ResourcesForTeachers
Resources for Teachers
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1   What Makes a Good Story?
This is an extract from 'What makes us believe in stories?' by Arne van Batenburg, who says he's "recently come to see the world more as a set of stories rather than a collection of truths. People are storytellers by nature," he says, " sharing moments, online and offline. Naturally, some stories are more appealing than others. Some tweets grab our attention while others don’t."

The word ‘story’ isn’t clearly defined in dictionaries. "It can consist of several different elements that depend entirely on the context. Some of the elements include gossip, a lie, a fictions tale, a plot, a description, an event, a report… So what is a story, then? It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing."
"When Aristotle elaborated the principles of Ethos (the authority of the communicator), Logos (logical arguments and consistency) and Pathos (the emotional value and relatability of the message) it began to become more clear which elements a story contained, or had to contain, in order to be believable. Just as Plato and Socrates, Aristotle continued to believe that stories communicate myths, some of which contained truth. But eventually, logos always dictated the truthfulness of the story, and it was a philosopher’s job to come as close to that truth as possible."[1]
The Forces of Destruction
"Once upon a Time, in a kingdom far, far away, a dragon was keeping the entire population hostage, poisoning it with its toxic breath. The people of the kingdom forgot everything that was important: values, decency, memories of the past. The dragon made people believe they were happy. A valiant prince did not succumb to the dragon; his people was immune against the dragon’s venomous exhalations. And while the dragon and his minions repeatedly attempted to defeat the prince, he managed to defend himself and lead the charge to liberate the people of the kingdom, far, far away."
"A story can include several parallel plot-lines, but in general – the basic outline of the plots is the same. The story about the Prince who saves the Maiden from the Dragon is virtually the same as the Kremlin version of the Victory over Nazism: the Good defeats the Evil and saves the Helpless. Russia (the valiant Prince) defeats Nazism (the evil Dragon) and saves Europe (the helpless victim)."[2]
Two extract from EU vs DisInfo's five part series on 'Storytelling the Disinformation'. The challenge for a liar, it notes, "is to make the lie attractive and plausible, to make it engage the intended audience. One could note how most of the pro-Kremlin disinformation boils down to a small number of narratives, plots with a strong similarity to the fairy tale above." For some (lots of) real life examples of tall stories see below; and for more on lies and lying, try this page.
2   Help your Students Spot False News [BBC]
This is "a collection of resources from around the BBC to help your students spot fake news and false information. This content explores the social, political and economic impact of news reporting, and the skills needed to analyse and critically evaluate information across a range of media." Access the resources here.
3   Be Internet Awesome [Google]
Google announced in June (2019) that it was expanding its digital safety and citizenship curriculum for children, 'Be Internet Awesome,' to now include media literacy — specifically, the ability to identify so-called 'fake news' and other false content.
"The company is launching six new media literacy activities for the curriculum that will help teach kids things like how to avoid a phishing attack, what bots are, how to verify that information is credible, how to evaluate sources, how to identify disinformation online, spot fake URLs, and more." The courses offer kids not only instruction, but also a combination of activities and discussion starters aimed at helping them develop critical thinking skills when it comes to pursuing online resources. Access suite here.
4   The Day ─ 'News to Open Minds'
The Day is a small, independent media company providing daily news to nearly a million subscribers, mostly teenagers. It carries no advertising and no commercial messages. "We help hundreds of thousands of young people from many different backgrounds form the regular habit of spending a few moments making the connection between the world of school and the wider world around them.Like a certain famous chef who has campaigned for healthy food in schools, we campaign for clear and balanced knowledge of the world: an ‘apple a day’ for the mind."

Read more about The Day here.
5   Philosophy & Critical Thinking
•     Julian Baggini [2002]: Making Sense (Oxford)
•     Imogen Evans et al [2011]: Testing Treatments: Better Research for Better Healthcare (2nd Ed)
•     Stephen Law [2006]: The Philosophy Files (Dolphin)
•     Hy Ruchlis [1991]: How do you know it’s true? — discovering the difference between science & superstition (Prometheus Books)
•     Jeremy Weate [1998]: A Young Person’s Guide to Philosophy (Dorling Kindersley)
You might also like to take a look at Wikipedia's List of Fallacies (reasoning that is incorrect and undermines the logical validity of the argument). [3]
Logical Fallacies & Personal Biases
A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by politicians and the media to fool people. This useful website has been designed to help you identify and call out dodgy logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head. A companion website has been designed to help you explore cognitive biases and identify some of the most common biases that may be affecting your thinking.
6   Other Useful Websites for Teachers
•    National Grid for Learning [formerly London Grid for Learning] — offers a searchable 'Safeguarding & Online-Safety Resources' page on its website. You can filter your search for audience (parents, teachers, school leavers) and key stage.
•    Gapminder
•    Factcheckingday
•    Frontiers for Young Minds provides access to scientific articles by distinguished scientists that are shaped for younger audiences by the input of their own young peers.
•    NewsWise is a cross-curricular news literacy project for nine- to 11-year-olds across the UK, set up by the Guardian Foundation, National Literacy Trust and PSHE Association and funded by Google.
•    The 'Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus' website is one of a number of fake websites assembled by Phil Bradley for use by librarians and educators who want to illustrate to students that things on the net are not always what they seem. His page provides examples of "websites that are full of lies, inaccuracies or false information — either for amusement or for more worrying reasons."
7   Database of Debunked Fake Stories
The ‘EU versus Disinformation’ campaign (EUvsDisinfo) is run by the European External Action Service East Stratcom Task Force. The team was set up in Mar 2015 after the EU Heads of State and Government stressed the need to challenge Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaigns.
 EUvsDisinfo produces a weekly 'Disinformation Review' through which it have identifies and compiles a database of stories — as of April 2021, more than 11,500 stories have been debunked. They are publicly available here.
The campaigner notes that although it lists the outlets where the false stories have appeared, it does "not necessarily imply that the outlet concerned is linked to the Kremlin or pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform."

It says it "analyses messages, not the messenger. If the message is a) false, which is determined by the facts and b) originating and in line with identified pro-Kremlin disinformation messaging, it is included."

The database is searchable; and the information is supplemented by comment and analysis.
Notes
1     "This is called the rational world paradigm. A world that can be resolved by analysis and application of reason. It does not take into account the value system of the speaker nor the sender, as it is not a part of the field of science. This means that true knowledge of whether a story is true or not can only be obtained by studying universal laws or truths." For more on the meaning of 'truth' see this page.

2   Christopher Booker has identified seven basic plots, nicely summarised here. The reviewer summarises Booker belief that: "we tell stories as a mechanism of passing a model for life from generation to generation; that in essence, all stories are archetypal family dramas, and that their core message is that we must resist selfish evil.

3    If it's of interest, Humanists UK provides the following comment on  the philosophy books: BAGGINI: The editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine explores the “philosophy behind the headlines”, examining news stories for the philosophical issues they throw up: the problem of knowledge; ethics and privacy; the morality of war; faith and reason, and so on. Clearly written for the general reader, this would be an excellent Citizenship and General Studies resource for teachers and Sixth Formers . LAW: An excellent introduction to philosophy for children (top KS2 upwards) presents all the important questions in an easy to read and entertaining way that should get readers excited about ideas and thinking critically. Cartoons, visitors from outer space, arguments between friends written in everyday language, all help to make the big ideas accessible – Is there a God? Where do right and wrong come from? How do you know your parents really exist? Should you eat meat?   RUCHLIS:  This is a book which will encourage critical thinking and a respect for empirical science in 11-14 year olds by introducing them to the fundamentals of astronomy, probability theory and statistics.  WEATE:  An excellent introduction to some of the big questions through the ideas of famous philosophers, presented in a clear, chatty style. Not at all intimidating, useful for a wide age range.
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