EQ972-15 Minority Religions in Secular Education: Critical/Comparative Case Studies from Global North & South

Department Education Studies

Level Taught Postgraduate Level

Module leader Dr Abdullah Sahin

Credit value 15

Module duration 5 weeks

Assessment 100% coursework

Study location University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Introduction

The module contributes to the cross-disciplinary study of education in the modern world. It will help students discover and examine an often-ignored aspect of modern national, secular education systems by focusing on how religions (faith communities) are accommodated or excluded within the shared public education spaces.

Principal Module Aims and Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Develop knowledge, understanding and critical insights related to minority-faith communities/ religious worldviews in modern national secular education systems based in the Global North & South countries
• Demonstrate methodological competence in assessing the diversity of minority faith communities and their educational expectations within the global secular education system.
• Show reflective engagement with critical issues and challenges informing Muslim diaspora in mainstream education.
• Demonstrate competence in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of faith embedded education in Global secular education systems.
• Gain skills to undertake critical analysis of complex or contradictory areas within the study of minority faith communities in modern secular education including the context of higher education.
• Clearly and accurately communicate and articulate their views on the topics covered.

Syllabus

The module starts with an introduction/orientation session and a specific methodical discussion on how examining minority faith communities, religious worldviews in secular education contexts relates to the critical/comparative Education Studies scholarly discourse. Students will be introduced to the interdisciplinary study of education through engaging with the theories of intersectionality, coloniality, post-colonialism, and decolonisation. This will be followed by covering the historical background informing the emergence of minority faith communities within secular educational systems, with a special reference to the Muslim diaspora in the Global North and South. Through adopting a case study approach, minority religions/faith communities in three distinctive European educational models (The French Laïcité, German Denominational, and British Multicultural educational models) will be examined. Students will be able to select case countries from Globa North ( Europe, the USA, Australia) and South (China, Philippines and South Africa) and focus on other religious minority communities in secular educational systems: this includes the case of Afro-American Muslim communities or Shia Muslim communities in majority Sunni countries like Pakistan and Sunni minorities in Shia majority Iran as well as different minority faith communities i.e. Christians in the Middle East). Similarly, students can frame the cases around the mainstream schooling or further and higher education settings.

This discussion will lead to identifying critical issues related to representations of Islam and Muslims within educational systems, with a special reference to the curriculum and pedagogical practice, and politics of educational inclusion/exclusion, minority rights, social justice, and community cohesion. The experience of Muslim children and young people, including refugee children with Islamic parental heritage, will be discussed. Challenges of Islamic faith-based schooling in the secular education system, including barriers to accessing higher education, gender inequality and degree gap, and intergenerational change and education will be discussed.

Study Time

Assessment

Module Information

This module is an optional module for MA Childhood In Society, MA Education, MA Educational Innovation, MA Educational Leadership and Management, MA Islamic Education: Theory and Practice, and MA Global Education and International Development.