THE Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) hope to change “the tide of the disinformation era” with a new collaboration.

The joint project, Let’s Change the Story in Your School, comes on the back of repeated warnings from the EIS and other teaching unions over increasing classroom violence and growing misogyny directed at teachers and pupils alike.

Backing the collaboration which will offer places of learning “bespoke interventions” as part of the union’s wider work to tackle both disinformation and the far right, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “Scotland’s teachers and lecturers have clearly been saying that prejudicial attitudes and behaviours are on the rise and that they are concerned about the impact of these influences on our school communities. 

“Our members are in a unique position to support the resilience of communities, tackling division through the power of education.

“When confronted with prejudicially influenced disinformed narratives, tensions are often high and it can be difficult to know what to say. 

“Teachers and lecturers need tools to navigate these difficult conversations and confidently use their voices to disrupt prejudice.

“We are delighted to collaborate with TIE to empower both adults and learners in schools to contribute to changing the story to a more positive and hopeful one.”

A spokesperson for TIE, whose Digital Discourse programme works to address prejudicial conspiracy theories, information manipulation, and digital resilience across Scotland, said: “We are pleased to be working in collaboration with the EIS on this important work, helping to ensure that schools and staff are equipped to prevent and respond to the harms caused by an increasingly polarised digital environment, and that children and young people develop the skills needed to navigate it safely and critically.”