Though socially constructed as a recent trend and challenge, Islam ‘from its inception in the seventh century CE, has been part of the Christian West’ (Saeed, 2009, p.  201).   More recently European states have seen growth in their Muslim populations. These Muslims are neither theologically nor politically homogenous; they include first, second and third generations, native converts to Islam and people from a considerable range of cultural backgrounds.  Education policy and provision for the current young generation has differed across the member states.  From the assimilating laiceté of France, to the more (conditioned) multiculturalism of Britain or Sweden, Europe’s young Muslims now bear the burden of the  increasingly negative post 9/11 gaze of other Europeans.   In Germany, Angela Merkel declared that ‘the approach [to build] a multicultural [society] and to live side by side and to enjoy each other … has failed, utterly failed.’ (BBC News, 17.10.2010).  In Belgium and France there have been moves to ban the wearing of the burqa.  In Britain there have been debates in relation to school uniform and girls wearing the hijab ( Poulter, 1997).  There are tensions between recognising diversity, the multicultural nature of today’s society and achieving social cohesion (Levey and Modood, 2009); much of this tension is focused on the Muslim community.  Muslim pupils may be subject to an incipient   Islamophobia, to a retreat from multicultural promises, to the restrictions of   assimilating regimes.  It is pertinent, therefore, to ask what education and schooling offer to the very diverse range of young Muslims in Europe.

This symposium   explores different aspects of the educational experiences and outcomes of Muslim pupils.  Paper 1 draws on both quantitative and qualitative data to examine the educational experiences and aspirations of Muslim pupils in the UK.  The second and third paper share a focus on the experiences of belonging (or not belonging) to both a Muslim community and their country of residence.  Paper 2 examines the value of attending an independent Muslim school in Malta for Maltese Muslim pupils.  It argues that such schools provide a safe haven for these pupils in an educational system where the Catholic Church has a monopoly over the culture and curriculum of  State and government-dependent Church educational provision.  In paper 3 the inclusion of Islamic studies in the curriculum is explored.  Such studies were seen by the Muslim pupils as offering them an opportunity to develop a sense of belonging to Flemish society.

References

Levey, G. and Modood, T. (eds) (2009)  Secularism, religion and multicultural citizenship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Poulter, S. (1997) Muslim headscarves in school: contrasting legal approaches in England and France, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol 17, No 1, pp. 43-74

Saeed, A. (2009) Muslims in the West and their attitudes to full participation in Western societies: some reflections, in Brahm Levey, G. and T. Modood (Eds.) Secularism, Religion and Multicultural Citizenship,  Cambridge, Cambridge University Press