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Description
The project responds to the need existing in the Slovak school environment, which does little to to equip students and teachers with tools for critical thinking and open dialogue. This pre-defined project therefore aims to enrich an offer of the civic sector in the countering this situation and disturbing trends.
Project is implemented through the following components:
- Building a joint platform for countering hate speech, fake news and anti-democratic propagandaEstablishment of the platform includes of a resource centre - physical network of experts and online tools; advocacy activities (high level meetings with governmental stakeholders); organising platform events (at least two).
- Support for the development of a democratic and participatory school environment that promotes critical thinking and reflection through the development of tools and mechanisms in order to assist in teaching controversial topics such as extremism, hate speech, bullying and the Holocaust (output 3.1) through an Open School Programme. The Open School Programme was first be established by funding provided by the Ministry of Interior of Slovakia, from 2018-2020. The second phase of implementation shall be funded by PDP 1 and ensure continuity of the project. The Open Schools programme shall include: two nationwide forums; publishing quarterly newsletter; a project website. Through the project 10 youth lecturers will trained for peer-to-peer teaching, class teaching will be delivered by peer trainers, active learning methods for teachers will be provided and training for representatives of School parliament will be organised. 5-10 schools will be involved in the project.
Key target groups of the first activity include young people, looking for information on the internet and social networks, for the second activity it is elementary school children and as well as teachers. Target groups will benefit by learning new skills and tools for media literacy and democratic debate.
Summary of project results
The explosive growth of technology and democratization of online access have led to tremendous new innovations as well as to the spread of alternative media and information sources offering fake news, conspiracy theories and instigating hate-speech and anti-democratic propaganda. This fuels fears and insecurities rooted in wider global trends and crisis and nurtures disappointment with globalization and the liberal order. A specific social group at risk are young people. While reliance on the internet and social media for news is widespread, there is a low level of awareness that it can be a source of intolerance, conspiracy theories and fake news.
At the same time, the Slovak school environment does little to address these phenomena, and does not equip students – neither teachers – with tools for critical thinking, open dialogue, media literacy and democratic debate. We are witnessing the tendency of young generations to lean toward conservative values, and accentuation of national sovereignty and social distance from “otherness”. The Slovak school system bears numerous signs of low flexibility and innovation, which results in a lack of analytical thinking, unwillingness to address important and controversial issues (such as extremism, hate speech, bullying, the historical memory of the Holocaust etc), and a lack of participation in school decision-making. The system remains very top-down with little or no participation of children in the school decision making process. Frustration and disappointment generated by perceived disrespect and condescension often leads youth to passivity, withdrawal, surrender, violent protest and attraction towards non-systemic actors and solutions.
To counter the above mentioned se trends, this pre-defined project provided two interlinked pillars of action:
- Building a platform for countering the phenomena of hate speech, fake news and anti-democratic propaganda, in order to tame the elements of “un-civil society”, and counter the further growth of scurrility in public and private communication.
- Providing support for the development of a democratic and participatory school environment that promotes critical thinking and reflection, through the development of tools and mechanisms to assist in teaching controversial topics such as extremism, hate speech, bullying, the historical memory of Holocaust.
One pillar addressed the online space, where the youth spend significant part of their day, in order to bring in tools to navigate it in a reflective, critical and informed way. The second pillar opened up an opportunity to practice democracy via a democratic process in schools as the safest and earliest place where democracy and civic values can be taught. The main focus of both activities in this pre-defined project is democratic values and youth inclusion.
In line with the project objectives and with the activities'' structure, the project delivered its results in two lines:
- Building a platform for countering the phenomena of hate speech, fake news and anti-democratic propaganda, in order to tame the elements of “un-civil society”, and counter the further growth of scurrility in public and private communication.
The OSF worked with a coalition of relevant stakeholders (individuals, CSOs and media) for identification, monitoring, research, data analysis, information sharing and training to counter phenomena of hate speech, fake news and anti-democratic propaganda. At the time of the project implementation the platfor was able to actively cooperate with the public bodies, including Ministries of education, culture, foreign affairs, and defense - series of meeting and negotiations took place. The platform was able to incorporate numerous measures into operations of these resorts - including their policies, action plans or online communication. These however, were not followed by a new governing coalition after elections in 2023
The main operational sustainable results were thus those under direct control of OSF: Distribution of 5,000 educational comics about Štefánik, 6,000 Kira comics devoted to Russian invasion to Ukraine lectures and workshops on critical thinking and media literacy to Slovak schools. An online educational platform "project Hope" (Hall of positive engagement) is long-term available to address insufficient education in the topics of critical thinking and media literacy, which has been serving thousands of teachers and students throughout Slovakia.
- Open Schools Programme focused on intensive work with 5 primary schools in various regions throughout Slovakia (Veľké Ripňany, Zlaté Moravce, Zvolen, Komárno, Chminianske Jakubovany)
6 workshops at each these schools were performed - 30 workshops in the time period 09/2021 - 06/2022. The programme also delivered series of 3 discussion panels, due to covid pandemic these were held online.
A programme newsletter was additionally published quarterly and distributed to 250+ schools, CSOs and public institutions, 16 such newsletters were produced. (https://osf.sk/publikacie-vzdelavanie/ ).
Summary of bilateral results
Norwegian partners were involved the Open Schools Programme. The mail role of the Norwegian partner was their active participation in 6 workshops which took place online between October 2020 and June 2021. The aim of these meetings was to develop cultural exchange between young people from both countries involved, as well as to develop their knowledge in the field of human rights and their ability to communicate in English. Each of the meetings started with a joint plenary session where the topic, time-frame and way of working were introduced; next part of the meeting was group work; the meetings ended with a plenary session during which the main points that the students came up with in the groups were summarised. The most interesting points were discussed and the most significant findings related to the topic were highlighted. The specific topics of the sessions included e.g.: - Comparison of school systems of both countries, - Surviving coronavirus, how the situation affects our everyday lives, - What does being a member state of the EU mean for my country?- Responsible consumerism and ecological footprint of our behaviour- International solidarityIn average 20-30 students took part in each of the workshops.