Leadership

Could religious education in schools combat radicalisation?

A speech at the inaugural annual conference of the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education has suggested that a greater level of religious education in UK schools could help to combat the issue of radicalisation. But is religious radicalisation really an issue in schools - and if so, can a greater focus on RE really help?

The religious radicalisation of Britain’s youth is a hot topic at the moment, with a highly-publicised spurt of young men and women leaving the country to fight with extremists abroad. But does this problem find its roots in our schools? And if so, could a greater focus on religious education help?

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      string(5998) "10Vol 6.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comTrendsExtremismThe religious radicalisation ofBritain’s youth is a hot topic at themoment, with a highly-publicisedspurt of young men and womenleaving the country to fight withextremists abroad. But doesthis problem find its roots in ourschools? And if so, could a greaterfocus on religious education help?Could better RE inschools combatradicalisation?Ed Pawson, the chairman of NATRE, stated at theirrecent conference that the development of‘religious literacy’ in young people in the UK couldhelp to make them less vulnerable to religiousradicalisation. This is an important claim, since reportsfrom the Department for Education and Ofsted haveshown that the threat of radicalisation in UK schools isvery real.In December 2012, The Telegraph revealed asecret memo from the Department for Education,which accepted that tackling extremism in both stateand private schools was proving to be a problem foreducation officials. The memo also highlighted concernsabout 118 faith schools throughout the UK, claimingthat students at these schools were at risk of beingradicalised. These claims were made not only as a resultof the lack of multi-faith teaching at the schools inhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30989933http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30989933http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9750428/Extremism-unchecked-in-schools-secret-briefing-reveals.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9750428/Extremism-unchecked-in-schools-secret-briefing-reveals.html11Vol 6.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comTrendsExtremismquestion, but also due to the encouragement of pupilsto remove themselves from mainstream society, aswell as reports that school governors may have links toknown terrorist groups.In December 2014, Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir MichaelWilshaw warned that pupils at six Muslim privateschools in East London were placing their pupils at riskof radicalisation and extremist views, with the focus of allsix schools too heavily biased towards Islamic teachings.Inspectors found that the curriculum of one of theseschools focused entirely on Islamic themes, with pupilsbelieving it was wrong to learn about other religions,while students at one of the other six schools wereunaware of any differences between British and Sharialaw. The report made it clear that these schools wouldbe shut down unless sufficient changes were made toprepare students for modern British life.Children who are at risk of radicalisation, said BorisJohnson in March of 2014, are victims of child abuseand should be protected. His opinions were voiced inreference to those who are radicalised by their parents –but should those at risk of radicalisation by their schoolsbe seen in the same way?The need for effective religiouseducationReligious education (RE) lessons are designed to givestudents a strong basis of knowledge and understandingof a multitude of both religious and non-religious beliefs,and to help them to understand both common anddivergent views between different faiths. Now that welive in a truly multi-cultural and multi-faith society, goodreligious education has never been more necessary.However, the number and quality of RE teachers isfalling steadily across the UK. In October 2013, Ofstedpublished a report entitled ‘Religious education:realising the potential’, which claimed that over half ofschools were failing students on the topic of religiouseducation. The report highlighted the fact that RE lessonsmake ‘an important contribution to pupils’ development,both personal and academic…by promoting respect andempathy, which are increasingly important in an evermore globalised and multi-cultural 21st century’.Six out of ten schools examined for the Ofsted reportwere found to be failing to realise the full potentialof religious education as a key part of the schoolcurriculum. Of particular note are the weaknesses thatOfsted highlighted, namely training gaps, weak standardsof teaching, flaws in the ways in which the religiouseducation curriculum is examined, and confusion overthe purpose of this important part of the curriculum.The state of current RE teaching can be seen in thedata behind the Department for Education’s report,‘School Workforce in England: November 2013’, whichhighlights that just 46.8 per cent of RE teachers workingin publicly funded secondary schools hold a post A-levelqualification in a subject relevant to what they teach. Thisfigure pales in contrast to subjects such as mathematicsand history, whose post A-level figures of 77.6 per centand 72.8 per cent respectively demonstrate that theteaching of religious education could benefit fromadditional training.Now that we live in atruly multi-cultural andmulti-faith society, goodreligious educationhas never been morenecessary.“”http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30129645http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30129645http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10671841/The-children-taught-at-home-about-murder-and-bombings.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10671841/The-children-taught-at-home-about-murder-and-bombings.htmlhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-than-half-of-schools-failing-pupils-on-religious-educationhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-than-half-of-schools-failing-pupils-on-religious-educationhttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-201312Vol 6.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comTrendsExtremismIt’s evident that good quality RE is becomingincreasingly important in schools as our"
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Leadership

Could better RE in schools combat radicalisation?

11 May 2015

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      string(5666) "would enable police,prosecutors and councils to have a better understanding of the prevalence of anti-Muslim hate crime and allocate resources accordingly.And in January, Education Secretary Nick Morgan launched an ‘Education againsthate’ website as part of a renewed drive against all forms of extremism.News stories frequently trigger anti-Muslim incidents. Now it’s to the pointwhere we ask: what’s it going to be today? It’s a constant cycle, and such anti-Muslimsentiments can’t help but trickle down into our school system – with a profound impacton Muslim students nationwide.What can schools do?We know the media – and parents’ discussion of it at home – impacts even youngchildren. In 2014, a sharp increase in racist bullying in schools coincided with heatedpublic debate on immigration. Young Muslims in particular report that they are called‘terrorists’ and ‘bombers’ by classmates.http://www.educateagainsthate.com/teachers/http://www.educateagainsthate.com/teachers/http://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/racist-bullying-immigration11Vol 7.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comTrendsReligionKnowledge trails1. Could better RE in schools combat radicalisation? – A worrying number of young men andwomen have left the country to fight with extremists abroad. Does the problem find its roots inschools? And if so, could a great focus on religious education help?library.teachingtimes.com/articles/could-better-re-in-schools-combat-radicalisation2. What is Britishness? – It’s been more than a year since the government instructed schools topromote ‘fundamental British values’. But what, precisely, are they?library.teachingtimes.com/articles/what-is-britishness3. Is there an Islamic conspiracy in Birmingham schools? – Is ‘creeping Sharia’ taking overBirmingham schools in an underhand conspiracy, or are legitimate concerns by parents that theirvalues are better reflected in Muslim-majority schools being misrepresented by racists?www.teachingtimes.com/articles/is-there-an-islamic-conspiracy-in-birmingham-schoolsFor many such students, teachers are their best defence, and education is the bestway to prevent bias and discrimination. Most schools are doing their best to set a no-tolerance policy, with clear and consistent guidelines around religious discrimination.Teachers at Parkfield Primary School in Birmingham, for example, promote theethos of ‘No outsiders’ as part of their duty to teach British values. Birmingham CityCouncil have praised the school for their approach, a significant part of which includesthe careful choice and use of children’s literature.‘I use books because I want to embed the work into the school curriculum, andthese lessons can be used to support literacy, guided reading and PSHE,’ teacherAndrew Moffat told the TES. ‘Talking about characters makes a tricky subject accessible– we talk about the character and the situation first and then relate it to real life and ourown experience.’British values, Moffat says, are not just about countering radicalisation, as someschools have interpreted it. British values are about ensuring no person facesdiscrimination because of their perceived difference, whether that be race, religion,gender, disability or sexual orientation. At Parkfield, all teachers promote diversity withthe aim that pupils will recognise the benefits that come from living in harmony withthose different from themselves.‘I chose the books very carefully to talk about characters that were different sothat children were taught to not be scared of difference,’ he explains. ‘In Reception, thebook Red Rockets and Rainbow Jelly shows that we can like different things but still befriends. In Year 1, the book Max the Champion shows a child with a disability who is madabout sport. King and King is used in Year 4 to talk about gay marriage and in Year 6, TheIsland has the purpose to challenge the causes of racism, as the book gives childrenan opportunity to talk about refugees and to understand how racism occurs and whatactions they can take to stop it.’Alongside careful consideration of the books, Moffat also ensures his pupils havethe opportunities to mix with other children different to them, and that they are awareof global events. He says: ‘I have talked about the Paris terror attacks with students andtold them that the terrorists don’t believe in our ethos of “No outsiders”. The childrennow want to spread our message across Birmingham.’For teachers, there are compelling reasons to enforce fairness, as there is a strongcorrelation between a child’s sense of inclusion and academic success. Children whoexperience bias are not going to do well academically, because if a child is excluded byhis or her peers, they don’t really want to be at school.But developing that mindset is made much harder by constant exposure toinflammatory news stories. 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Leadership

The only news is bad news

29 Mar 2016

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      string(5675) "Like ghetto culture in the US, jihadism is cool, violent, rebellious and gives young people an identity. What can schools do to combat the lure?One of the cries coming from heads at the recent NAHT conference was to make Religious Education (RE) compulsory. ‘If it’s laughable that we would withdraw our children from English or science, why is it ok to withdraw from RE?’ asked the head of a Trojan Horse school in Birmingham. Allowing Muslim children to be withdrawn from RE and exposure to other value systems and ideas makes them more vulnerable to grooming and radicalisation, she added. It’s not helpful that moral, social and spiritual education is increasingly bundled under RE, rather than citizenship – RE is a term likely to frighten the more devout Muslim parents. Making it compulsory could speed up the exodus from state schools into Islamic ‘free’ schools and do the opposite of what was intended. ISIS supporters: More than just weak-minded followers?Furthermore, RE itself doesn’t seem to have stopped the propagation of ‘un- British’ values among some sections of Muslim youth, and of overt support for ISIS or other extreme forms of Jihadist Islam among its ‘outliers’. It’s not surprising. Simple teaching and exposure to other value systems in school is contending with family and temple ideologies. Those who monitor these things have been surprised, for example, at the level of support among Salafi temples – the majority and ‘moderate’ doctrinal allegiance of UK Muslim temples – for the Pakistani assassin who murdered an elected minister for his support of the reform of the country’s draconian Blasphemy Law. ‘Ah well, it’s only a few of the vulnerable children that become prey to this extremist thinking,’ it is often said. But this is completely contentious. We don’t know how many are silently following non-democratic, non-mainstream views. The idea that it is the weak-minded who are most attracted to ISIS or other violent Jihadist groups is also questionable as a global truth. Many of those actually found guilty of the more sophisticated plots in the UK are well-educated and middle class. Many are rejecting the more accommodating values of their parents. A surprisingly high number seem to be studying towards becoming doctors. Maybe, and this has to be a serious concern, it is the most idealistic and strong-minded – those capable of critical thought – that are attracted to taking action against the Western system of rule by proxy and of the hypocritical value system that upholds unjust regimes in the Middle East. No matter how few of these actually defect, they will be the thought leaders of the most idealistic of their generation and be far more influential than their visible numbers might suggest. Cool, violent and rebellious – the teenage dream?The clever ISIS propaganda is aimed directly at mobilising the idealism and disgruntlement of this group – with language, images and a call to join a rebellious subculture. A community of resistance. Social media channels that the young have made their own are the subculture’s pathways, and its overall appeal has been given the soubriquet of ‘Jihadi Cool’. ‘Jihadis look cool,’ explains one young ISIS fan, ‘Bint Emergent’, on her blog, BintChaos, ‘like ninjas or video game warriors.’ She concedes that ‘there aren’t a lot of jihadist “poster-girls” displayed – they all wear niqab [face veil] but sometimes it’s tastefully accessorised with an AK47 or a bomb belt.’ She contrasts this to ‘Team CVE’ (Countering Violent Extremism – that is, Anglo- American efforts to challenge extremist narratives), which consists of ‘mostly middle-aged white guys with a smidgin of scared straight ex-mujahids and a couple middle-aged women’. She continues: ‘Jihadis have cool weapons. And cool nasheeds [a cappella hymns]’. They also have ‘young fiery imams that fight on the battlefield’, as opposed to Team CVE, who have ‘ancient creaky dollar scholars’. Most importantly, ‘Salafi-jihadism has made being pious cool. It became cool to quote aya [verse] and study Quran. And CVE has absolutely no defence against this.’ She adds: ‘I love jihadi cant – dem, bait, preeing, binty, akhi [brother]… it’s like Belter dialect in The Expanse [a sci-fi novel series]… [It’s] the voice of youth counterculture and revolution for an underclass.’ Like the ghetto culture in the US, jihadi is cool, violent, rejecting the mainstream but, weirdly, still engaging in its brands, its commercialism and sexualisation. How can we help young people resist the pull? Youthful idealism is often twisted into extremes – even without jihadism. Teachers using our Prevent Pack – Who’s Running The Country? – find that when empowered as ‘virtual’ judges and law-makers, pupils’ response to behaviour they deem aberrant is often ultra harsh, while the laws they would promulgate are very authoritarian – or very anarchistic. It’s only when the implications of these laws are discussed and the effects applied to themselves and their families that their judgements become more sophisticated, realistic and liberal. Even with this role-play, ethical-dialogue type of approach, schools can’t simply teach young people to resist Jihadi Cool and the impact of family and temples. Schools have to exemplify the values that they espouse in their day-to-day practice. How many schools really demonstrate democratic values in their management and engage their clients in real"
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Leadership

Can Prevent in schools combat Jihadi Cool?

19 May 2016

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      string(5703) "consistent from teacher to teacher. Allpupils need to be well-educated on this issue, so a whole-school approach is essential.Taking a whole-school, cross-curricular approachAddressing e-safety and countering extremism cannot be confined to timetabledPersonal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) or Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural(SMSC) development lessons. The most effective way to get children acting responsiblyon the internet is teaching them to question their sources and not to blindly trusteverything they see.This thinking can be encouraged in all subjects and at all ages. Teachers should askquestions like, ‘Is this fact, fiction or opinion?’ and ‘What is the intention of the authorof this article/video/picture?’. Everything online has been written with intent, especiallypropaganda from extremist organisations. To demonstrate this, English lessons canteach writing to persuade, drama can invite pupils to work out the motivations ofothers, and history can demonstrate that there is always an alternative perspective.‘Spoof materials’ can demonstrate the unreliability of online content. The onlinehoax of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is a good example – the site seemslegitimate and contains what seems to be factual information on the octopus’s diet,environment preferences and mating patterns. It is, of course, entirely fictitious.Showing children this site is a great way to demonstrate that the internet is to betreated with a certain degree of suspicion!Get parents involvedAnother important tactic for countering radicalisation is to bring parents on board.Usually children cannot access harmful web materials in school, due to robust filteringand monitoring processes, but at home, the floodgates are often open. Many parentshttp://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/68Vol 7.1School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadershipSkillse-safetyKnowledge trails1. Manager’s Briefcase: Preventing extremism – Guidance and resources to raise staff awarenessof the potential threat of extremist messages, and assist in setting up policy and practice to helpstudents build resilience against extremism.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/preventingextremism2. Are your students protected online? – Keeping our students safe online is more important nowthan ever before. Tim Pinto offers some useful safeguarding strategies.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/areyourstudentsprotectedonline.htmMore e-safety resources from the LGfLThe London Grid for Learning is committed to providing schools and parents with the information they needto combat the radicalisation of young people online and help children to navigate the internet safely. Tothis end, it has developed a wealth of resources, available free of charge to all, which can be found at: www.esafety.lgfl.net.The site features:■ The new counter-extremism videos featuring expert comment from Sara Khan, director of women’s rightsand counter-extremism organisation Inspire■ School policy templates covering e-safety provision, implementation, acceptable-use agreements, trainingmaterials and links to key publications and organisations■ One-minute guides – a series of short strategic guidance sheets produced specifically to inform schoolleaders on a variety of e-safety issues. Topics include geotagging of images, sexting, cyberbullying andhow Ofsted assesses a school’s e-safety provision, among others■ A complete framework for Early Years Foundation Stage and primary e-safety education resources■ Resources and useful links for helping parents understand issues relating to their children’s e-safety in thedigital era■ Links to e-safety reports, surveys and research■ Help for schools to plan and promote Safer Internet Day■ Advice and guidance for equipment-security issues.The London Grid for Learning is a community of 2,500 schools, academies and local authorities who benefitfrom the ‘bulk buying’ of Internet connectivity, associated services and digital curriculum content. It alsocreates original resources such as those detailed above, in keeping with its primary aim of supporting schools.are not aware of the various controls they can have over their internet connection andif they are, may not apply them to all devices in the home. Parents need to be the firstline of defence against children accessing inappropriate content online, but often needsupport to do so.Schools can provide e-safety advice for parents on their website, through newslettersor by distributing e-safety leaflets. The information should emphasise that combattingradicalisation does not require any specialist knowledge; it can be treated as a similarsubject to grooming. ISIS and the far-right have very sophisticated social media campaignswhich are slick, powerful and capture attention. Their members start online relationships fullof flattery and promises of better lives to those who appear to be interested.Communications should also cover danger signs to look out for: parents should bewary of a child suddenly using technology excessively, being secretive about what theyare doing online, behaving or dressing differently, adopting new attitudes or friends, orreceiving gifts or money from unknown sources.If you suspect a child is being radicalised online…If you believe a child is in imminent danger or you strongly suspect illegal or criminalactivity, go straight to the police. Otherwise, follow your child protection procedures.Report your concern to the school’s child protection officer, who will report it to theLocal Authority Designated Officer. They would"
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Leadership

Preventing the radicalisation of young people online

21 Sep 2015