Browsing by Author "Rautiainen, Anni"

The purpose of the study was to gain further understanding of methods used in schools by primary class teachers in tackling misinformation on social media. Misinformation can be considered information that is misleading, false, or fabricated. The spread of misinformation may have severe societal consequences ranging from diminished trust in societal institutions and democratic processes to potential harm to individuals’ health. In tackling the effects of social media misinformation, experts have regarded Critical media literacy as one promising method in preparing students to discern facts from mis-information. However, teachers and their views on misinformation and necessary educational efforts have been so far researched to a lesser extent. The data in the study was collected through thematic interviews. Six primary level schoolteachers from the capital area of Finland took part in the interviews in the Fall of 2022. The data was processed by abductive content analysis. The results of the studies focused on two main themes. The first theme on views on misinformation and knowledge gained understanding of how teachers perceive information on social media. The results were aligned with some key elements of Critical media literacy, for example online factchecking practices by teachers concentrated mainly on sourcing and biases as well as on discerning commercial and political agenda. The second theme of educational efforts focused on the roles of teachers and students as well as on the methods described by teachers in tackling misinformation in schools. Interviewees suggested that building trust between the student and the teach-er, as well as being present and taking time in the school day to address misinformation concerns in the classroom are essential in tackling misinformation. Additionally, promoting sense of belonging and dialogue practices in the classroom were mentioned as important methods to decrease the spreading of misinformation in schools. All in all ac-cording to the interviewees, teachers were seen as key figures for teaching students the skills needed to navigate social media.