Sir David Bell’s independent review of antisemitism in schools and colleges is a sobering read for anyone with a stake in schools and social cohesion.
Almost half of the Jewish young people who were asked said they believed antisemitism was an issue in their school or college.
What stands out is where the review locates the source of these antisemitic attitudes. It returns repeatedly to conspiracy theories and to what young people encounter online. Many conspiracy theories rest on a belief that a powerful group is secretly controlling events. Antisemitism has long drawn on precisely these kinds of tropes.
This resonates with what the has heard from students, teachers and parents, and the problem is growing.
Between the commission’s first and second years of research, the share of school staff who had a student raise a conspiracy theory with them rose from 74 per cent to 81 per cent.
Teachers told the commission they felt “ill-equipped, under-resourced and nervous” when responding, and more than half of primary staff have had no training on this at all.
Most of the teachers we hear from already understand why these conversations matter. What they ask for is practical support. That is why the Pears Foundation funded the National Institute of Teaching to establish the (CDILS).
Conspiracy theories in schools
Tackling conspiracy theories is not as simple as correcting the facts.
Seeing something online does not, on its own, explain why a young person comes to believe it. Conspiracy theories can offer neat explanations for frightening or uncertain events.
They can reinforce a sense of identity or belonging. And they gain credibility each time they are repeated or shared by people we trust.
That is why good intentions alone are not enough, and why the support we give teachers has to be grounded in research.
That matters for one of the review’s most important recommendations, which is to embed high-quality media literacy teaching in schools and colleges.
For that teaching to work, students need to do more than interrogate the source in front of them. They also need opportunities to understand themselves as consumers of information.
The psychological aspect of media literacy
This means understanding why something that confirms what we already believe can feel more convincing, why repetition makes claims feel familiar and therefore true, and why the views of groups we identify with can carry particular weight.
Psychological literacy of this kind should be part of any digital and media literacy teaching, and of the training teachers receive to deliver it.
This is why its research-informed approach with schools.
We are testing the most effective ways to help educators understand why misleading ideas take hold in the first place, including the roles of identity, belonging, emotion, uncertainty and social influence, and what that means for how they respond.
Our hypothesis is that psychological literacy is crucial if teachers and leaders are to make changes to their practice that make a real difference to pupils.
With practical training and the clear backing of their leaders, teachers can challenge antisemitic tropes when they encounter them. But schools can do more than respond after harmful ideas have taken hold.
They can help young people to understand why certain claims feel persuasive, to recognise when identity, emotion or social pressure may be shaping their judgement, and to become more thoughtful about what they believe and share.
Why it matters
Sir David has done something important in naming this link, and his review sends a strong signal that there is urgent work to do in classrooms across the country.
Media literacy deserves the same classroom-tested evidence as any other subject. If we are serious about protecting young people from conspiracy theories, including antisemitic ones, we need teaching that has been tested and shown to work.
That is what CDILS is working to provide.
Amy Braier is CEO of the Pears Foundation
Pip Sanderson is head of the Centre for Digital Information Literacy in Schools, National Institute of Teaching
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