This document discusses media literacy and media education in Finland. It provides an overview of key organizations and policies related to media literacy in the country. The Finnish Society on Media Education is highlighted as an important non-governmental organization that promotes and develops media education. The document also summarizes Finland's national policy guidelines for media literacy education from 2013-2016 and outlines the country's approach, which focuses on social inclusion, active citizenship, critical thinking and more. Current challenges and the role of media literacy in the school curriculum reform of 2016 are also addressed briefly.

1. +
Good Media Literacy. National
PolicyGuidelines 2013–2016
 Published in 2013 byMinistry of Education and
Culture, formedtogetherwithactors in the field
 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as valuebase for ME
 One strategicculturalpolicypriority is to strengthen the position of media
education in Finland
 Guidelinesexamine ML fromvariousangles, especially in terms of social
inclusion, activecitizenship, criticalthinking, creativity and self-
expression
 http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2013/liitteet/OK
M13.pdf?lang=fi

2. +
Currentapproaches
and policies in
Finnish Media Literacy
Rauna Rahja, coordinator
FinnishSociety on Media Education
Boom Beach hack

3. +
FinnishSociety
on Media Education
 NGO founded in 2005 byresearchers and
practicalprofessionals of media education
 fundedbyFinnishMinistry of Education and Culture and
ourmembers
 works in 3 languages (Finnish, Swedish and English)
 promotes and develops ME and ML
 providesinformation, training, events, seminars, networks
 as strong as ourmembers and partners

5. +
ME in FIN - Generallyspeaking
 Finnish ME fieldconsist of manydifferentactors
(FSME 2012)
 Development, new branches and variousperspectives, multiprofessionalism
 Research and highereducation of ME is developing and becoming international
 In Finland, Public authority on ME hasexistedsince 2012 as Centre for Media
Education and Audiovisual Media. Since 2014, the Centre hasbeenpart of
National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI)
 ME activities and projectsoftenproject-based and mainlytargeted to
smallchildren and youngpeople and theireducators, mostlyfundedby the Ministry
of Education and Culture (KAVI’ssurvey 2014)
 Challenges: no comprehensive, nationwideassessment on media skills,
digitalgaps, polarization of skills, teachertraining
 Whatdowesee as ML? Exampleframework for learningpath in media skills

6. +
 Development Centre Opinkirjo Learningpath
CREATIVE AND AESTHETIC
SKILLS
COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
CRITICAL
INTERPRETATION SKILLS
SAFETY SKILLS
1st & 2nd
GRADE
(age 7-8)
To make own stories to tell and
the ability to understand the
structure of the plotline. To
reflect own experiences and
feelings to a character in a
story
Identification and acting a
role with the help of media
Empathy and emotions
deliberated
To separate fact from fiction
and advertisements from
other content
The use of media with the
support of an adult. To
handle difficult situations.
Knowledge of the age
rating of media content
3rd & 4th
GRADE
(age 9-10)
To convey emotions with
verbal, visual and musical
impulse. Media as a source of
pleasure and joy
To understand different
points of view presented by
the media, and to verbally
keep one's side.
Conversation skills
Knowledge of genres and
narrative means. To
understand that media
contents are constructions
Safe use of internet,
information security and
to guard one's privacy
5th & 6th
GRADE
(age 11-
12)
To discern one’s own media
needs and to find one’s own
media taste
Learning together and peer
training. Knowledge of
freedom of speech and to
understand the difference
between the private and the
public sector
Knowledge of media
discourses and structures.
Ability to analyse and
manage information
To take others into
consideration and to
behave politely on the
internet
7th & 8th
GRADE
(age 13-
14)
Ethical reflection and to
analyse messages. To mirror
values and attitudes presented
in the
media
To develop one's identity
with the help of media. Role
play and playing by relating
to different experiences
To question messages and
analyse media stereotypes
To understand that media
laws are based on the
user's rights and
obligations
9th
GRADE
(age 15-
16)
To express one’s personality
and style and create different
kinds of media environments.
Knowledge of the copyright
To participate in and
influence on civic culture
and civic society
To relate media content to
former data structures.
Awareness of the contents’
commercial, political and
ideological aims
Diverse, legal and rule
abiding use of media
content and services
To find self-expression and
using one's own voice
To participate through
interaction and own activity
Critical and cultural
awareness
Safe, adequate and
contextual use of media

7. +
Curriculumreform 2016
Finnishtrends in education
 Flexibility
School-basedcurriculumdevelopment,
networkingthroughsteeringbyinformation and support
 Emphasis on broadknowledge
Focus on broadlearningobjectives, equalvalue to allaspects of
an individual’sgrowth in personality, moral, creativity,
knowledge and skills
 Trustthroughprofessionalism
Culture of trust, i.e. valuingteachers and principals’
professionalism in judgingwhat is best for students and in
reporting on progress of theirlearning

8. + Rethinking competences
Core Curriculum Draft 14.9.2014 / Finnish National Board of Education
National Goals for
Basic Education
and broad-based
Competences
- knowledge
- skills
- values
- attitudes
- will
Taking care of
oneself and
others,
managing daily
activities,
safety
Cultural
competence,
interaction and
expression
Multiliteracy
ICT-
competence
Competence
for the world
of work,
entrepreneur-
ship
Participation and
influence,
building the
sustainable
future
Thinking and
learning to
learn
Development
as a human
being and as
a citizen

9. + Multiliteracyas a broad-basecompetence
 Refers to the multimodalnature of learning
 Range of literacies: verbal, visual, auditory, numeral, kinesthetic
 Closelyrelated to thinkingskills and the ability to acquire, edit,
interpret, produce, present, assess and validateinformation in
differentlearningenvironments and situations
 Includes a broadunderstanding of text:
written, spoken, audio-visual, printed, analogordigital etc.
 Communication and diverse texts that are meaningful in pupils’
everyday life are observed and used as learning material in teaching
 Requires co-operation between teachers and different subjects
 Otherinterestingaspects in the corecurriculumdraft: programming&
BYOD

10. +
Examples on otherstakeholders
 ME in Youthwork
 City of Helsinki’sYouth Department is
renewingquidelinesnextyear
 ME willbeincluded as a guideline in
the work of city’syouthworkers
 Guidelinesinclude:
 Media education in youthwork
 Criticalmindset
 Use of media tools
 Media as a growingenvironment
 Citizenship in media
 + Renewing the Youth Act
(due to 2016)
 Otherinitiativesectors:
 Gameeducation, network of
gameeducators
 Libraries
 Media industry
 Onlineyouthwork
 Earlychildhoodeducation
 Museums
 Schoolcurators, schoolwelfareofficers
and nurses
 etc

11. +
FinnishSociety on Media Educationpresents:
Ethicalprinciples of media educator
 Key aspects: equality, well-being, activeskills
 acknowledging the diversity in children and youngpeople’s media
use and cultures
 keeping a criticalmindbutseeing the good and beneficial in media
 encouraging to becurious and open-minded
 providingopportunities for self-expression and
activeparticipationwithin media
 learning is omnipresent and based on dialogue
 understandingone’sownpersonalrelation to media

12. +
Thankyou!
 Interested in monitoring the situation in Finland?
 Click www.mediaeducation.fi
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 Contact rauna.rahja@mediakasvatus.fi