Contribution to media literacy in the Caribbean

Partnership
Initiative

Background

The Universidad de Cantabria - University of Cantabria, UC (Spain) and the Red Interuniversitaria Euroamericana de Investigación sobre Competencias Mediáticas para la Ciudadanía - Euro-American InterUniversity Network for Research on Media Literacy for Citizenship - ALFAMED (Spain) have been working for years in the field of media literacy with outstanding tangible results in terms of training, research and knowledge transfer. More than 150 researchers from 19 countries are participating in the Alfamed network, working on research projects that have resulted in publications in books and prestigious scientific journals, as well as the edition of the Alfamed Media Education Curriculum for teachers.

The Asociación Boliviana de Investigadores de la Comunicación - Bolivian Association of Communication Researchers - ABOIC - and the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador) both have extensive knowledge and experience in communication, especially in the promotion of media literacy for citizens and activities related to media education.

The Ministerio de Educación de República Dominicana - Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic - is the entity in charge of designing and implementing public policies, strategies and work plans to reach SDG 4, thus contributing to the reduction of inequalities in society. It has requested the support of the partner entities of the Partnership to design a training plan in Media Education that is tailored to their respective context.

The Alfamed network has been a pioneer in Euro-American collaboration on media literacy since it was founded in 2014. The network is comprised of partners from 19 countries, including members of the Partnership member entities. Numerous training, research and transfer activities have been carried out between the different partner countries, including congresses held in recent years, strengthening the network. The congress held in the Dominican Republic in 2019 highlighted the Ministry of Education's interest in improving media education for its citizens, for which the implementation of the Alfamed Curriculum will be a crucial element.

Entities and roles

Beneficiary entities

Ministerio de Educación

Dominican Republic

First provider entities

Asociación Boliviana de Investigadores de la Comunicación

Bolivia

Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja

Ecuador

Second provider entities

Universidad de Cantabria

Spain

Red Interuniversitaria Euroamericana de Investigación sobre Competencias Mediáticas para la ciudadanía

Spain

Development challenges

The Dominican Republic has demonstrated its firm commitment to quality education, allocating more resources to promote education as an essential resource, not only for individual development, but also for social development. In keeping with this commitment, the country has identified the need for teacher training in media literacy as a tool to help achieve SDG 4.

Through the application of a proven media education methodology and the design of a training plan that is adapted to the country's context, the Partnership entities will generate a training model that will be adopted by the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic and which can be replicated in other similar contexts.

This Triangular Cooperation Initiative aims to share the expertise of the Partnership entities to design and implement an education plan that will strengthen knowledge, skills and attitudes to achieve media literacy, characterised by a comprehensive approach to education and oriented towards fostering more equitable societies.

Triangular approach

Achieving a more sustainable and equitable society requires ensuring solid training as a means to reduce inequality among the most vulnerable groups, such as out-of-school youth. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the lack of educational opportunities for these groups, jeopardising the prospects of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This is why the need to implement effective measures to reduce inequalities and ensure development opportunities for the most vulnerable is so pressing.

This Initiative is committed to harnessing the knowledge and experience of leading European and Latin American entities in media education to contribute to the development of media literacy skills for all Dominican teachers, thus promoting the empowerment of young Dominicans to become active members of society, focused on equality and solidarity, promoting social cohesion, reducing the gender gap and advancing human rights.

Thanks to the coordination of the Alfamed Network, the knowledge generated through the Partnership will be available to all members of the Network, thus enabling the application of this knowledge well beyond the scope of the Initiative.

Sectoral approach - Contribution to the 2030 Agenda

Primary SDG

Goal 4.C By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing states

Secondary SDG

Goal 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

ADELANTE SDG

Goal 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Goal 17.9 Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation

Goal 17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

Territorial approach

Intervention methodology

The Partnership aims to design and implement a training plan for teachers in the Dominican Republic that will promote knowledge, skills and attitudes related to media literacy. Through the planned activities, the Beneficiary entity will benefit from the knowledge of the partners, who will design a training plan adapted to the Caribbean country. By extension, this will be applicable to other countries in the region of Latin America.

The work plan is structured in a sequence of four activities that will lay the foundations and set the stage for the design of a training model, to be adopted by the Ministry of Education and other public entities and universities in the country.

It will kick off with a face-to-face seminar in Santo Domingo, attended by representatives of the five Partnership member entities, where they will work together to lay the groundwork for the implementation of the training programme. A working group is planned, in which different institutions in the country, in addition to the Beneficiary entity, will discuss their needs and expectations regarding the implementation of the Alfamed Curriculum, in order to enhance quality education through media literacy. At the same time, a roadmap for the sustainability of the Initiative and the means to promote it will also be established, as well as the research process to be carried out in parallel to the implementation of the training plan.

The second activity will consist of a course, based on the Alfamed Curriculum, which will be designed and implemented entirely by the Partnership member entities. It will be designed for teachers of young people over the age of 15 and non-literate adults in the Dominican Republic, so that 100 teachers will benefit from the training, and students from those schools will also participate in the course. The training will strengthen the media literacy of both teachers and students, focusing on the gender gap, the SDGs and the Human Rights-Based Approach.

In parallel, a study will be conducted by researchers from the Alfamed Network and the University of Cantabria, which will obtain and analyse data on the initial and final level of knowledge of participants in the training course in order to validate the effectiveness of its design and implementation. A quantitative and qualitative research methodology will be used, so that data can be triangulated and information relevant to the scientific and academic community may be obtained. Information relevant to the authorities responsible for the training design in the four countries participating in the Partnership will also be obtained. The findings and conclusions of the study will be published afterwards.

As a closing activity, a face-to-face seminar will take place in the Dominican Republic to assess the implementation of the training programme and to present the potentially transferable training model in the country. The activity will include a work programme to foster partnerships among all participants and stakeholders to ensure the implementation of the training model produced through the Initiative.

As an outcome of the knowledge generated, the Partnership as a whole will be in a position to take responsibility for fostering significant changes in citizen education, with a special focus on the most vulnerable youth. The involvement of the partners in all activities, and consequently, in the design of the course and the resulting training plan, will ensure the continuous exchange of experiences and good practices, with the creation of a permanent working group that will enable a broader impact.

Direct beneficiaries (individuals)

According to Rule 9 of the Guidelines for Applicants: all persons participating in the activities of the Initiative.

This initiative has more than 200 direct beneficiaries, divided into three different groups. On the one hand, there are 100 teachers in the Dominican Republic who have been selected for their work with vulnerable youth and adolescents. They will benefit from a media literacy training programme that will enable them to teach the Alfamed Curriculum in their classrooms. In addition, there are approximately 20 officials from national public entities in charge of defining the country's strategies to achieve SDG 4, and another 15 employees of national universities and academic entities who will benefit through their participation in the Initiative's training activities.

On the other hand, approximately 80 people affiliated with the Partnership member entities will directly benefit, contributing their knowledge and expertise to the various lines of work that will be carried out throughout the Initiative, in order to design the training model that will be adopted by the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic.

It is worth highlighting the powerful capacity of the Initiative to reach the final beneficiaries, once the Alfamed Curriculum is implemented by the beneficiary teachers and the training model adopted by the entities working with the Ministry of Education.

Budget

EU contribution: 104,732.90 €

Co-financing - Triangular Cooperation Partnership: 50,400.00 €

Total budget: 155,132.90 €

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