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Available online at www.jmle.orgThe National Association for Media Literacy Education’sJournal of Media Literacy Education 3:2 (2011) 123 - 133Finnish Media Literacy Education Policies and Best Practices in EarlyChildhood Education and Care Since 2004Leena RantalaAbstractMinistry of Education and Culture, Division for Cultural Policy, FINLANDThe purpose of the article is to describe Finnish media literacy policies and good media education practices in early childhood education and care. This article will focus on describing two central action lines related to the Children and Media Program, initiated by the Division for Cultural Policy of the Ministry of Education and Culturein 2004. These action lines include the reform of the legislation for the protection of minors and the distributionof audiovisual programs in Finland, and the development of the Media Muffin project, including implementation,evaluation and publication of resource materials. In exploring these two initiatives, this paper identifies the relationship between programmatic actions that focus on teacher education and larger policy initiatives that promotemedia literacy education for young children.Keywords: media literacy, policy, national, Finland, children, culture, audiovisual, education, World SummitRecently, media literacy of young children hasbegun to gain visibility due to the expanding mediaenvironment, in particular the rise of Internet use amongchildren under pre-school age in most Western countries.In Finland, the development of media education inearly childhood education and care has been an agendafor cultural policy since 2004, alongside with the aim toprotect the minors from harmful audiovisual content.The aim of this paper is to introduce Finnishmedia literacy policies and good media educationpractices in early childhood education and care.Accordingly, this paper will describe the Children andMedia Program initiated by the Division for CulturalPolicy of the Ministry of Education and Culture in2004. The paper will focus on two central action plansrelated to the program: 1) the Media Muffin project in2006-2007 as well as the project evaluation and thefollowing publications in 2008-2011, and 2) the reformof the legislation for the protection of minors and thedistribution of audiovisual content in Finland.In this paper, I introduce recent research relatedto young children’s media use. After that, I describe theFinnish context of early childhood education and careand cultural policy, the Children and Media Action Planand the key components of the Media Muffin Projectas well as the main outcomes of a pilot study and anevaluative study related to the project. In addition, Iintroduce the main elements of the legislative reform,including policies that will come into force in January2012. Finally, I will discuss the potential implications ofthis policy and its implementation.Media and Young ChildrenIn general, research on how children use mediahas focused on school-aged children and young people.Therefore, little information has been compiled on thereality of young children’s media environment (e.g.Souza and Cabello 2010a, 9). These authors argue thatthe lack of research relates to three factors: (1) thereis limited media material aimed at young children;(2) some countries exclude these age groups fromaudience measurement systems and this age groupincludes a cohort age 0 to 2 years, for whom televisionis discouraged; and (3) the media consumption of thisage group has been underestimated.It seems, however, that in recent years theinterest in young children’s media use has increased,for instance in the United States (Rideout et al. 2003;Wartella et al. 2010), Latin America (Souza and Cabello2010b) and in the Nordic Countries, such as Sweden

124L. Rantala / Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:2 (2011) 123 - 133(Småungar & Medier 2010) and Finland (Kotilainen2011). Research on young children’s Internet use hasalso been developed, for example, in Sweden (Findahl2010). Additionally, examples of media educationmaterials targeted to very young children can be foundsuch as the Hector’s world website in New Zealand(www.hectorsworld.com).It seems obvious that the current mediaenvironment of young children is diverse as Internet useamong them is increasing. Research from the EU KidsOnline project (Livingstone et al. 2011) shows that onaverage, children are nine when they first go online, andthis age of first Internet use is dropping across Europe.The average age is seven in Denmark and Sweden,and eight in several other Northern countries (Norway,Finland, the Netherlands and the UK) as well as inEstonia. Thus, the EU Kids Online research suggeststhat online safety measures should be targeted toyounger children (Ibid.). Regarding Finnish children’smedia environment, media use begins at a very earlyage. One-year-olds are already daily in contact withtelevision. Books and TV are the most popular mediaamong 5-6-year-olds. A majority of 7-8-year-olds usea wide range of media including the Internet, mobilephones and digital games (Kotilainen 2011). One study,entitled, Children’s Media Barometer (2010) concludesthat this has implications for media education, as thereis a need to enhance the supply of information as wellas provide more opportunities for self-expression andparticipation with age-appropriate media for children.In addition, children need opportunities to have adultsupport and increased awareness concerning theirmedia use and various activities with media culture.The Finnish Governmental Context for MediaEducation in Early ChildhoodMedia literacy is a subject that relates to avariety of policy sectors in the government in Finland,such as education, communications, cultural and socialpolicies. This paper focuses on media education in earlychildhood education and care as well as the Childrenand Media Action Plan initiated by the Division forCultural Policy of the Ministry of Education andCulture. Currently, early childhood education and care(ECEC) in Finland is located within the domain ofsocial services. However, according to the GovernmentProgram of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Katainen(dated in 17 June 2011), responsibility for the daycare system will be transmitted from the Ministry ofSocial Affairs and Health to the Ministry of Educationand Culture. The Ministry of Education and Culture isalready responsible for pre-primary education as wellas the provision of morning and afternoon activities forschoolchildren. A government resolution concerning thenational policy definition on early childhood educationand care was given in Finland in 2002. The NationalInstitute for Health and Welfare gave the NationalCurriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Educationand Care in 2003. The Finnish National Board ofEducation defined the core curriculum for pre-primaryeducation in 2000, and the latest update was made in2010.ECEC is a service for children from one to 6years old and their families. Children permanentlyliving in the country have a right to participate involuntary pre-primary education during the yearpreceding compulsory schooling. A Finnish childusually starts school at the age of seven. Pre-primaryeducation and schooling are free. In practice, pre-schooleducation for six-year-olds has been implementedas a mixed model, in which the local authorities maydecide whether to provide pre-school education withinthe day-care or school system. Children attending preschool education have a subjective right to day-careas a complement to pre-school education (Heinämäki2008). The underlying core principle in pre-primaryeducation is to guarantee basic educational security forall, irrespective of their place of residence, languageand economic standing. As a whole, the system ofECEC can be described with the concept of EduCare.This concept relates to the ECEC model of a Nordicwelfare state, where care, education and instruction arecombined to form an integrated whole and where playis a central tool of pedagogical activities (Heinämäki2008).The Ministry of Education and Culture isresponsible for cultural policy in Finland. The generalobjectives of cultural policy relate to creativity, culturaldiversity and equity. The aim is to realize cultural rightsand ensure access to art and cultural services for allresidents in Finland. Media education is acknowledgedin a strategy for cultural policy as follows: “art andcultural heritage education, the system of art educationand increasingly also media education reinforce theunderpinning of culture” and the desired state ofaffairs in 2020 is that “art, cultural heritage and mediaeducation has a more visible place in society” (Strategyfor Cultural Policy 2009).

125L. Rantala / Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:2 (2011) 123 - 133In practice, with respect to cultural policy,media education relates in particular to audiovisualpolicy and children’s culture. Audiovisual policyinvolves, for instance, measures to promote digital film,television and audiovisual culture. Children’s culturemeans efforts to promote art and cultural servicestargeted to children as well as children’s own creations.That includes promoting children’s culture in libraries,media literacy and film education.The Children and Media ProgramThe roots of media education in Finland go backto the 1950s. The goal of the audiovisual education ofthat time was the critical understanding of cinema andmaking best use of the role of film as an educational tool.In the 1970s, Finland was a pioneering country in mediaeducation when the curriculum for mass communicationeducation, which had been developed in the country,was spread globally by the UNESCO. After the 1980sthe media culture re search perspective entered mediaeducation. In the 1990s, media education turned tocommunication education, including the dimensionsof expression and doing. According to researchers,the beginning of the 2000s is a more fragmented erain Finnish media education. However, digital games,the opportunities of net-based technology and socialmedia and the various combinations of media couldbe the main subjects describing the current situation(Kupiainen, Sintonen, Suoranta 2008; see also FinnishMedia Education Policies 2009).In general, the media education initiatives inFinland have mainly targeted school-age children andyoung people. This lack of young children as targetgroups in media education was a key starting point of theChildren and Media Program initiated by the Divisionfor Cultural Policy in the Ministry of Education andCulture in 2004. The original name for the program wasMedia Violence. Children and Media (Mediaväkivalta.Lapset ja media 2004). This action plan related to the2003 Government Program of the first Cabinet of PrimeMinister Vanhanen, which proposed measures aimingto protect minors from entertainment based on violence.Accordingly, in 2003 the Ministry of Educationand Culture initiated preparations for the Childrenand Media program in order to chart the differentaspects and required development areas in children’smedia environment. A number of stakeholders werecon sulted in this preparation stage1.A main principle of the program was to take intoaccount the changing media environment and patternsof media usage by children. The idea was to maximizesafety in this new situation. However, it was realizedthat with the ongoing technological development, thedistribution channels for media content will be diverseand therefore it would be impossible to protect minorsonly by controlling the distribution of content by themeasures of authorities. Therefore it was emphasizedthat in the future there would be a need to develop moreintense national and international co-operation in orderto protect the children together with the governments,media industries and parents.The Children and Media Program was publishedin 2004. The program identified nine separate areasfrom which operational con clusions were drawn: (1)legislation related to audiovisual programs that violatecriminal law, (2) legislation related to protectingminors from harmful audiovisual content, (3) researchand distribution of information, (4) new aspects ofmedia education, (5) the responsibilities of mediaindustry, (6) filtering systems usage, (7) production ofquality content for children, (8) digital inclusion and(9) supporting parents and family. These areas aredescribed more detailed in Appendix A. Overall, theChildren and Media Program includes a wide range ofactions. In what follows, I will introduce two importantoperational efforts implementing the action plan,the Media Muffin Project and the legislation reform.In practice, quite many of the ideas suggested in theChildren and Media Program have been and will berealized in these two operational efforts.The stakeholders mentioned in the action plan are: the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Justice, theMinistry of the Interior, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, theFinnish Board of Film Classification, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Finnish Customs, the Finnish Communication Regulatory Authority, Consumer Agency, the National Board of Education and the National Institute for Health andWelfare. In addition to a variety of authorities, civic organizations in the field of child welfare and media education aswell as media industries, the Finnish Film Foundation, universities and other research organizations and local schools andlibraries were involved in the preparation of the program.1

126L. Rantala / Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:2 (2011) 123 - 133The Media Muffin ProjectAn innovative initiative was launched in thebeginning of the year 2006 with the goal of improving the media literacy of young children (eight yearsold and younger), and to support professional educatorsand parents in media education. The project aimed toimprove the media education awareness in early childhood education and care, the first grades of primaryschool. and in the morning and afternoon activities forschoolchildren. The project also aimed to inform parents about young children’s media education. In addition, the Media Muffin project attempted to support theconsolidation of the position of media education in Finland by promoting the integration of media educationinto the documents governing early childhood education and care and morning and afternoon activities. Below I describe the implementation of the program andthen report on its evaluation.Program Characteristics and ImplementationThe starting point of the Media Muffin projectwas that media education refers to learning and growing up with media. Media education consists of everyday activities in day care, schools, and morning andafternoon activities, and its goal is to develop youngchildren’s ability to deal with the different messages inmedia and to participate in media culture. The projectemphasized that there is no minimum age for starting tolearn media literacy, and that the task of the educator isto get familiar with the child’s media environment andto offer safe experiences with media.The project was carried out by three civic organizations: the Centre for School Clubs, the School Cinema Association, and Media Education Centre Metka.They all receive a portion of their annual funding fromthe Ministry of Education and Culture. In addition tothese participants, the project was supported by majormedia education and teaching organizations in Finland,such as the University of Tampere. The Ministry ofEducation and Culture was responsible for the fundingof the project. The total funding during the years 20052007 was approximately 1,150, 000 Euros.The project organized training and producedmedia education materials. In the nation-wide trainingsessions, teachers and other educators were trained tolearn the basic concepts and working methods of mediaeducation and the basics of safe media use. Approximately 95 training sessions were organized and a totalof 2,800 professionals were involved in the training.Materials targeted to professional educators were sentto day-care centers, primary schools, and those responsible for children’s morning and afternoon activities.Approximately 9,000 material packages were distributed in year 2006. The materials included pedagogicalsupport to professional educators, Internet resourcesto support media education at home, and resources formedia professionals. Three kinds of printed materialswere produced: the exercise book, the media educator’shandbook, and film education materials.The exercise book Muffe and the Lost Key included activities that could be implemented by usingbasic equipment in kindergartens, clubs, and schools.The book was built around a story in which two friends,Milla and Muffe, have an adventure that introducesthem to various media tools and media phenomena suchas the child as a media consumer, media as a story-teller,emotions and feelings, the different messages of media,and the child as a participant in media culture. An audioCD that included new media-related songs and sonicatmospheres was related to the book. An important areaof media education in the book was the world of imagesin early childhood. It was noted that interpretation andcritical analysis of images is a useful exercise even foryoung children. The material suggested that analysis ofthe pictures could be implemented by using the pictureas an inspiration for writing, and that these stories andpictures could be published, for instance, at a parents meeting. Through these productions media educationcould be discussed with parents.The media educator’s handbook Media Fun!looked at media education and its concepts from children’s points of view. It aimed to improve the medialiteracy of children, professional educators, and parentsthrough theory and applied exercises that include, forinstance, optical toys to illustrate moving images. Thebook emphasized the joy of collective experience andthe importance of creating things oneself. An importantstarting point of the handbook was that media literacyis practiced not only through analysis, but also throughproduction. The book dealt with themes including stories and films, gaming, mobile phones, safe use of media, and media parenthood. In addition to the handbook,this material contained a documentary film illustratinghow small children’s media education can be implemented in every day educational work.The film education material See, Feel, and Experience! guided the educator in creating a safe filmexperience at a movie theatre, and in processing the experience through various exercises. It emphasized thatwatching a film on a big screen could be a great experi-

127L. Rantala / Journal of Media Literacy Education 3:2 (2011) 123 - 133ence and an important educational event, and preparation for it is important for the educator. When an educator raises themes that are important to the film throughcharacters or plot, they also help the child to processtheir feelings safely in the company of an adult.Program EvaluationThere were two studies related to the MediaMuffin Project. The pilot study of the Media Muffinproject was implemented by a research team from theUniversity of Tampere in Finland in the spring of 2006.They tested the Media Muffin materials and trainingprior to implementation with 16 different groups of professional educators and children in two different cities.This pilot study used multiple methods, such as contentanalysis of the material packages, interviews with theprofessional educators and children, and participant observations with the pilot groups (Kupiainen et al. 2006).The main finding was that the materials and the training increased the overall awareness related to mediaeducation among the adult participants. They began tothink about children’s safe and non-safe media use, andlearned that media can also be a resource for education,not only a threat to children’s growth. The awarenessof a

in Finnish media education. However, digital games, the opportunities of net-based technology and social media and the various combinations of media could be the main subjects describing the current situation (Kupiainen, Sintonen, Suoranta 2008; see also Finnish Media Education Policies 2009). In general, the media education initiatives in

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