AMeLiE is an Erasmus+ project. It stands for Advanced Media Literacy Education to counter online hate speech and offers a blended course for teachers on the same topic.
Why this course?
The course content was defined based on the actual needs of teachers across Europe. Between February and April 2021 AMeLiE partners from Germany, Greece, Italy and Romania conducted a series of meetings with selected teachers to identify the main issues concerning the phenomenon of online hate. These meetings were useful to identify the training needs of teachers and structure the training course accordingly. The aim is to enable them to fight online hatred at school involving their students.
Teachers agreed that hostile behavior is a learned behavior, and when there is no intervention during the early years, a wrong mindset is being consolidated. This is why it is important to start teaching online respect in elementary school and to involve parents in learning programmes on the topic.
Virtual is ever more real and the boundaries between these two dimensions are slowly disappearing. This is worrying if we take into consideration the quantity of online violence and hate. Sexism, racism, judgmental hate populate the web and convey the sensation of a rude, hard, unpredictable, and unsafe world.
Training and education programmes on media literacy for teachers and parents are needed. Currently, the school system does not offer adequate tools for fighting online hate speech.
What is the course content?
Schools must promote and stimulate critical thinking, civic and human rights, develop gender studies programmes and introduce issues regarding minorities. School programmes should activate positive thinking and attitude, an empathic approach and processes that allow students to be in the shoes of hate speech victims. Respect and inclusion should be part of school curricula.
This is the aim of the AMeLiE blended course. The course is on how to address online hate speech at school and is based on the well-tested and proven methodology of Parole Ostili. Course participants will get access to an online platform, 30 ready-to-use lesson plans for all educational levels (from pre-school to high-school), case studies and examples from other countries, and a network of colleagues who are working on the same topics. Experienced trainers will answer teachers’ enquiries and facilitate discussions.
For whom?
Teachers at all levels of education (from pre-school to high school) and trainers working with young people up to 18 years old, who want to learn how to address the issue of online hate speech at school or in a non-formal educational setting.
When and where?
The blended course starts on 1st March 2022 and will continue until the end of August 2022. Learning activities will take place online and teachers from all over the world can take part. Only teachers from partner countries will be eligible for the “Kind speech day” competition. The materials will be available in English, German, Italian, Greek and Romanian languages. Experienced trainers will guide them through the materials and support them in applying what they have learnt in their classrooms.
The Kind Speech Day campaign
In addition to the lesson plans and other resources, teachers will learn how to organize a communication campaign in a school context to raise awareness about the topic and inspire students, other teachers, parents, and the whole school community to counter online hate speech and apply the principles of non-hostile communication.
The course culminates in a practical activity – all participants should apply what they have learned in their classroom and organize a local Kind Speech Day campaign in their school/with their class.
Author
Gabriela Ruseva, Programme Officer, All Digital
