The media represents a crucial part of everyday communication and it has become an imperative of time and lifestyle, for which educational systems are preparing students for. Students today are commonly exposed to opposed value judgments of family, school and media; and the social system faces a challenge of how to successfully integrate all forms of media disclosure and how to change the educational system adapted to the period in which students are developing and the one they are preparing for.

UNESCO is leading global efforts on Global Citizenship Education (GCED), which is at the core of Target 4.7 of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Education. To address the perception that the concept of GCED is concerned mainly with global matters and maybe dissociated from local needs and realities, UNESCO has identified local/national/traditional precepts and concepts that are similar to the UNESCO understanding of global citizenship. As culturally relevant expressions of GCED and to contribute to building peace through the implementation of GCED, the concepts identified here can serve as entry-points to teach and learn about GCED in more locally relevant ways.

This publication provides useful information on integrating GCED concepts, principles and activities into curricula and teaching practices covering a broad spectrum of issues and pedagogies. It contains exemplars illustrating how GCED can be integrated into various subject areas. Diverse resources and materials listed in the document also offer readers a wide range of references. Underscoring the pragmatic objective of this work is the need for teachers to become global citizens themselves.

This article explores the urgent need for integrating media literacy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the educational process, especially in the face of increasing information warfare and technological changes. The authors argue that media literacy is not only a skill but a crucial tool for ensuring critical thinking and social stability. They emphasize the role of educators as primary „operators” of information and discuss how improved media literacy can make educational systems more resilient against external threats. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, the article aims to develop effective systems for bolstering the media literacy of educational staff as a pathway to achieving specific Sustainable Development Goals.

German approaches to media literacy education are concerned with the questions, how the variety of media can be used in a meaning ful way for learning and teaching and what educational tasks result from the extensive use of media. Considering these questions there are various conceptual ideas, research and development projects as well as implementations into practice in the field of education and teacher training. The development and the current situation of approaches to media literacy education in Germany are described and discussed in the article. Thereby, the focus is on media literacy education in schools.

This study examined the role of a social network site (SNS) in the lives of 11 high school teenagers from low-income families in the U.S. We conducted interviews, talk-alouds and content analysis of MySpace profiles. Qualitative analysis of these data revealed three themes. First, SNSs facilitated emotional support, helped maintain relationships, and provided a platform for self-presentation. Second, students used their online social network to fulfill essential social learning functions. Third, within their SNS, students engaged in a complex array of communicative and creative endeavors. In several instances, students' use of social network sites demonstrated the new literacy practices currently being discussed within education reform efforts. Based on our findings, we suggest additional directions for related research and educational practices.

This paper explores media literacy as the key component of agency and describes the mechanism of agency empowerment through the media education process, in an effort to find answers to the following questions: What is the key aim of media education? What is the content of media education? How media education ought to be integrated in the didactics of pedagogy and the teaching/learning process?