Delivering the navigate strand | FE Colleges

Key topics

• Social and political issues.
• Misinformation, disinformation and fact checking.
• News sources, media and bias.
• Social media and algorithms.

Why the Navigate strand matters in post-16 settings

We are living in an age of a rapidly changing political landscape. With new technology, media and social media can help young people keep up to date with such changes and receive immediate updates like never before, enhancing their world knowledge and improving their political literacy at a younger age. It is important that learners develop media literacy skills to think critically about the media, analyse how media messages are created, by whom and for what purpose. Post-16 learners are engaging with new and traditional media sources, whilst simultaneously developing their political identities.

It is important that learners are aware that misinformation and disinformation exist, and that they can identify and counter examples of each. Both can spread rapidly, influence public understanding, and affect trust in information sources and democratic processes.

It can be easy to become misinformed about important social and political issues, particularly on social media, where algorithms can contribute to narrowing the range of perspectives that users see.

Therefore, learners need to be made aware of how political bias can impact some news sources and channels and how information, particularly on social media, may not be accurate. Ultimately, learners need to learn to question the validity of the information and the source they have come across, in turn improving their media literacy.

Post-16 learners should be supported to analyse media critically. An article being biased does not automatically mean it is inaccurate, however learners should be able to identify the source’s perspective, assess the purpose and audience, and check claims against reliable evidence. Learners should also be introduced to a wide range of opinions so they can make up their own minds and better identify bias in the future.

My approach

How I would teach this strand:

• This strand lends itself well to discussion-based classroom activities exploring the social and political issues of which learners are already aware. This approach is particularly suitable for further education, as many learners aged 16–19 are likely to recognise prominent political figures and be familiar with current policies and debates. Increased exposure to social media and other online news sources may also mean that learners have already formed opinions on certain issues.
• This provides a valuable starting point for learning. The teacher can encourage learners to consider how the media has shaped their political knowledge and influenced their views.
• The discussion could then lead into activities in which learners analyse news reports and social media posts, compare different representations of the same issue, and identify bias, misinformation and so-called “fake news”.
• These activities would help learners evaluate sources critically and develop the media-literacy skills needed to engage with political information responsibly.

Advice to teachers:

• Discussion-based activities surrounding key social and political issues can generate an emotive response. It is therefore important to ensure clear expectations are set which emphasise that opinions are valid, but causing deliberate offence to another is not. Before beginning discussions on controversial issues ensure you have created rules for the conversation.
• It is also imperative that teachers remain politically neutral, as per the teaching standards. The teacher’s role is to be a facilitator in the discussion, to generate a respectful and informative discussion to highlight different points of view.

Engaging young people:
For less engaged learners or for groups where a discussion-based activity is not practical, the teacher can highlight a couple of key social and political issues of the day, before learners work on their assigned tasks. To further engage learners, teachers could use examples about local politicians/issues, or allow learners to choose a topic that matters to them.

If you can only do one thing…

Ensure that young people are thinking critically about the media they are consuming. They should be able to recognise when they are only receiving one viewpoint and actively seek out additional information.

Where this fits into the curriculum

• Tutorial time: learners are often from mixed abilities and a variety of subject classes, creating a varied group of learners for discussion and group work which is likely to generate mixed opinions. Media literacy should also be included within other tutor lesson plans to strengthen the skills and reinforce that the skills should be consistently applied when consuming media.
• A Level Politics: Media literacy is crucial to political literacy, helping to develop learners’ overall critical thinking skills. Politics lessons are also an opportunity to explore the influence of the media on voting behaviours and election outcomes.

Key resources

If you have 30 minutes or less… 

• Have a short discussion surrounding what key social and political issues learners are already aware of, where they get information about these, and whether they think this source of information is reliable.
• Then, introduce the concepts of mis- and disinformation using Mini-lesson 1, The Electoral Commission and Shout Out UK.
• Learners should develop skills such as articulating views, media literacy, and identifying misinformation.

1 hour…

• Lead an initial discussion-based activity in the classroom surrounding what key social and political issues they are already aware of and where they get information about these from.
• Then, introduce the concepts of mis- and disinformation using Mini-lesson 1, The Electoral Commission and Shout Out UK
• AI technologies in our everyday lives: Mini-lesson 2, The Electoral Commission and Shout Out UK - Time permitting, use this mini lesson to see how accurately learners can identify this online.
• Lead a plenary discussion on how reliable learners now believe their originally mentioned sources of information are.

1-3 hours…

• Lead an initial discussion-based activity in the classroom surrounding what key social and political issues they are already aware of and where they get information about these from.
• How can we protect ourselves from misinformation?, What is the social impact of digital media within a democracy and Should the media ever be censored? From Oak National Academy - Use all three lessons and allow time for discussions of content and activities.

4-6 hours…  

• Lead an initial discussion-based activity in the classroom and deliver the three Oak National Academy resources as above.
• Then, give learners in their groups a key social or political issue to research and find how different media outlets, newspapers, news channels and social media accounts have presented the story. Use the BBC’s headlines as a starting point for topics.
• Misinformation toolkit, Full Fact - Learners can use this to further support their research.
• Students can present their findings, highlighting the similarities, differences and any misinformation they find.

6 hours plus…

• Lead an initial discussion-based activity in the classroom surrounding what key social and political issues they are already aware of and where they got this information from.
• How does the media hold those in power to account? Oak National Academy - Use this selection of lessons activities and worksheets, allowing time for discussions of content.
• To extend further, follow the steps for 4-6 hours above.

Considerations for learners with additional needs

All learners consume media, thus it is crucial that all learners are able to critically assess what they are reading and viewing. Consider:

• Assess different types of media, including print, online, and videos. This can include both traditional and new media.
• Build vocabulary. Students should have a shared vocabulary to discuss media literacy. Frequently come back to definitions, adding complexity as learners become more familiar with key concepts and ideas.
• Ask similar questions throughout to build cognitive routines. Questions like: Whose perspectives are we hearing? What perspectives are missing? What sources are used to support the claims? can all help to build comfort and familiarity.
• Examine images that accompany media, or that tell a story. Start by asking learners to assess what they see and expect the story to be about before moving into text.
• Use consistent questions across different activities and subjects so that learners begin to recognise media literacy as a transferable skill. Some learners may struggle with research tasks and become overwhelmed with the amount of internet information available. Therefore, additional prompts and pre prepared/printed research may be needed as a starting point to guide learners.
• Some current political and social issues may be emotive/triggering to some learners. Therefore, teacher discretion is needed to ensure the case studies/examples used are appropriate for the learners and setting.