by Skyler Kelley Duval | 20 Apr 2023 | Educators' Catalog, La Jolla Country Day School, Media Literacy, Politics, United States, Youth Voices
When the business model for news corporations depends on blurring the lines between fact and opinion, how can we move from partisanship to problem solving? Photo illustration by News Decoder. In 2017, the political landscape collectively scoffed at Donald...
With news media inundating our feeds with content, youth guest author Skyler Kelley Duval dissects the blurred lines between fact and fiction. Central to being able to responsibly consume media is investment in critical thinking and media literacy education in schools. Are your students media literate?
Exercise: Read the article with your class, then introduce the CRAAP test to your students as a tool to evaluate media sources. The CRAAP test assesses sources for Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose — with a goal of determining trustworthiness. You can find an example of the CRAAP test here. Consider analyzing a media source together as a class using the test.
by Alexander Nicoll | 18 Apr 2023 | Economy, Educators' Catalog, Europe, Great Britain, Nationalism
Brexit gave the British people independence from Europe. But can the value of national sovereignty be quantified and is it worth more than economic stability? A line of trucks wait at Dover to cross the British Channel into Europe post-Brexit in December 2020. AP...
ND correspondent Alexander Nicoll dives into the post-Brexit world in this article, assessing the balancing act between national sovereignty and strong economic growth. He gets into the past, present and future Britain faces as it navigates its independence from the European Union.
Exercise: In an exercise to teach students synthesis skills, have students create a political cartoon illustrating the central tension in this article — the balance between national sovereignty and economic growth in Britain post-Brexit. How students choose to portray this tension is up to them, but they should consider including: a meaningful caption, public figures, symbols, dialogue, etc. It may be worthwhile to show the class examples of successful political cartoons to inspire ideas.
by Jim Wolf | 13 Apr 2023 | China, Decoders, Politics, United States, World
Even as the U.S. and China stare each other down, China is bridging conflicts in regions the U.S. once dominated. Are we looking at a new world order? Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, left, hold hands with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince...
Some experts say that the world is entering a period of a renewed Cold War. This Decoder from ND correspondent Jim Wolf dives into the role China plays as new allegiances are formed and countries take ideological stands on democracy versus autocracy. Help your students draw the connection between past and present with this classroom article.
Exercise: After reading the article as a class, have students create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting what the article describes as a potential “new world order” and the first Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union. For both past and present, students should consider: major world powers, alliances (including non-aligned nations), proxy conflicts/Cold War “hotspots”, effectiveness of diplomacy, ideological conflicts, etc.
by Jane Macartney | 10 Mar 2023 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Politics, Russia
The relationship between China and Russia seems to grow closer as the U.S. and China look at each other with hostile eyes. At what point does this become scary? Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, toasts with Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to the Conference...
Especially pertinent after Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow last week, this article from correspondent Jane Macartney decodes the Russian-Chinese relationship — and its effects on the war in Ukraine and beyond. While China has stopped short of providing lethal material support to Moscow, its overall trade with Russia reached a record high in 2022. Help your students understand all the moving pieces of this geopolitical puzzle with this Decoder.
Exercise: After reading the article, show students this political cartoon of Putin and Xi Jinping. Students should draw parallels between the article and the cartoon’s symbols, characters and captions. Prompting questions: Who are the characters in the cartoon? Why does Xi appear conflicted in the image? How does the image represent what Macartney described in her article? Explain to students that this cartoon was published in 2022. How has the Russian-Chinese relationship evolved since then, with Xi’s latest state visit to Moscow?
by Shefali Malhotra | 3 Mar 2023 | Africa, Educators' Catalog, Government, Technology, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
If a government agency stores the DNA and fingerprints of its residents can it serve them more efficiently or control them more effectively? (Image: News Decoder) A year after Kenya’s historic digital identity program was declared illegal, the Kenyan government is...
As more countries around the world adopt digital identification systems, concerns about the legality of such programs have come to the fore. This month, University of Toronto global journalism fellow Shefali Malhotra walks us through arguments for and against the implementation of digital IDs in Kenya.
Exercise: As students are reading the article, have them create a list of arguments for and against the implementation of digital IDs. Then, have students write a paragraph on whether or not they support adopting digital IDs in your country. The paragraph should include arguments around at least two of the following subtopics: data protection (legal), privacy (personal & commercial), internet penetration/the digital divide, potential discrimination against vulnerable groups. To extend the activity, students can engage in a structured debate with classmates after writing their paragraphs.
by News Decoder | 23 Feb 2023 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Nationalism, Ukraine
Our correspondents and youth voices tackled many facets of this complicated conflict. We give out the breadth of our Ukraine coverage to help you sort it out. People in Brovary, Ukraine on 19 February 2023 kneel at a funeral procession for the body of a man killed...
As the world marks the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we’ve put together a compilation of News Decoder coverage of the war this year. Help your students decode this complicated news event with a look at the conflict through the eyes of refugees, expats, international law and neighboring countries.
Exercise: Begin with a class discussion around the unifying question, “How might war affect countries beyond combat on the battlefield?” Students might come up with answers like: food rationing, being forced to relocate etc. Then, divide your class into four groups, each corresponding to one subheading of the article compilation (i.e. Ukrainians united, Russia responds, Refugee havens and Beyond Ukraine’s borders). In each group, have students choose one article to read together from their respective subcategory, taking notes as they go. As students read, have them synthesize the main idea of the article to share with the rest of the class. Have 1-2 spokespeople from each group share out after all students finish reading, framing their contributions around the initial class question.
by Tom Heneghan | 19 Jan 2023 | Europe, Nationalism, Religion, Ukraine
Orthodox Christians find themselves in a tug of war in Ukraine. When you celebrate Christmas is political and the language of prayer belies national loyalties. Clerics conduct a service in St.Volodymyr Cathedral on Orthodox Christmas eve in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan....
by Bernd Debusmann | 2 Jan 2023 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Politics, World
Where diplomacy balances demagoguery, should one nation be able to veto the votes of 192 others? Giving peace a chance might just be too much to ask. Non–Violence or The Knotted Gun by Carl Fredrik Reutersward, UN New York. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 Hands up if you...
Global citizenship and cross-border collaboration has never mattered more. Among the 193 nations that make up the United Nations, the island nation of Tuvalu – less than 13,000 people – has the same vote on referendums in the General Assembly as China, which has more than 1 billion people. But China also serves on the UN Security Council and so can veto any proposal. Because of this strange inequity, the UN has been unable to stop ethnically-driven massacres, genocidal persecution of minorities and other smaller conflicts. On the other hand, it is bringing the world together on climate change.
Exercise: Turn your class into a mini United Nations. Each student will get one vote. But appoint a small number of students to also serve on the Security Council. (You might choose the tallest, biggest students to emphasize the idea of power imbalance.) Have students propose changes that should be made by the school or your class. Then have the students on the Security Council see if they are willing to endorse the idea, with any one student on it given the power to quash the proposal. Then have students discuss the pros and cons of that structure and the power of the veto.
by Barry Moody | 16 Nov 2022 | Educators' Catalog, Europe, Government, Politics
Britain’s Conservative Party won a landslide in 2019. Now the Tories and their elite are the butt of jokes overseas as polls point to possible humiliation. 10 Downing Street, the official residence and office of the British Prime Minister, in London, 20 October...
Politics can seem boring to some young people. But in Britain it is anything but. Correspondent Barry Moody takes us through the musical chairs of British prime ministers and shows how political divisions inside the British government over Brexit, taxes and the economy could lead to a breakup of the United Kingdom.
Exercise: Create teams of five. Each team should choose one member to be prime minister. The other four students should each take on the roles of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They should each do some basic research on their region’s current relationship with the British government. The student who is the prime minister will research and consider the importance of having these countries united into one government. Together they will create a poster that explains the individual identities of the four countries and how they benefit or are disadvantaged by their subordination to a united government.
by Skylar Bennett | 14 Nov 2022 | Personal Reflections, Politics, United States, Youth Voices
I find a political home in neither the Democratic nor the Republican Party. Instead, saving U.S. democracy is my call to action. The author keeping tabs on the latest political news. I was in high school and too young to vote in 2016. Still, for me and many other...
