THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS IN PREVENTION OF RADICALISATION
The primary purpose of education is not only to develop knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes and to embed fundamental values, but also to help young people – in close cooperation with parents and families – to become active, responsible, open-minded members of society. Children and young people represent our future and must have the opportunity to shape that future. We must combine our efforts to prevent and tackle marginalisation, intolerance, racism and radicalisation and to preserve a framework of equal opportunities for all. We must build on children’s and young people’s sense of initiative and the positive contribution they can make through participation, while reaffirming the common fundamental values on which our democracies are based”.
(Paris Declaration, 2015)
The Paris declaration, adopted by the European ministers responsible for education, and the Commissioners for education, culture, youth and sport recognises the primary role of education and schools in promoting a more tolerant, pluralistic and open society, safeguarding the common values of freedom of thought and expression, social inclusion and respect for others, as well as preventing and tackling discrimination in all its forms.
Particularly, the declaration identifies as one of the main objectives to be reached by member States in the field of education to strengthen children’s and young people’s ability to think critically and exercise judgement so that, particularly in the context of the Internet and social media, they are able to grasp realities, to distinguish fact from opinion, to recognise propaganda and to resist all forms of indoctrination and hate speech, as key factors for preventing radicalisation.
Similarly, the European Agenda for Security, adopted in April 2015, assign to education the key role to play to address the root causes of extremism through preventive measures, countering radicalisation by promoting common European values, fostering social inclusion, enhancing mutual understanding and tolerance, highlining that inclusive education can make a major contribution in tackling inequalities and preventing marginalization.
These preventive measures represent forms of early or generic prevention, acting as protective factors that can protect pupils like a shield contrasting against the risk factors already analysed in the previous section.
Schools stand at the very forefront in the prevention of radicalisation for several reasons. First of all, because youngsters in the period of their adolescence are regularly subject to concerns, grievances and crisis around their identity and the negotiation of the values laying at the foundation of our society. Secondly, because youngsters often lack of opportunities and space for discussing and creating their own opinion about topics such as immigration, gender, discrimination and international conflicts. Both these elements can create a breeding ground for extremist propaganda. To prevent these seeds to grow, schools need to nurture instead resilience and all the communicative, social and emotional skills needed to tackle the challenges of adolescence, and by providing the space to do it safely.
Schools must provide a safe space for students to develop and voice their views and convictions, explore ideas and their own boundaries.
The roles of schools and education, as thus identified, represent a first level of prevention (or primary or early prevention), aimed at strengthening resilience against risk factors that can lead to radicalisation processes, and raise awareness about this phenomenon. This aim represents the overall objective of education which is to prepare youngsters to responsibly live in a democratic society, respecting its rules and embracing its values.
In this framework, schools have the primary role to nurture an environment where concerns and grievances can be addressed, polarised positions can be mitigated, controversial issues openly discussed and misinformed views and false myth challenged. Particularly, schools can challenge exclusive patterns to identity that can be so attractive in the adolescent phase, since they provide easy and ready-made answers, rigid and unchangeable perspectives, straight and undoubtable paths.
At a higher level, teachers and educational staff within schools can play the fundamental role of noticing early signs of extremism and radicalisation in students, and initiate specific intervention of measures oriented to the case.
The current Radicalisation Prevention Programme fits into the first level of early prevention, while elements related to the second level will be included in the intellectual output n.3 of the PRACTICE project – Guidelines for Teachers.