Pears Foundation and Public First launch the Commission on Countering Online Conspiracy in Schools

Pears Foundation and Public First are proud to announce the launch of the Commission on Countering Online Conspiracy in Schools.

Chaired by Sir Trevor Pears CMG, Executive Chair of the Pears Foundation, and Sir Mufti Hamid Patel, CEO of Star Academies, the Commission has kicked off perhaps the biggest ever inquiry into how online conspiracy theories, as well as misinformation and disinformation, are manifesting in the classroom.

The project will use qualitative and quantitative research with students, teachers and parents to find out how each group understands the problem and how they think it should be tackled. The Commission will also hold a number of expert evidence sessions.

Funded by the Pears Foundation with a secretariat provided by Public First, the work of the Commission and the inquiry will be squarely located in schools. It will ask how schools and teachers can be supported to best counter the threat of various conspiracies and disinformation campaigns among their students.

The Commission has been clear that the output of this work must be helpful to school staff and school leaders, and specifically not add to their workload or pressure. It will report in the Autumn.

The full Commission will be made up of:

Co-Chairs

Sir Trevor Pears – Executive Chairman of the Pears Foundation

Sir Mufti Hamid Patel – CEO of Star Academies

Commissioners

Helena Brothwell – Senior multi-academy trust executive, until recently director of School Improvement at the David Ross Education Trust

Professor Arthur Chapman – Professor of History Education, UCL Institute of Education

Gareth Conyard – CEO, Teacher Development Trust

Smita Jamdar – Partner and Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau

Chris Morris – CEO, Full Fact

Ndidi Okezie – CEO, UK Youth

Dame Alison Peacock – CEO, Chartered College of Teaching

Melanie Renowden – CEO, National Institute of Teaching

Sara Sinaguglia – Assistant Vice Principal of Teaching & Learning, history teacher, UCL Centre for Holocaust Education Beacon School lead teacher

Rachel Sylvester – Columnist at The Times, chair of both the Times Education and Health Commissions

Simone Vibert – Head of Policy and Research, Internet Matters

Sir Trevor Pears said: “We initiated this Commission because of concerns about the increased spread of disinformation and conspiracy belief amongst younger age groups. It is alarming that there appears to be little support to help schools better understand their students’ online lives and how to respond to conspiracy beliefs when they appear in the classroom. We hope to shed light on these issues and provide recommendations that will give practical support to schools, parents and policy-makers. From young people’s wellbeing, to education to mental health, this Commission sits at the intersection of a number of areas in which Pears Foundation has invested for over two decades. I look forward to hearing from the experts and engaging with the findings.”

Sir Mufti Hamid Patel said: “School leaders and teachers know just how pressing an issue online conspiracy and misinformation has become in the lives of the young people we educate. But we need to know more about the problem, and how we, as educators, can support our students to better understand the stories they are presented with, and differentiate them from reality. I hope the Commission will make a substantial contribution to this cause.”

Ed Dorrell, partner at Public First said: “This is one of the most interesting projects the education practice at Public First has ever been asked to undertake. We know empirically that online conspiracy, misinformation and disinformation are proving to be a huge challenge for schools and teachers, but to date no one has ever attempted to really find out what’s going on using the type of methodology that Public First excels at. We ground all of our work in the lives of teachers and students and we are determined that the output of this project should be no different – we want this to be actionable and useful for school staff, educationalists and policy-makers alike.”