The British Columbia Association for Media Education

Formed by a group of teachers and media professionals, the British Columbia Association for Media Education was issued its certificate of incorporation as a non-profit society by the British Columbia Registrar of Companies in August , 1991:

–to educate Canadians about the media
–to promote media education
–to encourage Canadian cultural expression in the media


Media Education in Canada: An Overview

1960
Media education in Canadian schools can be traced back to secondary "screen education" courses that were offered in the late 1960s.

1979
The Association for Media Literacy (Ontario) formed in Toronto.

1980
Ontario was the first Canadian province to introduce media education into the curriculum in 1987.

1980
National Film Board, Pacific Region, works with a group of Lower Mainland teachers on film literacy program. Blinkity Blank, a magazine for teachers about teaching film appreciation and production, published for several years by the Pacific Region of the NFB.

1984
The Jesuit Communication Project founded in Toronto.

1990
BC Association for Media Education (formerly Canadian Association for Media Education) formed in Vancouver.

1994
BCAME contracts with the BC Ministry of Education to develop a Conceptual Framework for Media Education that was intended to guide the curriculum revisions that were to take place over the next two years.

1994
Pacific Cinematheque hires an Education Director to develop a film and media literacy program.

1995
First media literacy training institute held in the Surrey School District, BC.

1995
Ministers of Education from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon and Northwest Territories joined forces as the Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education (WCP) to develop common curriculum frameworks for Kindergarten to Grade 12 that included media literacy for the first time.

1996
BCAME invited to write specific learning outcomes dealing with media literacy for the newly revised BC English Language Arts curriculum.

2000
Summit 2000, a major international media literacy conference, held in Toronto.

2001
The Canadian Association of Media Education Organization (CAMEO) formerly established and registered.

2001-2005
Annual media literacy summer institutes held at the BC Teachers' Federation offices in Vancouver


©2005 British Columbia Media Education Association