by Lien Vandael, GO! Koninklijk Atheneum Antwerpen, Belgium.
What is MILES
The MILES-project tackles the issues of fake news and critical thinking in the educational sector. Run by 11 partners from 10 EU countries, the project will develop innovative approaches targeted at school teachers, students and their parents. The aim is to support them in developing media and information literacy (MIL), introducing them to the concept of pre-bunking and strengthening their data and digital literacy.
We focus on three main goals and target groups: 1) empowering teachers to develop, test and assess innovative approaches to tackle disinformation topics in the classroom; 2) improving students’ ability to critically and safely approach the online environment, bridging the gap between students and teachers in the digital world; and 3) promoting innovative approaches and evidence-based policy in education, as well as raising public awareness about disinformation and cognitive biases.
GO!’s part in the project
At GO! we are able to create impact on different levels. GO! functions on a national level, connecting 26 regional school groups and almost 1000 schools. This structure gives us access to all respective teachers within these schools. Our project team also has direct links to the Athenaeum School in Antwerp, which gives us direct access to and insight into what is happening in the classroom. Karin Heremans, principal of the school, is also responsible for the Policy on prevention of radicalisation and polarisation for the GO! Flemish education system. As an expert member of the EU Knowledge Hub on PVE/ CVE, she is able to contribute valuable European insights to the MILES-project. Furthermore, we have direct links to the broader educational community, the department of education and a broad network of experts on themes such as disinformation, fake news, (social) media. These connections have helped us to organise a successful stakeholder meeting with policy-makers, deliver an interesting first webinar, and lay the groundwork for successful training sessions to be held in the autumn.
Pre-bunking against disinformation
A key focus of the project is strengthening teachers’ skills to tackle disinformation in the classroom and help students defend themselves from the complexities of the online and media world. For this we have already created a handbook and online platforms that teachers can use. Each partner country also offers teacher training sessions.
A key tool that is taught is the introduction of pre-bunking. Pre-bunking is the opposite of debunking. Where debunking occurs after, for example, fake news has been caught, pre-bunking is a preventative technique that allows you to anticipate and counter disinformation before it spreads. Like a vaccine, pre-bunking introduces weakened versions of misleading information to build cognitive resilience.
Other themes that MILES covers and offers education on include: cognitive bias, conspiracy theories, populism and propaganda, data analysis, filter bubbles and echo chambers, and information disorder (which includes fake news).
Stronger together
One of the main purposes of the MILES-project is the sharing of knowledge and expertise. We have been able to do this with our European partners, but also quickly noticed a need for this at a local level. A lot of expertise on the topic of disinformation already exists in the Flemish context. Therefore, we chose to highlight these experts and organise expert-led activities so as to not reinvent the wheel.
Connecting these experts quickly taught us that there is a need for strengthening the ties and cooperation between them, and this is already happening successfully today. Another important learning point we are seeing is the need to hear the voices of young people. As they are a prime target of our project, their perspectives should also be taken into account.
Further goals and aspirations
In the end, we hope to mainstream pre-bunking and critical thinking in classrooms, so that the topic of disinformation can be brought up in all contexts, whether it is history class, German class or geography.
Furthermore, we hope to continue having an impact even after the MILES-project ends at the end of 2026, both through the impact we have made on teachers, the policy work we have done and the highlighting of existing expertise.
Learn more about the MILES-project here. Learn more about GO!’s MILES activities here.
Authors
Karin Heremans is principal at the Royal Athenaeum Antwerp and is responsible for the policy on prevention of radicalisation & polarisation at the GO! Flemish Education System. She is also an Expert Member for the EU Knowledge Hub on PVE/ CVE. karin.heremans@g-o.be
Jens Vermeersch is responsible for the Policy on Internationalisation for the GO! Flemish Education System. jens.vermeersch@g-o.be
Lien Vandael is an inclusive strategist and teacher. She is the MILES-project coordinator for GO! lien.vandael@atheneumantwerpen.be
Stefanie Van Brussel is a teacher and historian, responsible for the Parallel Histories project in Flanders. She is also one of the project coordinators for MILES.
