THINKING OTHERWISE
  • Home
    • Objectives - Thinking Otherwise project
    • Project partners
  • TEACHER GUIDANCE
  • LESSON PLANS: CREATED BY TEACHERS
  • ACTIVITIES: CREATED BY STUDENTS
  • Blog
Picture

JOIN THE DOTS:
CONSPIRACY THEORIES


​Teacher for Teacher lesson plan submitted by: 

TEAM UK
​for the Thinking Otherwise project
Picture

Key Idea

Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but they gain traction in times of upheaval and tension. This has certainly been the case during the pandemic. I wanted to explore how conspiracy theories come about, what common features do they have and why they spread so quickly.  

Who is it for?

20 students aged 15+
​This lesson followed on from drama activity (Feel the Emotion), but could be done as a stand-alone lesson.

Key Learning

  • ​​To build resilience by developing an understanding of the development and power of conspiracy theories
  • ​To be able to recognise the use of emotional manipulation and biased story telling in social media to support a message.
  • To be able to identify techniques used to promote conspiracy theories and scapegoating of individuals through social media channels

What do I need?

  • Tweet, for discussion stimulus:  twitter.com/Philos4Schools/status/1294340011052204032?s=20
  • ​Website, for background information on conspiracy theories: ​ ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/fighting-disinformation/identifying-conspiracy-theories_e
  • ​Handouts on identifying conspiracy theories, to support research task​ from website, above
unesco-conspiracy-english-0.jpg
File Size: 2117 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

unesco-conspiracy-english-1.jpg
File Size: 334 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File


​How long does it take?

2 x  60 mins

Step 1 - Introduction

Project tweet:  twitter.com/Philos4Schools/status/1294340011052204032?s=20
​

Ask students to write, or sketch, their responses to the stimulus, individually.
Collect and scribe key concepts/big ideas from the class arising from initial shared thoughts (prompts: interdependence, inspiration, complexity, knowledge, truth).
Begin to generate questions for further discussion:
  • ​What is a conspiracy theory?
  • How do they begin?
  • Are they a recent phenomenon?
  • What makes them attractive?
  • How do they spread?​

This would make a good stimulus for #p4c discussion pic.twitter.com/LNzqVpHptk

— Philosophy for Schools (@Philos4Schools) August 14, 2020

Step 2 - What Next?

Jot down key ideas/people that feature in common conspiracy theories/myths:
  • What connections are made to include them in the story?
  • Are the connections real or obscure?
  • Can they be tested out?

Introduce handouts and discuss origin/identification strategies for conspiracy theories.  In small groups, select a theme to research eg. UFO's, the illuminati, anti-vaccination, 5G broadband and prepare a short presentation, using key questions to analyse the theme:
  • Who is saying it?
  • When was it first said?
  • How reliable are the sources?
  • Why are they saying it?
  •  Is any information missing or misrepresented? ​​
​
​Provide each group with Conspiracy theory guidelines from UNESCO to support research task.

Step 3 - Reflection and Evaluation

  • ​Can the group list some "golden rules" for identifying misinformation or disinformation?
  • How can we "sniff out" fake news?
  • What skills do we need to develop to build curiosity and questioning?
  • ​What questions do we need to ask ourselves?
  • Is it a good idea to challenge people who believe conspiracy theories?
  • How could this be done sensitively?

Step 4 - Let's Share

A display could be made of the findings, asking questions about each conspiracy theory to promote deeper thinking, curiosity and enquiry.
Picture
Photo by Kev Costello on Unsplash
GO BACK TO LESSON PLAN MENU



The In Others' Shoes and Thinking Otherwise projects are 
co-ordinated by Global Education Derby, a specialist educational charity that works with educators to develop global citizenship.
​


Global Education Derby is a Registered Charity No. 1049591 and a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England & Wales No. 2642026.  Registered office address: 1st floor, 32 Charnwood St, Derby, DE1 2GU

Picture

  • Home
    • Objectives - Thinking Otherwise project
    • Project partners
  • TEACHER GUIDANCE
  • LESSON PLANS: CREATED BY TEACHERS
  • ACTIVITIES: CREATED BY STUDENTS
  • Blog