Inservice Training and Educational Development
Multiculturalism, religion and national identity
Introductory note
This selection of links was made in September 2005. The purpose is to suggest background reading about current issues around religious and national identity, and to consider implications for schools. Some of the articles refer, directly or indirectly, to the bombs in London in July.
The links are grouped under the following headings but many could have been placed under more than one heading. The headings are approximate and for the sake of convenience, not precise and definitive.
General discussions of the concept of a multicultural society; reports on various recent surveys; an entertaining quiz about Britishness; and several commentaries by politicians and journalists in July and August 2005.
Religion in public and private life
Personal reflections on British Muslim identities; current debates, discussions and developments within Muslim communities; inter-faith dialogue and action.
Issues of definition and whether Islamophobia exists, and whether it is rightly seen as a form of racism; hate crimes in summer 2005 and hostility towards people of South Asian appearance.
Aspects of definition; so-called Islamic or Islamist fundamentalism and its historical background; connections with terrorism.
Talking with children and young people about war and terrorism; classroom activities around multiculturalism, racism and identity; the development of whole-school policies.
If you would like to recommend further articles for inclusion in these lists please write to info@insted.co.uk.