Commission on Fake News… Key Findings
“Fake News”
Something to reflect on. In September 2017 the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Literacy and the National Literacy Trust launched the ‘Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy Skills in Schools.’ It’s not the catchiest of titles, but if it was relevant and urgent in 2017 then it’s even more crucial now. The final report was made available this month (June 2020) and can be downloaded at
Of the key findings, this is the stand-out one that should deeply concern every one of us:
“Only 2% of children have the critical literacy skills they need to tell if a news story is real or fake.”
Reflect on that for a moment and let the implications sink in. Other key findings include that two-thirds of children (60.6%) now trust the news less as a result of fake news, that two-thirds of teachers (60.9%) believe fake news is harming children’s well-being, and that half of teachers (53.5%) believe that the National Curriculum does not equip children with the literacy skills they need to identify fake news. The National Curriculum relates to England of course but have we any reason to believe Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence would fare any better? And judging by some of the posts we see on social media, many adults also lack the critical literary skills to fact-check too.
Our Curriculum for Excellence is not just about curricular skills (learning to know and learning to do): it is also about character formation (learning to be and learning to live together)1. It is a curriculum built on the key values inscribed on the mace in the Scottish Parliament: Wisdom, Justice, Compassion and Integrity2. If our children and young people have no skill in discernment and assessment then they are missing a key foundational skill for acquiring these values. A generation that cannot discern the fictional from the factual or the fake from the genuine will be vulnerable. They will be defenceless against manipulation and exploitation. A generation that can’t recognise truth risks losing its way and risks living diminished lives3, with potentially catastrophic outcomes.
I know school staff will face enormous pressure to grapple again with the attainment gap when pupils begin to return in August. I fear that with the disengagement of so many pupils since March, and the prospect of fragmented and partial education in the coming school year, that ‘gap’ will have become a chasm. The risk is that if all our focus and attention in the year ahead is on making up for all that’s been lost in terms of the curriculum, we may miss the equally important formation of character. Past generations who could not tell fake news from real news or propaganda from principle blithely supported the Slave Trade, the Third Reich4, Apartheid…
Chaplains and faith communities are the ideal partners for schools5. This is a time when we must be proactive in providing practical support and help. We can provide space and personnel to supplement the curricular tasks: breakfast clubs, homework clubs, IT support, physical space, classroom assistance, paired readers, mentors, etc. We can also provide vital prayer support for staff, for pupils and parents6. Perhaps we can also offer prophetic support through input and assistance on values acquisition, in life skills, on responsible citizenship, on being ‘Rights Respecting’, etc. Can we also be that prophetic voice that speaks truth to power, that challenges fake news, that helps a school community rediscover Truth7.
Steve Younger, June 2020
1 Delors, Jacques 2006 Learning: The Treasure Within UNESCO/International Commission on Education for the 21stCentury
2 A Curriculum for Excellence 2004 (Curriculum Review Group) “Wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity: the words which are inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament have helped to define values for our democracy. It is one of the prime purposes of education to make our young people aware of the values on which Scottish society is based and so help them to establish their own stances on matters of social justice and personal and collective responsibility. Young people therefore need to learn about and develop these values. The curriculum is an important means through which this personal development should be encouraged.” (p.11)
3 John 14:6
4 “Dear Teacher, I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness. Gas chambers built by learned engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians; infants killed by trained nurses, women and babies shot and burned by High School and College graduates. So I am suspicious of education. My request is: help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmann’s. Reading, writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more humane.” Mitchell, Judy 1980 Children of the Holocaust in ‘The English Journal’ Vol.69, No.7, Oct.1980, pp14-18. Published by the National Council of Teachers of English DOI 10.2307/817398. Available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/817398.
5 How Good is our School 4 2.7 Partnerships
6 https://www.prayforschools.org/
7 Here’s a useful resource for a starter: https://verificationhandbook.com/downloads/verification.handbook.pdf
