Rules to fight extremism ‘creating fear among teachers and pupils’

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, Jenny Smith, headteacher at Frederick Bremer school in Walthamstow, east London, put up a display of press cuttings and photographs. Students, many of whom are Muslims, were invited to add their comments. Discussions about the Islamic State attack were held in citizenship classes. Then, in December, pupils put on a shadow puppet performance in the borough about injustice and prejudice faced by a young Muslim. The performance was part of an exhibition organised by Maslaha, an organisation working with schools to explore Islam’s contribution to UK culture.

Smith’s approach seems in marked contrast to the government’s policy to prevent radicalisation, which places increasing pressure on schools, through its Prevent strategy, to be vigilant and report suspicions about students.

After the Trojan horse affair in 2014, when allegations were made that Islamists were trying to take over some Birmingham schools, the Department for Education responded by insisting schools instil a stronger sense of “British values” in pupils. Last summer, schools became legally required to prevent pupils being drawn into terrorism. Just before Christmas, education secretary Nicky Morgan announced plans for a further toughening of the rules, demanding that schools monitor pupils’ internet usage.

When three girls from Bethnal Green academy ran off to Syria last year there was panic about how this could happen. The girls’ headteacher, Mark Keary, said there should be no suggestion they had been radicalised at school.

Now more headteachers and experts are calling on the government to change its approach amid fears that simply policing students risks alienating and isolating Muslim pupils, not protecting them.

Smith sees no conflict between her approach and the government’s aims. Her school has a robust safeguarding approach for all kinds of risk, she says, including radicalisation, but she argues vehemently that enabling a dialogue around terrorist behaviour must be part of a preventative strategy. Regarding the Paris attack she says: “Horror was expressed in school but also valid and pertinent questions were raised about motivation, and why white westerners being killed in terrorist attacks get more attention than the killing of people in Syria and Beirut.”

Next, with year 9s, Smith plans to examine the motivation to become a jihadi: “Opening up the subject can help to de-politicise it. We believe it is very important to work on identity and belonging: what does it mean to be a Muslim in 21st century Britain, to look at pressures and stereotyping.”

However, many schools don’t feel as confident as Smith in handling the duty imposed on them by the government, and may instead prefer to avoid discussion. And some teachers complain they are being asked to spy on students. Others fear falling foul of Ofsted if they are not seen to be adequately proactive. The “outstanding” Sir John Cass school in Tower Hamlets, east London, was suddenly rated “inadequate” by Ofsted after inspectors said the school had failed to respond properly to police concerns about social media websites with links to extremism.

A spokesman for the DfE says: “Prevent is about protecting those who might be vulnerable to the poisonous influence of extremist ideologies. Good schools provide a safe space for pupils to develop the knowledge and awareness to challenge radical beliefs. We have provided a range of guidance.”

Islington council, in north London, has called on the government to modify its approach to avoid damaging “community cohesion”. This follows the case of a pupil at Central Foundation school in Islington who was questioned about terrorism links when he mentioned eco-terrorism in a discussion on the environment.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, believes schools need more guidance. “Teachers are not counter-terrorism experts. The majority of staff in schools want to play their part to protect young people. So yes, it is something schools should be doing: the tricky question is what?”

Tom Sherrington, head at Highbury Grove school, north London, says it’s essential schools counter the negative implications of Prevent. “Much of the response around radicalisation is passive, as though tutors and pastoral systems in schools are just watchdogs,” he says. But the actions currently expected of school staff risk alienating Muslim children unless they are balanced by a broader vision, he says. He wants to see children encouraged to discuss religious radicalisation and to “promote global citizenship explicitly”.

Dr Abdullah Sahin, course leader in Islamic education at the Markfield Institute of Higher Edcuation in Leicestershire, who has carried out research among young Muslims in Birmingham, has written his own intervention programme to combat radicalisation and extremism. “Young Muslims care deeply about their faith and are very keen to keep Islam as their identity,” he says. “But this means they are vulnerable to being hijacked.” He says his research reveals that the traditional way of teaching Islam is producing “foreclosed mindsets and we urgently need a strategy to make sure Islam is taught intelligently”. With this in mind he has set up an MA for Muslim educators at Markfield Institute.

Others trying to offer alternatives to the “watchdog” approach include the Maslaha organisation, which is working with schools to try to balance the perceived negativity of the Prevent strategy. Its founder, Raheel Mohammed, says: “We have a generation growing up being seen in a very negative way in the media, and Prevent is creating fear among teachers and pupils. Muslims represent the second largest faith group in the UK, with a very young age profile and educational underachievement is marked. Yet there is evidence that when Islam is valued and brings students together the situation improves.”

Kamal Hanif, headteacher at Waverley school in Birmingham, which has close to a 100% Muslim population, provides courses for the Association of School and College Leaders on implementing Prevent. “Teachers should plan lessons to debate events in the news. And at the heart of everything there should be respect, not hostility, for Muslim young people, who have pride in their faith.” Hanif became chair of trustees to help with three of the Birmingham schools involved in the Trojan horse affair after the trustees stepped down in 2014.

He says schools need to beware of overzealousness. “Headteachers need to identify situations and that may mean reporting concerns, but without overreacting. Of course it is worrying that young people spend a lot of time on social media and are drawn to Isis as though it were an advertisement for a blockbuster movie or an Xbox game.” He promotes peer workshops to show how propaganda is a form of grooming and to explore ways to build resilience against this, and has published a book of guidelines, Respect and Prevent.

On his experience of the Trojan horse schools, he says: “The schools were an example of how things can go wrong if you do not keep rigorous checks. There were issues around segregation and all pupils not being treated equally but I didn’t see any sign of Muslim propaganda in the teaching. I think that was all blown up in the media.”

Sahin believes more needs to be done by talking to young Muslims in a different way about their faith, especially those who may be struggling with their identity. “We have to channel their interest and curiosity constructively and help them see how Islamic extremism tarnishes the whole community and that there is an equally valid peaceful way to embrace Islam. If we don’t succeed, this problem will be with us for another generation.”