 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Media Education
Despite the fact the media education system in Ukraine has developed steadily since the 1990s, it still lags behind many other countries Thus far, Ukraine’s media education has been implemented in select schools and universities, but still requires a great deal of expansion. There are shortcomings, but credit is due to Ukraine for its practical media education in schools, and there is reason to look optimistically towards the future (11).
Development
For many years, the development of media education in Ukraine followed closely with that of Russia. In the 1960s-‘80s the most popular form was film education in Kiev. The Ukrainian media education movement reached a landmark in 1999 with the creation of the Institute of Ecology of Mass Information by Lviv National University. The institute worked to establish a new approach to media education that, according to Fedorov, was more protective. It developed approaches to help students combat the perceived negative influence of media. Specifically, the leader of the Institute, B. Potyatinnik, referred to “developing a psychological defense against manipulation or exploitation by mass media" (11).
 |
| The University of Lviv created theInstitude of Ecology and Mass Information in 1999. |
Forms of Instruction
Today, there are two competing forms of media education in Ukraine, as identified by Fedorov. The first, implemented by educators in Lviv, uses the “protective” model described by Potyatinnik. Students develop critical thinking methods to identity and combat the influences of mass media.
The second form, created in Kiev, is called the “media didactic model” by author Alexander Fedorov. Students work to better understand the content presented across a variety of media, including print, television, radio, and the internet. Although differences in philosophy do exist, Federov cites a number of aims that are shared among all media education organizations. These include: critical thinking about the audience of media content, development of practical skills to handle media equipment, and the ability to create one’s own media content (11).
Looking Forward
The ingredients for an effective media education system are present in Ukraine, but Federov claims that is still far from widespread implementation, thanks to a number of serious obstacles. Thus far, the push for effective media education has come only from a relatively small group of teachers. They receive hardly any financial support from the Ministry of Education or state research foundations. Media education isn’t compulsory in Ukraine, and universities are in no rush to introduce media education courses. Even if these courses were created, there is still a lack of specifically trained media educators in Ukraine.
In order to improve the current system,
Fedorov outlines a number of steps that current media educators must take. They need to create a Ukrainian Association for Media Education, establish their own scientific journal, and establish a university specialization to train more media teachers. These steps will help to continue the development of media education in Ukraine, giving a reason to “look optimistically into the future” (11).