Islam and Education: the Manipulation and Misrepresentation of a Religion

Fear or extremism and associations with terrorism and radicalisation characterise popular views on Islam. Lynn Revell shows how these fears and misconceptions are too often perpetuated in education through textbooks, the curriculum and the recent guidance to teachers of religious education in schools, when they ought to be interrogated and challenged. It considers how the initiatives Context, Prevent, REsilience and the community cohesion agenda have imposed new levels of government intervention into the way Islam is represented in the classroom. This book analyses the dominant approaches to teaching of Islam in the context of changing policies on race ethnicity and the recent discussions about the relevance of multiculturalism. It argues for a transformation of the teaching of Islam in schools so that pedagogy and the curriculum challenge the historical misrepresentation of Islam and address Islamophobia. It is an important book for education professionals and those interested in the links between religion, education and social policy. For religious education teachers it is essential reading.