Reading the Word and the World:Empowering Mozambican Health Teachers through VideoProduction.

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to present an experience related to a professional teacher development program conducted in the Republic of Mozambique with in-service teachers from the Ministry of Health. An educational program for professional development was designed to support the improvement of teachers’ skills in the use of different media in classrooms. The program was established in 15 health training institutes across the country. Data was collected from the analysis of pre- and postquestionnaires, interviews, and the materials produced (videos) during the educational program. The results showed that an important achievement of this educational program was the production of digital video as teaching material for health education. Moreover, the introduction of media literacy helped them to develop a critical vision in which teachers recognized the importance of representing the context in instructional materials, as well as promoting basic health care for the Mozambican population who are not literate in Portuguese, so that the videos produced can disseminate basic health information to improve the lives of these people who speak other languages.