Extreme views like racism, homophobia and conspiracy theories are widespread in classrooms across England, a study suggests.

Schools lack the resources and training to teach pupils how to discuss or reject dangerous views, according to academics from the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education.

Their report, published days before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, suggests schools’ efforts to build resilience to extremism in young people are “highly varied” due to limited space in the curriculum – and in some cases their approach to the issue is “tokenistic”.

Researchers, who spoke to 96 teachers in English schools as part of the study commissioned by education charity Since 9/11, found that staff are concerned about the increase in pupils looking at hateful online content online.

The findings come after the boss of MI5 revealed that agents are investigating teenagers as young as 13 linked to extreme right-wing terrorism.

In July, director-general Ken McCallum said the presence of teenagers is a “rising trend in MI5’s counter-terrorist case work” and is becoming more so in extreme right-wing investigations.

The majority of teachers spoken to by the researchers said they have heard pupils express far-right extremist views in their classroom, as well as “extremist views about women” or Islamophobia.

Nearly nine in 10 teachers have heard conspiracy theories being discussed by students – including the theory that American business magnate Bill Gates “controls people via microchips in Covid vaccines”.

Teachers raised concerns about pupils’ exposure to extremist views online, often claiming that this has been “exacerbated by the pandemic and lockdowns” – and the report suggests that conspiracy theories and online disinformation “is an emerging area that needs consideration”.

The study also found that many teachers do not talk about issues related to extremism in the classroom out of fear that they will get it wrong, “especially on matters related to race”.

Researchers carried out in-depth interviews with English and Religious Education teachers and safeguarding leads in schools, as well as a survey of teachers, and assessed a literature review of research examining how schools build resilience to extremism in students in England as part of the study.

Almost all the teachers surveyed had encountered “hateful extremism” in the form of racist views in the classroom, according to the report.

Dr Becky Taylor, from the UCL Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research, said: “This report shows that some schools fail to move beyond surface-level explorations of violence, extremism and radicalisation; however, it is without doubt that schools can play an important role.”

She added: “Education policies must consider the fact that some schools may need more help than others to build on what they already have in place.

“Engaging well with their local communities and ensuring that schools and teachers are supported and appropriately resourced can help young people to problematise ‘hateful extremism’.”

The study calls for teachers to be given better training to lead open discussions in the classroom about extremism so they can teach pupils how to reject, and respond to, dangerous ideologies.

The report concludes: “Much anti-extremism work is well-meaning but is stymied by overcrowded curricula, a lack of resources, a desire to perform policy for Ofsted, and a mandate to detect and report vulnerability to radicalisation rather than necessarily stamp out its root causes.”

Kamal Hanif, a trustee of Since 9/11 and executive principal of Waverley Education Foundation in Birmingham, called the research “a wake-up call”.

He said: “We urgently need to equip schools with the tools to teach pupils how to reject extremist views. Dangerous ideologies must never be swept under the carpet.

Mr Hanif added: “The findings of this study are particularly pertinent as we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Children in school today were not yet born when the attacks took place.

“Indeed, many of their teachers were themselves only children at the time. It’s vital that we all learn about the attacks themselves and their ongoing impact.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “Schools have an important role to play in educating young people about the false premises and dangers posed by extremist ideologies, but they cannot do this alone and more support is needed.

“The reality is that schools have to juggle multiple demands on their time in the context of packed timetables and severe funding constraints, all at a time when our society has undergone a digital revolution which allows people to spread hateful views at the click of a button.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “As this report shows, schools and teachers are generally confident teaching about issues related to extremism.

“The new Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum requires secondary age pupils to be aware of laws relating to terrorism and hate crime, and the Educate Against Hate website features over 150 free resources to help pupils, teachers and parents tackle radicalisation in all its forms.

“We continue to look at what further support we can provide to schools, and will shortly launch further resources specifically focused on harmful online content.”

A convicted terrorist has been banned from being involved in the running of schools in order to protect children from “dangerous influences”.

Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, an associate of Anjem Choudary, was barred under Section 128 of the Education Act.

He was previously a proprietor of the unregistered Siddeeq Academy in Tower Hamlets, east London, which closed in 2015 after his arrest.

In 2016 he was jailed for five-and-a-half years, alongside Choudary, for inviting support for Islamic State.

Rahman was released from prison in October 24 last year, prompting Education Secretary Damian Hinds to issue the direction which was made last month but only published on Thursday.

It is the third time powers under section 128 have been exercised since it came into force in September 2014.

The direction states that Rahman is “unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school (including an academy or Free School)”.

It continues: “The barring decision also has the effect of disqualifying the person from being a governor at a maintained school.”

As well as the 2016 conviction, in 2006 Rahman was convicted of inciting racial hatred, the following year he was convicted of solicitation to murder.

The direction issued by Mr Hinds further states: “He (Rahman) also engaged in social media activity that was aimed at undermining fundamental British values and, in addition, was so inappropriate that, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, it makes Mr Rahman unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “The Government has a duty to protect children from dangerous influences and Mizanur Rahman, who has been convicted under the terrorism act, quite clearly has no place in our schools.

“We will always act swiftly and decisively to safeguard our young people and this order is evidence of that.”

The first ever barring order was issued in 2015 to Tahir Alam who was at the heart of the alleged Trojan Horse plot by hard-line Muslims to take control of governing boards.

It said he engaged in conduct “aimed at undermining fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”.

In 2017, Waseem Yaqub, former chairman of governors of Al-Hijrah School in Birmingham, was found to have engaged in inappropriate conduct which made him “unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school”.

The direction said that: “In his various roles on Al-Hijrah’s governing body, Mr Yaqub promoted, permitted or failed to challenge inadequate financial monitoring and decision-making on the part of the governing body.”

Since Jack Straw’s comments exactly a decade ago, the Niqab has been in political debate which at times have become heightened. Currently, there are reports that the Prime Minister is considering a ban on the veil in schools, courts and other public institutions. No doubt, the Niqab will become the subject of much debate over the coming months.

In light of this, very rarely do women who wear the veil have the chance to speak about the impacts of people’s prejudices against them. How many newspaper reports, when reporting on political developments about the Niqab, have then interviewed women who choose to wear the veil. Very few have and in fact, we can’t recollect seeing a Niqab wearer being approached by news outlets when discussing the topic recently.

We want to highlight the other side of the coin – the fact that women who wear the Niqab are subject to prejudice, aggression and open hatred at points. It is also important to note that over the last 4 years of work within Tell MAMA, it is clear that women who wear the Niqab suffer more incidents of anti-Muslim hatred and more aggressive incidents of anti-Muslim hatred, including assault.

These are the words of a Muslim woman who wears the Niqab and who recounted her experiences for us.

“I’m worried about the day my 7 year old daughter suddenly tunes into the daily abuse, realises it’s her mother that these respectable-looking strangers – maybe parents of her schoolfriends during pick-up or drop-off, maybe the people behind us in the supermarket queue – are talking about / to.

“And what do I tell her? I’ve brought her up to believe people of all faiths are equally worthy of respect; the majority of her schoolfriends are Hindu or Christian. How can I explain to her that these people hate me because of the visible clues to my faith – particularly my outfit? Me, who taught my little girl that she should never care what other people thought about her appearance, to be proud of her mixed-race looks and unique dress sense (we’re talking Cinderella ball gown with trackie bottoms, or Batman cape over Hello Kitty dress).

“What if she’s ashamed to be seen with her mother? What if she’s angry with these strangers for hating on her mother, starts believing non-Muslims are abusive bad people who hate Muslims? What if she develops a fear of white strangers instead of her beautiful trademark confidence and friendliness? What if she’s present when the trolley-shoving, the jostling, the swearing, escalates into a more vicious kind of physical violence? There’s only so much verbal abuse and sly jostling/ shoving I can take passively before I turn round and tell them to have some manners.

“I’ve had women my mum’s age making explosion sounds at me and calling me ISIS, men my age telling me I’m disgusting, women younger than me telling me to f*** off back to Saudi. I’ve been called terrorist, dirty scum, f***** freak, Islamic whore, brown c********, Arab f****, Jihadi b*****…… All in front of my 7-year-old daughter. I had a trolley rammed into my belly when I was pregnant; it was after a bunch of skinheads made knife gestures at me that I stopped going out by myself until I gave birth and no longer felt like a walking target as a pregnant niqabi. I’m pretty confident that I could defend myself but I couldn’t risk the life of my unborn baby.

“If I’m out with my husband I get dirty looks and hissed insults at most; people only become audibly abusive or openly confrontational when I’m out without my husband – unfortunately the presence of my little girl doesn’t seem to silence them in the same way.”

The post With the Niqab Being a Political Football, Let’s Listen to the Voice of One Who Wears It appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Over the last few months, we have received a number of cases involving schools and where Muslim young people have been interviewed on the back of alleged comments that they have made within the school environment.

A growing number of parents have reported into us that their children have been questioned on the back of Prevent related interventions. In one interview with a young Muslim student, he was asked whether ‘he owned a gun’. In another, he was questioned as ‘to which mosque he went to and whether he prayed a lot.’ In both of these cases, the parents have been so outraged that they have sought to meet with senior officers in the relevant Departments for Education and strongly believe that their children have been treated in this way because they are Muslim.

Listening to the parents of these children, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that some schools are over-reacting to scenarios involving Muslim children and the impacts on the children and the families are clear to see. Yet, these are not isolated cases and the cases that we have received have come from across the country.

We are also clear that many schools manage safeguarding issues in a manner which does not impact on young people and on families. We also understand that many schools do this on the basis of the protection of young people and throughout the process students do not feel that a specific part of their identity is the trigger for the school to take some form of action. Saying that, other schools seem to have no understanding of safeguarding and manage to alienate the parents of children who happen to be Muslim. They also leave a lasting impression on the minds of young Muslims who believe that they have been targeted because of their faith. This is the worst outcome that anyone wants to see.

We will be monitoring these situations across the country and we believe that the safeguarding of young people and communities is of importance to us all so that the learning outcomes for young people can be the most fruitful for them. Yet, over-reactions to students who are Muslim and who receive a different standard of treatment because of Prevent is unacceptable. Of that, we are clear.

The post Over-Reactions on Prevent Are Causing Fears Within Muslim Students appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Over the last few months, we have received a number of cases involving schools and where Muslim young people have been interviewed on the back of alleged comments that they have made within the school environment.

A growing number of parents have reported into us that their children have been questioned on the back of Prevent related interventions. In one interview with a young Muslim student, he was asked whether ‘he owned a gun’. In another, he was questioned as ‘to which mosque he went to and whether he prayed a lot.’ In both of these cases, the parents have been so outraged that they have sought to meet with senior officers in the relevant Departments for Education and strongly believe that their children have been treated in this way because they are Muslim.

Listening to the parents of these children, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that some schools are over-reacting to scenarios involving Muslim children and the impacts on the children and the families are clear to see. Yet, these are not isolated cases and the cases that we have received have come from across the country.

We are also clear that many schools manage safeguarding issues in a manner which does not impact on young people and on families. We also understand that many schools do this on the basis of the protection of young people and thoughout the process students do not feel that a specific part of their identity is the trigger for the school to take some form of action. Saying that, other schools seem to have no understanding of safeguarding and manage to alienate the parents of children who happen to be Muslim. They also leave a lasting impression on the minds of young Muslims who believe that they have been targeted because of their faith. This is the worst outcome that anyone wants to see.

We will be monitoring these situations across the country and we believe that the safeguarding of young people and communties is of importance to us all so that the learning outcomes for young people can be the most fruitful for them. Yet, over-reactions to students who are Muslim and who receive a different standard of treatment because of Prevent is unacceptable. Of that, we are clear.

The post Over-Reactions on Prevent Are Causing Fears Within Muslim Students appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Over the last few months, we have received a number of cases involving schools and where Muslim young people have been interviewed on the back of alleged comments that they have made within the school environment.

A growing number of parents have reported into us that their children have been questioned on the back of Prevent related interventions. In one interview with a young Muslim student, he was asked whether ‘he owned a gun’. In another, he was questioned as ‘to which mosque he went to and whether he prayed a lot.’ In both of these cases, the parents have been so outraged that they have sought to meet with senior officers in the relevant Departments for Education and strongly believe that their children have been treated in this way because they are Muslim.

Listening to the parents of these children, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that some schools are over-reacting to scenarios involving Muslim children and the impacts on the children and the families are clear to see. Yet, these are not isolated cases and the cases that we have received have come from across the country.

We are also clear that many schools manage safeguarding issues in a manner which does not impact on young people and on families. We also understand that many schools do this on the basis of the protection of young people and thoughout the process students do not feel that a specific part of their identity is the trigger for the school to take some form of action. Saying that, other schools seem to have no understanding of safeguarding and manage to alienate the parents of children who happen to be Muslim. They also leave a lasting impression on the minds of young Muslims who believe that they have been targeted because of their faith. This is the worst outcome that anyone wants to see.

We will be monitoring these situations across the country and we believe that the safeguarding of young people and communties is of importance to us all so that the learning outcomes for young people can be the most fruitful for them. Yet, over-reactions to students who are Muslim and who receive a different standard of treatment because of Prevent is unacceptable. Of that, we are clear.

The post Over-Reactions on Prevent Are Causing Fears Within Muslim Students appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Over the last few months, we have received a number of cases involving schools and where Muslim young people have been interviewed on the back of alleged comments that they have made within the school environment.

A growing number of parents have reported into us that their children have been questioned on the back of Prevent related interventions. In one interview with a young Muslim student, he was asked whether ‘he owned a gun’. In another, he was questioned as ‘to which mosque he went to and whether he prayed a lot.’ In both of these cases, the parents have been so outraged that they have sought to meet with senior officers in the relevant Departments for Education and strongly believe that their children have been treated in this way because they are Muslim.

Listening to the parents of these children, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that some schools are over-reacting to scenarios involving Muslim children and the impacts on the children and the families are clear to see. Yet, these are not isolated cases and the cases that we have received have come from across the country.

We are also clear that many schools manage safeguarding issues in a manner which does not impact on young people and on families. We also understand that many schools do this on the basis of the protection of young people and thoughout the process students do not feel that a specific part of their identity is the trigger for the school to take some form of action. Saying that, other schools seem to have no understanding of safeguarding and manage to alienate the parents of children who happen to be Muslim. They also leave a lasting impression on the minds of young Muslims who believe that they have been targeted because of their faith. This is the worst outcome that anyone wants to see.

We will be monitoring these situations across the country and we believe that the safeguarding of young people and communties is of importance to us all so that the learning outcomes for young people can be the most fruitful for them. Yet, over-reactions to students who are Muslim and who receive a different standard of treatment because of Prevent is unacceptable. Of that, we are clear.

The post Over-Reactions on Prevent Are Causing Fears Within Muslim Students appeared first on TELL MAMA.

In May 2015, we were contacted by parents in Waltham Forest who were concerned about a ‘questionnaire‘ that was being circulated to young people in schools.

We were aware of the following questionnaires being circulated in Buxton School in Leytonstone (Waltham Forest) and the questionnaires seemed to indicate that they related to Prevent work. The project was funded through the EU and through a call for proposals entitled, “Radicalisation Leading to Extremism.” The Prevent Steering Board of Waltham Forest oversaw the project and the project was called BRIT (Building Resilience through Integration and Trust). The organisation that ran it is called Family Action UK.

Today, the project has once again hit the headlines. A Freedom of Information request by a parent on the project has led to the release of the names and identifying details of 7 young people.

The seven pupils who were identified through material released by the local authority were students at the Greenleaf Primary School. Parent Haras Ahmed who submitted the Freedom of Information request on the Brit project, was quoted by the Evening Standard as saying:

“It’s been a disaster from start to finish. Firstly we’re told it’s a social cohesion policy and then after various questioning they accept it’s a de-radicalisation process and then to release the names of the children in such an insensitive way.”

 

“Any parent in any school – whether they are of a Muslim faith or non-Muslim or no faith – would be appalled by their children’s data, such sensitive data, are released to a member of the public.”

When we initially raised the project on our web-site in May 2015 through legitimate concerns which were raised by parents, the local authority suggested that the ‘Brit – Building Resilience through Integration and Trust‘ project was a ‘cohesion’ project. That was simply false and was a ruse. It was as simple as that.

It is now clear that this project was an extremism sift project in order to look for and identify young children who may have been vulnerable to extremism.

The position that Faith Matters has consistently taken is that Prevent is a sad but necessary arm to tackling radicalisation and extremism. Given the nature of the work, its sensitivity and its ability to affect the future of young people, it is essential that Prevent work is robustly scrutinised. This also ensures the development of good practice, whilst safeguarding the rights of young people and diverting them away from influences which could affect their lives in the future.

This also means that where parents and carers raise legitimate issues, (as parents did on this project to Faith Matters), they should not be dismissed as ‘anti-Prevent’, ‘leftie-liberals’ or ‘conspiracists’. In fact, by couching the Brit project as ‘cohesion’ the local authority has fuelled further conspiracy theories and handled this whole affair atrociously.

Finally, we believe that honesty and transparency are key to undertaking Prevent work. This means that projects may take longer to implement and some sections of communities may not engage. That is part and parcel of the work, though attempting to organise a smoke and mirrors campaign to couch an extremism project as cohesion, does the work an injustice and assumes that members of the public will swallow untruths. This has to stop and if anything, the Brit project places the local authority in Waltham Forest in the spotlight around future projects. At the very least, parents deserve an apology related to this whole debacle.

On Sunday, the 6^th of January, 2013, Faith Matters organized its third interfaith training workshop as part of their Project Musawaat (Equality) which aims to promote freedom of religion and belief in Pakistan and is focussed on working with Christian and Muslim communities in the Punjab region.

75 participants from 18 grass-roots level youth based organizations in Pakistan participated in this event. Concepts of conflict resolution, interfaith dialogue, citizenship and identity were discussed in the session and participants were asked to explore practical ways that they could enhance and strengthen community engagement in order to promote interfaith harmony in Pakistan.

The following youth organizations and educational institutions participated in the session.

1. Society for Human Advancement and Just Reforms (SHAJR)

2. Ashiana Development Organization

3. Oasis Society of Fine Arts (OSFA)

4. Minhaj-ul-Quran

5. Catholic Youth Ministry Lahore (CYML)

6. Youth Advocacy Network (YAN)

7. Excellence College of Education, Gujranwala

8. Sangat Development Foundation

9. Islamia college of girls, Gujranwala

10. Chishtia High School, Gujranwala

11. Chaoon

12. Sath

13. Active Advocacy Network (AAN)

14. Chanan foundation

15. Al-Fajar

16. Lok Vehar, Faisalabad

17. Speak Up

Bunyad Foundation

Faith Matters is working in areas in Pakistan where Christian communities are densely populated and where tensions have been observed in the past. Such areas include Faisalabad , Gujranwala and Multan in Pakistan.

The Our Faiths and Our Shared Futures Booklet is an extension of the work that was initially conducted in the Midlands (Derby) and which was also carried out in the London Boroughs of Haringey, Enfield and Barnet. The ‘Our Faiths and Our Shared Futures’ booklet involved discussions on scriptural texts by religious leaders in the boroughs and with young people inputting into the content and the design of the booklet. All of the work involved local people and local organisations and fits under both the Big Society and Preventing Extremism agendas.

Discussions on (i) respect for diversity (ii) the protection of life and (iii) countering extremism have been included within the local contexts of the three London Boroughs. We hope that this booklet makes a useful addition to the learning materials for your work around communities learning to live side by side and working for the common good in areas.

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