Since 2015, L2D-Ed has been one of Ukraine’s largest and most successful programs working to build resilience to manipulation. The project, supported by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, seeks to integrate media and information literacy (MIL) education into Ukraine's national school curricula and teacher training programs.

Implemented in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, L2D-Ed aims to equip students and educators with critical thinking skills. MIL has emerged as a crucial tool for countering manipulative information and fostering resilience among Ukrainians due to Russia’s invasion and the ongoing war. The project provides comprehensive teacher training, develops innovative curricula, and offers resources to support educators to empower students to become informed and critical consumers of information.

• Learn to Discern in Education (L2D-Ed) strengthens individuals’ critical information engagement skills. These encompass media, information, visual, and digital literacy, enabling people to recognize emotions, biases, stereotypes, hate speech, and discrimination in the media and everyday communication.
• L2D-Ed engages a network of almost 2,500 schools nationwide.
• L2D-Ed and its partners have trained nearly 5,500 secondary school teachers in Ukraine and equipped them with L2D-Ed materials and instructional guidance to use in their classrooms.
• Since 2018, the project has developed over 300 media and information literacy lessons that have been integrated into classes on Ukrainian language & literature, history, and the arts, as well as four cross-subject teaching materials. An additional 15 cross-subject materials will be developed by mid-2025 to support a wider group of teachers across subjects and grade levels to transfer media literacy knowledge and critical information engagement skills to their students.
• The project has significantly contributed to countering malign information influences during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A May 2023 survey revealed that 99% of teachers reported increased ability to recognize and counteract manipulative information, 90% had integrated project materials into lessons, 95% noted enhanced student engagement, and 83% reported improved information analysis skills among students.

L2D-Ed aims to strengthen resilience to manipulation by strengthening critical information engagement skills among educators and students and creating demand for quality information. The program focuses on integrating media and information literacy (MIL) into the curricula of general secondary education institutions and teacher training programs.

• Training teachers on media and information literacy and supporting rollout to students.
• Integration of media literacy skills in curricula: L2D-Ed developed instructional guidance and teaching materials to be integrated into existing secondary school subjects for students in grades 8-10, as well as cross-subject materials for homerooms and teacher-parent meetings. L2D-Ed is also developing a comprehensive online course for teachers on integrating media literacy in various school subjects. 
• Providing comprehensive guidance to teachers on fostering psychological resilience and well-being through healthy media consumption during war: L2D-Ed has developed a guide and accompanying training to equip teachers with the skills and strategies to address the impact of media consumption, prevent media-related trauma, and implement trauma-informed approaches in the classroom.
• Promoting critical information consumption skills through IREX’s massive open online course, Very Verified.
• Establishing a network of project ambassadors to recognize and empower the most active L2D-Ed teachers, turning them into advocates for L2D-Ed project activities to foster a community-driven approach to promoting media literacy. 
• Hosting peer-learning events for Ukrainian educators to increase their media literacy capacities and build a sustainable network of teachers invested in MIL. 
• Strengthening partnerships with government institutions, including the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, and local departments of education to ensure long-term project impact.
• Learning from the experiences of leading countries in media literacy development, including bringing Ukrainian government officials and educators to Finland for a professional exchange program.

Learn to Discern in Education is implemented by IREX with support from the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, and the Academy of Ukrainian Press. 

Contact

Mark Skogen
Senior Project Director