Discussion: Media literacy & gender stereotypes at school
The program “School of No Bias” is a long-standing initiative by WHEN aimed at promoting gender equality and inclusion within the school environment, with a strong focus on education and everyday school practice.
The third cycle of the program focuses specifically on media literacy and the ways in which mass media, advertising, digital content, and social media form perceptions around gender, identities, and social roles.
In this context, WHEN is organizing an online discussion on Thursday, February 19, 16:30–18:00. Participation is free of charge, with mandatory pre-registration
During the event, we will present the educators’ handbook developed within the framework of the project, which connects media literacy with gender equality. We will also address a real and well-documented gap in the educational landscape: although children and adolescents are constantly exposed to media content, schools do not systematically equip them with the tools to understand it, critically evaluate it, and dispute it. The content that influences their attitudes, expectations, and perceptions is not primarily what is taught in the classroom, but what they encounter every hour of their daily lives, images, videos, news, advertisements, influencers, and digital narratives. How, then, can we support children in becoming critical consumers of media and, in turn, creators of more inclusive media narratives?
These and other questions will be explored during the event, which is addressed to educators, members of the academic community and civil society, journalists and media content producers, parents, and anyone interested in issues of gender equality in the public sphere.
In this meaningful discussion will be Sissy Alonistiotou, Journalist, and Vasiliki Nika, Laboratory Teaching Staff (EDIP), Department of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), PhD in Media Education. Both contributed to the design and critical review of the handbook. The aim of the event is to open a constructive dialogue around the importance of preparing children of all ages for today’s media environment and to share practical tools that can help integrate this goal into our everyday interactions with them.
The third cycle of the School of No Bias project is implemented by WHEN as part of the programme “POWER – Promoting Organisations’ empoWErment to guarantee women’s human Rights and stop gender violence”. POWER aims to empower Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Italy, Greece and Spain to protect, promote and foster broad recognition of the fundamental rights of women and femininities, as well as to combat gender-based violence.
POWER is co-funded by the European Union through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV – 2023 – DAPHNE).
