Contrasting Approaches to Justice and Citizenship Education in Two European Nations: Norway and the UK

• In Event: 31.077 - Challenging Extremism? Education for Justice and Peace in a World of Competing Ideologies

Abstract

In 2014, 21 inner-city Birmingham UK schools were subject to special government inquiries, following anonymous allegations of a Trojan horse plot (Muslim political “extremists” infiltrating city schools), with students said to be in danger of radicalization. This paper analyses government and media discourses related to this affair and considers whether the underlying purpose of the investigation was really to protect students from extremism and whether or not interpretations of events were colored by Islamophobic/racist perspectives.
The paper reflects on the case through an analysis which applies human rights principles to schools’ everyday practices, addressing religious freedom, citizenship learning and decision-making processes. Since Government’s avowed goal is to promote social cohesion, rather than societal rifts, the paper reflects on how peacebuilding and human rights standards might inform processes to ensure that religious conservatives, teachers, parents and students are engaged in dialogue so that religious freedom, critical thinking and, ultimately, students’ best interests are guaranteed.
There were three parallel reports: by the school inspection service, Ofsted; by Birmingham city authority (Trojan Horse Review Group, 2014); and by a former head of counter-terrorism (Clarke, 2014). One school at the heart of the inquiry, Park View, has a majority (98 percent) Muslim student population and achieves exceptional academic results for a disadvantaged inner-city area, sending 8 out of ten students into higher education. Ofsted previously judged it ‘outstanding’ but following the special inspection decreed it ‘inadequate’, with children ill-prepared for life in multicultural Britain.
In response, the Prime Minister called for a greater focus on ‘British values’ in all schools. The schools concerned argue they make reasonable accommodation for students’ religious beliefs while following national curriculum guidance. Allegations of forced prayers, gender-segregated classes and militant clerics at school have largely crumbled on examination.
As anti-Muslim hate-crimes increase across Europe, the Council of Europe (2011) warns of religious intolerance as a threat to democracy. The Birmingham case is hailed by the right-wing as schools “promoting” extremism, echoing the 1980s when schools were accused of “promoting” homosexuality and also peace education. In a shifting discourse, the word extremism is linked both to religious conservatism and to political radicalization with some ambiguity.
In debates about multiculturalism, Islam is the limiting case. Standards of governance in schools with Muslim students, teachers and school governors are subject to different standards and evaluated arbitrarily. The paper explores ambiguities and ambivalence within education policy concerning religion; local democracy/ centralised control; and their relationship to structural injustice. It concludes by considering how students might be prepared for a future in which ambivalence and uncertainty remain, but injustices challenged and differences resolved peacefully.

Clarke, P. (2014). Report into allegations concerning Birmingham schools arising from the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter. 22 July. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335243/Report_into_allegations_concerning_Birmingham_schools_arising_from_the_Trojan_Horse_letter-web.pdf
Council of Europe. (2011Living together: Combining diversity and freedom in 21st century Europe. Strasbourg: Author. Retrieved from http://www.theewc.org/uploads/content/Living%20Together%20%28The%20Group%29.pdf
Trojan Horse Review Group. (2014). Report to Leader of Birmingham City Council. 18 July. Retrieved from http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/trojanhorsereview

Author

• Audrey Helen Osler, University College of South East Norway