Empowering teachers to approach extremism in the classroom
Lisa Dittmer, Volunteer argues that a year on from the UK Government’s implementation of the Prevent Duty, some teachers are reporting that it continues to pose a considerable challenge to their day-to-day role. This is not just because of the growing workload beyond their curricular tasks, but also because some feel they lack the resources and training to safely approach sensitive subjects like extremism in the classroom.
Unfortunately, one-sided news stories of misguided referrals to the Channel intervention programme, and subsequent accusations of bias against Muslim students, have nourished a climate in which some teachers’ efforts at safeguarding their pupils are often met with suspicion from parents and local communities.
There is therefore a strong need for comprehensive materials and training that empower teachers to proactively fulfil the Prevent Duty in a way that encourages open debate and critical thinking. This was a key theme at the recent Extreme Dialogue teacher training workshop, held at the Bethnal Green Professional Development Centre in East London and attended by 15 local teachers and practitioners.
Extreme Dialogue, a project run by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in partnership with the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace and filmmakers Duckrabbit, draws on short films recounting the real life stories of perpetrators and survivors of extremism. The films are accompanied by multimedia educational resources to provide teachers and youth workers with guidance and materials that support discussions on extremism in the classroom.
At the Extreme Dialogue workshops, facilitated by the Foundation for Peace, teachers are given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the project’s resources and participatory teaching approach, as well as share their experiences of implementing the Prevent Duty. During the course of a day, the teachers at this month’s workshop explored the stories of Billy McCurrie, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and Adam Deen, who was recruited into Islamist organisation Al-Muhajiroun at university. The highly emotive content of the videos opened up productive conversations about ways to talk to young people about violence and the lure of extremism at a time in which images of violence and terror have become part of the everyday.
Combining personal experiences with themes of guilt, rejection, vulnerability and resistance through games and group exercises is a vital component of Extreme Dialogue’s teaching approach. Games such as Grandma’s footsteps, in which students attempt to creep up to a pre-chosen “grandma” without being noticed and ‘reprimanded’, i.e. sent back to the starting line, play on familiarity and childhood associations as an icebreaker for dialogue about this difficult subject. Placed into the student role, the workshop participants were confronted with everyday challenges faced by teenagers relating to group dynamics of exclusion and inclusion, and encouraged to reflect upon both personal experiences of rejection and possible coping strategies.
Unfortunately today an increasing number of young people are experiencing these challenges and anxieties, due to the pressures of their personal lives, as well as global threats such as terrorism. Recognising these anxieties and talking about strategies for dealing with them is thus becoming ever more important.
Building up students’ resilience against efforts to exploit these vulnerabilities, be it from extremist recruiters or other harmful individuals, was identified as a key concern by the workshop participants. Actively engaging students in reflection and debate as a way of building this resilience lies at the heart of the project.
The use of personal experiences of extremist violence is to encourage students to develop an understanding of the black and white narratives underlying extremist thought, and to reflect on the consequences of violence on the victim, perpetrator and wider society. Their effectiveness relies on the authenticity of the stories, relating the gravity of violent acts through narration and understanding.
Putting violence into context, and exploring its causes and enabling conditions one story at a time, allows students to develop an understanding of the recruiting techniques used by extremist groups, and a fuller, more critical understanding of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism.
It also enables young people to ask difficult questions and to challenge preconceptions in a safe environment. The workshop participants highlighted the importance of Billy McCurrie’s story at a time when the stereotype that all terrorism is Islamist-inspired is rife.
Giving teachers the confidence to have these conversations with their students is a vital first step towards effective prevention work. The positive feedback from the workshops so far suggests that the project is filling a previously under-resourced gap that teachers are eager to address, with participants eager to use the resources in their schools. The Extreme Dialogue resources can help to turn a sometimes dreaded duty into an exciting opportunity to connect with students and to have meaningful conversations about a topic that is, regrettably, here to stay.
The views expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organisation.