What makes a good media education plan?

What makes a good media education plan? This was the point of discussion between the experts from various fields in the workshops of Finnish Media Education Forum 2020.

In accordance with the Finnish media education policy, media education plans can be used to develop media education into a more systematic approach. Media education can be included into existing plans or a new plan can be prepared for it.

Based on the results of the workshop we created a new tool to support the preparation of media education plans. This tool can help you to focus some of the central aspects of media education plan and to take them into consideration.
The tool can be downloaded here.

The tool is based on guiding questions that can be discussed together in the organisation. These questions relate to five main themes, including objectives, activities, target groups, leadership and distribution of the results.

We hope these ideas help you prepare your own media education plans!

1) Defining the goals

This topic include questions such as: What is meant by media education in our work? What areas of media literacy do we want to promote in our work? What goals of our organisation do we pursue to meet with media education in our activities?

2) Describing the activities and planning the assessment

E.g. What kind of media education activities are we going to do? What are the goals and possible intermediate goals of each action for the planning period? Or how is the plan going to be assessed?

3) Considering the target group and operating environment

E.g. Whose media literacy are we promoting in our work? Are our activities accessible and non-discriminatory? Or are we familiar with the latest research regarding our (media education) activities?

4) Leadership, resources and responsibilities

E.g. is media education visible in the structures of the organisation? Who is responsible for the media education as a whole? Or what kind of expertise does our organisation have in media education?

5) Sharing and distributing the results of the activities

E.g. How are the results of the work shared for others to use? Or what could we learn from others?

Media education plans create preconditions for activity development

National media education policy is a high-level document that creates the direction and framework for the activity development. It gives you room for developing media education plans even further in your own activities.

The plans support the implementation, assessment and predictability of activities. These plans make media education work easier to make visible to other actors. This helps with communication and supports the creation of cooperation opportunities.

Media education plan helps you to prioritise. The field of media education is broad and versatile, which is why it is not possible or sensible to process all aspects and topics. The plan helps to define the activities so that you can focus on your own strengths.

An important requirement for the success of the media education work is committed management that provides support for the work. The plan can help to clarify the shared vision on the role and opportunities of media education in your own organisation. Writing out operating conditions establishes peace to develop and do high-quality work.

What do you think are the most important things in media education plans?

Writers: Lauri Palsa, Saara Salomaa

National Audiovisual Institute KAVI