one of the main problems facing media education in Slovenia. This reduces the possibility of integrating media education into the curricula of Slovenian schools.
Similarly, findings show that in secondary schools (since there is no independent course available), media education has also been integrated into the secondary school curriculum as a compulsory subject, like the Slovenian language, sociology, psychology and history of art. Thus, the media construction of reality is central to the sociology course. Students also learn about media institutions, the political, economic, social and cultural contexts of media environments, media persuasion and media propaganda techniques (Curriculum for Sociology, 1993).
According to the National curriculum for the Slovenian language for secondary schools (1993: 10-12), the aims of media education within the Slovenian language course are focused on linguistic aspects of media: to examine different media text and style forms, to develop the skills of analyzing the grammar of media language and to understand the basic characteristics of journalistic genres. Students taking psychology familiarize themselves with the theories of media effects, and the focus is on psychological aspects of media violence and stereotypes (Curriculum for Psychology, 1993). In the History of Art course, students learn how to evaluate different media products and how to produce them (Curriculum for the History of Art, 1993).
Our research shows that media education is rarely a part of courses in secondary school. For example, textbooks for the Slovenian language course do not include any of the recommended media topics. Slovenian language teachers themselves do not advocate media education as a part of their courses. In the schools visited, there is rarely any media equipment in the Slovenian language classroom. Slovenian language teachers interviewed claim to have no media knowledge, express no willingness to teach media topics, and generally want to reclaim a high-culture approach in teaching only ‘traditional’ courses.
Teachers see a real danger in the decline of classical literacy, and they want to encourage traditional reading habits. Most agree with a teacher in Ljubljana, who stated that ‘students watch too much television, they play too many video-games per day, and they don’t read books anymore. The role of education is to encourage readings of high-culture, and not popular culture’.
In that sense, we recognised two distinctive groups of teachers: the ‘critical users’, who follow media/technological developments and recognise that one has to understand the realities of how the media operate in order to become critical citizens. In contrast there are those who ‘protect’ high culture, who see the media and new technologies as a threat to national culture, language, and identity. They see the audience, and students, as part of a mass of passive consumers who accept produced commodities in order to obtain false satisfaction.
Conclusion:
Research shows that media education skills can indeed inspire young people to become more socially interested in increasing their access to diverse sources of information. Media education is one of the most popular courses in primary schools in Slovenia, and most of the students see it as a positive asset as it raises awareness of the vital importance of being exposed to a rich array of diverse opinions and ideas.
However, it is not enough to include media education in the school curriculum. We need (to encourage the adoption of media education as a lived and well-practiced course, with a strong identity of its own. At the same time, what is needed is an engagement with teachers of the course. Educational authorities must offer teachers clearer guidelines and support, since the realization of media education objectives depends on the personal commitment of teachers.
As others have pointed out (Butts, 1992; Boeckmann, 1992) training and workshops must be provided for teachers, thus enabling them to teach specialized courses and the ultimate aim of training should not be to transmit specialist information, but to find teachers with enthusiasm for media education in order to place the cross-curriculum principle on the road to success.
Note
1. The International Community made education a central component of the country’s future by making the reunification of ethnically divided schools and reconciliation among ethnically divided young people the main goals for successful nation-building and democratization. As a result of this plan, 25 ethnically divided schools in Bosnia-Herzegovina were unified in the last four years. However, reunification maintained separate national curricula for the students of the three majority ethnic groups, Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians, thus preserving ethnic segregation.
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Zala Volcic. School of Journalism and Communication, University of Queensland, Cnr Hood and Walcott Sts, St Lucia, Brisbane Qld 4072, Australia, email:
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Karmen Erjavec. Faculty of Social Sciences, Kardeljeva pl. 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, e-mail:
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