What Do They Teach Them in the Mosque? Turkish Mosque Education in the Netherlands

• In Event: 61.069 - MTCC Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: 61.069-11 - Religion and Schooling

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the curriculum, content, organization and pedagogy of mosque education organized by the largest Turkish Islamic communities in the Netherlands: Diyanet, Milli Görüş, and Süleymancılar. The analysis is based on a diverse body of data: fieldwork notes, classroom observations (N=9) at two case-study mosques, interviews (N=47) with imams, mosque teachers, chairs of Islamic organizations, and main stake-holders such as Islam experts, ministry and municipality officials working in the area of integration and radicalization. The findings indicate that in contrast to migrants’ country of origin, in the diaspora context mosque education has also a socializing function with other Turkish Muslim children and a guiding function on how to navigate life situations in a non-Muslim society.

Author

• Semiha Sözeri, University of Amsterdam