Children, images, new media: here is the manual for educating “digital natives”, from the first year of age. From Coopselios a practical tool for teachers and parents.
Digital images have become central in the lives of young children from their very first years: enormous quantities of authentic and manipulated images converge and coexist on tablets, televisions, PCs, and smartphones. Can they become a teaching tool? “Educating about images and media. A manual for conscious use from 0 to 11 years” (ed. Spaggiari Junior) is a book commissioned by the Coopselios cooperative, specializing in early childhood services, as a practical guide for educators and parents: it proposes concrete activities, workshops, and field experiences for learning through 2.0 images. These innovative educational paths, tested in the Reggio Emilia area, are already a reality at the “Le Corti” nursery in Correggio (RE). The book will be presented on February 19 at the Asioli Theater in Correggio by the curator Sabrina Bonaccini, Technical Director of the Coopselios Educational Area, along with Lorella Zanardo – author, documentarian, and writer – who supervised it.
Today’s children, from a very young age, are immersed in a world of images mediated by screens – especially smartphones and tablets – in an invasive way: according to the CNR Institute of Neuroscience, it is possible that in the future, alongside language centers, which are located in the left hemisphere of the brain (for right-handed people), centers for digital language will develop. Italy, however, still lags behind in media literacy, while the need to protect children’s development in the face of media content is an urgent, no longer postponable issue that involves teachers, educators, and parents. For this reason,
Coopselios, a social cooperative always very attentive and committed to promoting contemporary educational issues, has produced with the supervision of Lorella Zanardo the book “Educating about images and media. A manual for conscious use from 0 to 11 years”, published by Spaggiari Junior and edited by Sabrina Bonaccini, Technical Director of the Coopselios Educational Area. The volume serves as a compass on these topics and follows three guidelines that are also the objectives to be achieved for a correct “media diet” for our children: the first concerns the promotion – among children, teachers, and parents – of awareness and skill in looking at and understanding incoming images, learning to recognize the distinction between fiction and reality, and taking action to report images deemed harmful, discriminatory, or an affront to dignity. The second aims to promote the ability to manage one’s own image by understanding its value, implications, and consequences over time, as well as the behaviors associated with it, in order to protect oneself with respect for oneself and others. Finally, the third relates to the creative aspect: promoting skills and knowledge to learn to “make media”, i.e., to conceive, design, and create messages and content to be promoted in the “mediasphere”.
The book offers numerous concrete educational proposals already tested and aimed at teachers and educators who wish to embark on a research journey with children aged 0 to 11 years. These innovative educational paths, tested in various facilities in the Reggio Emilia area managed by Coopselios, are already a reality at the “Le Corti” Center for Creative Experimentation for Early Childhood in Correggio (RE): the center serves as a laboratory for digital culture, where ideas, resources, and opportunities are shared. Creative workshops, exploratory contexts, and innovative knowledge become important learning opportunities at the “Le Corti” Center.
The Authors
The volume is edited by Sabrina Bonaccini, Technical Director of the Coopselios Educational Area and a pedagogue who for 26 years has been involved in designing educational settings that support children’s potential, as well as in training, research, and innovation in the field of educational services. The text is the result of collaborative work and includes various contributions from those working directly in the services (pedagogues, teachers, workshop leaders, and parents) and features the important contribution and supervision of Lorella Zanardo e Cesare CantĂą. Lorella Zanardo is an author, documentarian, and writer, co-author of the documentary “Il corpo delle donne” (The Body of Women) and the book of the same name published by Feltrinelli. With Cesare CantĂą, she is the creator of the educational program “Nuovi occhi per i media” (New Eyes for Media), which proposes image education for young people as a tool for active citizenship.
The Event
Coopselios, in collaboration with the Municipality of Correggio (RE), promotes and organizes the meeting “Educating about images and media to become conscious citizens,” with the participation of Lorella Zanardo, author, documentarian, and writer. The event will take place on Monday, February 19 at 4:30 PM at the Asioli Theater in Correggio.
The event, open to the public and particularly to families and teachers, aims to focus the debate on the influence that images have on everyone’s lives, especially on children. It is an opportunity for discussion and exchange to reflect on the importance of supporting children, teachers, and parents in being aware and skilled in understanding the quality of incoming images, and in consuming them consciously and not passively. Only in this way can we educate and foster “active citizenship”.
Book Details
Author: AA.VV. edited by Sabrina Bonaccini
Title: Educating with Images and Media. A Manual for Conscious Use from 0 to 11 Years Old
Publisher: Spaggiari Junior
101 pages
€ 20.00
ISBN 978-88-8434-822-7
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