Geloof in burgerschap
Teachers at Islamic primary schools, have to work with the interplay between religious identity, political debate and social expectations. Jamal Ahajjaj investigated how they deal with this cha llenge and translate it into concrete lessons: "Islamic schools are w orkshops for modern citizenship."
"Islamic primary sch ools are under a magnifying glass, especially when it comes to citize nship and integration. Politicians, media and society often express d oubts about whether these schools are transmitting the 'right' democr atic values. The public debate about this mainly takes place on the b asis of incidents at some schools, but there is as yet little insight into the actual educational practice. With my research, I want to fi ll this gap.
"I visited several schools and observed lessons, e specially class discussions on social issues, and talked to teachers about how they see citizenship and deal with sensitive themes. My mos t important conclusion is that teachers at Islamic schools prepare th eir pupils to engage with and actively participate in a society that is becoming increasingly diverse and do not a priori assume an opposi tion between Islam and citizenship education."
Difficul t topics
"In the classroom, the pupils, in interaction with each other and with the teacher, learn to reflect on and exchan ge opinions about difficult and sensitive social topics, such as disc rimination and Islamophobia, exclusion, homosexuality or wearing a he adscarf. Pupils learn how such topics should be discussed in and outs ide of the classroom, without hardening the conversations or creating feelings of exclusion.
"The teachers ensure this by showing pu pils how to agree or disagree with each other and how to listen to ea ch other and remain respectful in conversation. Religious beliefs and citizenship may sometimes cause tensions but can also align to one a nother."
More information on the thesis
DESCRIPTION: Teachers at Islamic primary schools, have to work with the interplay between religious identity, political debate and social expectations. Jamal Ahajjaj investigated how they deal with th is challenge and translate it into concrete lessons: "Islamic schools are workshops for modern citizenship." "Islamic primary sch ools are under a magnifying glass, especially when it comes to citize nship and integration. Politicians, media and society often express d oubts about whether these schools are transmitting the 'right' democr atic values. The public debate about this mainly takes place on the b asis of incidents at some schools, but there is as yet little insight into the actual educational practice. With my research, I want to fi ll this gap. "I visited several schools and observed lessons, especia lly class discussions on social issues, and talked to teachers about how they see citizenship and deal with sensitive themes. My most impo rtant conclusion is that teachers at Islamic schools prepare their pu pils to engage with and actively participate in a society that is bec oming increasingly diverse and do not a priori assume an opposition b etween Islam and citizenship education." Difficult topics "In the classroom, the pupils, in interaction with each other a nd with the teacher, learn to reflect on and exchange opinions about difficult and sensitive social topics, such as discrimination and Isl amophobia, exclusion, homosexuality or wearing a headscarf. Pupils le arn how such topics should be discussed in and outside of the classro om, without hardening the conversations or creating feelings of exclu sion. "The teachers ensure this by showing pupils how to agree or dis agree with each other and how to listen to each other and remain resp ectful in conversation. Religious beliefs and citizenship may sometim es cause tensions but can also align to one another." More informatio n on the thesis Geloof in burgerschap END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR