Radicalization of social attitudes among young people today is an extremely dangerous problem. In the face of its unprecedented growth, it is necessary to understand how complex a radicalization process is and what its prevention should consist in. Employees of the educational system play a special role here, and they should be adequately supported. We invite teachers, educators and social workers to take advantage of a free online training course as part of the PRECOBIAS project.

The meeting was opened by IBS president and Radicalization Awareness Network expert Jacek Purski, who talked about the activities carried out by the Institute. - We combine the competence of two seemingly distant worlds. On the one hand, we have people working on radicalization, hate speech and extremism, and on the other hand, anti-terrorism education and crisis management - Purski said. The expert stressed the extraordinary multifaceted nature of the radicalization process, which is difficult to contain. He added that this is a process that affects the security of us all. As a result of the radicalization, people adopt extreme ideologies or beliefs based on various forms of violence, which can lead to fundamentalism and acts of terror. Jacek Purski also stressed that the first symptoms of radicalization are already visible among young people. An important role, at this stage, in its containment is played by the school, which should guarantee students an appropriate level of support when it is not too late, and there is no need to involve the security services. - However, teachers often lack the proper knowledge and appropriate tools to do this, and radicalization itself is still an inadequately recognized phenomenon in Poland - the expert added.

In response to these shortcomings, Jacek Purski presented the EU co-funded project PRECOBIAS - Prevention of Youth Radicalization Through Self-Awareness on Cognitive Biases, which is being implemented by a consortium of European universities and NGOs.

The goal of PRECOBIAS is to prevent online youth radicalization by increasing their awareness of common cognitive biases. The initiative is aimed at all youth workers who want to understand how the radicalization process takes place and how to contain it.

The project involved research that resulted in the development, under the guidance of Ghent University and Ludwig and Maximilian University in Munich, of a 12-hour online training course on a MOOC platform. The course is framed by case studies and contemporary examples, including those of Poland. It ends with an issuance of a certificate signed by both universities. In addition, the project includes guidebooks for teachers and educators to conduct classes with young people, along with exercise books. The training and materials are free of charge.

In turn, the chairman of the Committee for Social Dialogue of Polish Chamber of Commerce (KDS KIG -Polish acronym), Konrad Ciesiołkiewicz PhD, spoke about his experience in participating in the course. He stressed that: “the program is a unique combination of critical thinking education that is crucial today, psychoeducation on cognitive distortions, civic education and the ability to find oneself in the digital media world.” The chairman presented the 10 most experienced cognitive distortions, including, but not limited to, the inner and outer group effect, the authority effect, positive retrospection, group opportunism, and hostile media phenomena. All distortions, discussed during the course, are backed by examples and tips on how to apply the acquired knowledge in life. For teachers and educators, additional guidebooks have been prepared for conducting classes with young people, along with exercise books.

To encourage participation in the project, a coalition of partners was formed, which, in addition to the Center for Analysis of the International Institute for Civil Society and the Committee for Social Dialogue of the Polish Chamber of Commerce, also included the Polish Teachers' Union, “Głos Nauczycielski”,  “Więzi” Laboratory, Prof. Bronisław Geremek Center Foundation, Warsaw Center for Educational and Social Innovation and Training (WCIES -Polish acronym) and  School with Class Foundation.

Registration for free training: https://mooc.precobias.eu/

We encourage you warmly to read the materials and participate in the training!