This is an automatic English translation of the Dutch original.
Polarisation is everywhere, including in the classroom. But how exactly does it arise and, more importantly: how do you get rid of it? Pupils, students and their citizenship teachers can now learn this in two lessons, and the game Potje Polariseren.
The lessons and the game can be downloaded for free on this page. They were developed by Beeld & Geluid Onderwijs, the Albeda College Rotterdam and Post-X Society, and funded by SIDN Fonds, which stands for a strong internet for everyone.
The lessons are meant to help citizenship teachers explain how discussions online and in society can derail so quickly. This way, they can teach students and pupils to recognise texts and images that are used for framing.
They can also distinguish manipulative information that fuels polarisation from reliable information. On top of that, they recognise the techniques that amplify polarisation.
Potje Polariseren: the game
After two lessons there is the game Potje Polariseren to play in class. With it, teachers can let their students or pupils actively discover how polarisation and framing show up in their everyday, online lives.
Download the teaching pack here for free, or play Potje Polariseren yourself
The lessons and the game were developed in co-creation with students and teachers of the Albeda College. At Beeld & Geluid Onderwijs there is a strong focus on media literacy in schools. These lessons are a fine addition to the offering.
‘A fun introduction to complex themes’
Patricia van Rijswijk, News Literacy Specialist at Beeld & Geluid: ‘Potje Polariseren introduces young people, in a surprisingly fun way, to the mechanisms behind online polarisation and its consequences for society.’
‘I am therefore very pleased that Post-X Society asked us to develop two in-depth lessons that can help teachers make complex themes such as framing, polarisation and algorithms clear.’
‘You learn about polarisation by playing with it’
‘The best way to learn about polarisation is to play with it. Hence this game’, says Pieter van Boheemen of Stichting Post-X Society. He was co-developer; he brought Albeda College and Beeld & Geluid together.
‘Polarisation has something paradoxical about it’, he says. ‘Online it runs riot, while according to sociological research we actually think the same about a great many things. In these lessons you learn why it does not feel that way online.’
More information
Questions about the lesson series, our collaboration and a possible follow-up? Put them to Pieter at pieter@postxsociety.org or 06 13 92 79 57.