News
Kenyan teachers trained on Media and Information Literacy through UNESCO ASPnet
For three days, Ms. Lucy Kendi found herself with 53 other teachers in Nakuru—four hours away from Murang’a Teachers Training College where she works as a teacher educator—for a workshop on Media and Information Literacy (MIL). Organised by CMIL-Kenya and UNESCO, the three-day training aimed to strengthen teachers’ institutional and individual abilities to mainstream MIL in their teaching practices and lesson plans, as well as their engagements with local educational and civic activities. Like her colleagues, Ms. Kendi is associated with the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPNet), which is managed by the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO.
“The MIL training for UNESCO ASPNet patrons in Nakuru was very interactive, informative and enlightening,” she reflected at the conclusion of the event, “it has enhanced my ability as teacher educator in the 21st century to access, analyse, evaluate, and create information effectively. This is really timely for us as the world is becoming more interconnected and interdependent. We need to know how to share knowledge responsibly and ethically.”
Ms. Kendi aims to pass on the skills she has acquired from the training to her teacher trainees, who she hopes can then design better learning experiences for their learners. Beyond teaching knowledge, 21st century educators must now empower their learners to discover information for themselves responsibly and ethically too.
Like Ms. Kendi, Ms. Caroline Ndanu from Daraja Academy in Laikipia County felt more prepared to be an educator in the digital era, which has presented a myriad of challenges that educators must adapt to. Digital platforms have exacerbated the volume, virality and velocity of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation, complicating the task of teachers as discerners and disseminators of knowledge and information. Other issues include child safety online, with the advent of generative AI raising even more alarm. Against this backdrop, teachers must find ways not only to protect children, but also to empower children to protect themselves against harmful content online. For Ms. Ndanu, navigating through critical issues of internet safety at the workshop was important for her and the teenagers she engages with.
Delving into the complexities of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, I now possess effective strategies to combat them. The 5 Cs of MIL—comprehension, creativity, cultural awareness, critical thinking, and citizenship—enriched my understanding. Mastering skills for accessing and evaluating media proved to be an enlightening session, particularly in today's internet-centric era.
The training also marked the first time that Kenyan educators were introduced to the Second Edition of the UNESCO MIL Curriculum, Think Critically, Click Wisely, which aims to grow the pool of MIL literate citizens. The UNESCO MIL Curriculum approaches this task by empowering teachers to MIL literate themselves, so that they can lead efforts to integrate 21st century MIL skills at all levels in formal and informal educational institutions.
After a thorough training and practical exposure on MIL principles and pedagogy, I'm well situated as an educator to go forth and do exploits in the digital world. Thus far, in the age of information overload, media-information- literacy nexus is the compass to navigate to the truth.
Over three days, the ASPNet teachers covered a variety of topics. A series of lectures outlined the current landscape of digital literacy in Kenya, introduced MIL and Core Educator competences, opened challenging discussions on Child Online Safety, Harmful Online Content and AI, and shared informal and non-formal MIL strategies in schools. At the close of the workshop, teachers from primary, secondary and training colleges worked together to develop lesson plans and action plans to mainstream MIL in their institutions and classrooms.
The UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) connects more than 12,000 schools in 182 countries around a common goal to build peace in the minds of children and young people. The Network operates at international and national levels with three clear priorities: education for sustainable development, global citizenship education and inter-cultural and heritage learning. ASPnet schools serve as model schools to implement, validate and develop new materials and innovative pedagogies that can then be adapted to suit the requirements of schools in different regions. There are currently 188 affiliated ASPnet patrons in Kenya.
Through the training on MIL, I have come to discover that there is a sea of information that without the knowledge I got from the workshop, it would have been hard to navigate. As an educator, I now view myself as an architect of a media-literate society, constructing a foundation of critical thinking and shaping responsible digital citizens for generations to come.
UNESCO supports the development of media and information literacy for all to enable people’s ability to think critically and click wisely. This intervention is part of a series of interventions to enhance the capacities of policymakers, educators, information and media professionals, youth organizations, and disadvantaged populations in this area, assisting Member States to formulate national media and information literacy policies and strategies.
