Building resistance to extremism doesn’t mean having to teach young pupils explicitly about violent extremism. It is about building on what you do already and being prepared to have any difficult conversations, should they arise.
Schools are feeling the pressure to adopt clear practices that safeguard pupils against extremism following last year’s introduction of the Prevent statutory duty for frontline institutions nationwide.
Given the lack of clear guidance, and in some cases training, this can be difficult and many schools are struggling with how to fulfil this duty effectively. Various controversial incidents demonstrate how important it is to get it right when addressing topics like radicalisation and extremism in schools.
Yet this doesn’t have to be controversial. Building effective resistance to radicalisation is about eradicating the myths and assumptions that can lead to young people becoming alienated and disempowered. It is about instilling values such as tolerance and mutual respect. And it is about giving pupils the skills to protect themselves from any extremist views they may encounter later in their lives.
It is important to remember that instilling these values and skills does not necessarily require anything innovative in terms of teaching methods or subject matter. Although this is not to dissuade your creativity, the majority of best practice in building resistance to extremism in pupils will exist already in some form in your school.
The seven recommendations below are aimed at supporting primary schools and teachers in harnessing existing frameworks in primary schools to effectively implement the Prevent duty.
Treat extremism like other safeguarding issues
Extremism is a difficult and sensitive topic that gets huge attention in the press, particularly when in relation to children of a primary school age. Yet extremism should ultimately be treated as one of the many dangerous influences in society that vulnerable young children need to be protected against. This should be a continuation of how you treat other safeguarding issues, such as child sexual exploitation, bullying and cyber-bullying, domestic violence or e-safety.
As with all safeguarding issues, it is important to contextualise the behaviour of the child and look for patterns of change, rather than try and spot isolated “warning signs”. This is not about securitising the classroom, it is about pre-emptively guarding those under your duty of care from potentially harmful influences.
Just as keeping an eye out for indications that a child is being bullied is correctly perceived as proactive protection, rather than spying on the child, so too should safeguarding against extremist influences.
Instil key values and build a positive identity
The foundation of resistance comes through instilling in pupils a core set of values and a positive identity. Fundamental golden rules or moral values that create an inclusive ethos, such as responsibility, kindness, respect and commitment, are great building blocks towards achieving mutual respect and understanding of one another.
Promoting these values will strengthen social and moral responsibility and help to prevent prejudice and discrimination both inside and outside the classroom. This can guard pupils against intolerant extremist perspectives that they may come across during their lives.
Introduce the idea of difference and the importance of valuing diversity, perhaps by using the materials on topics such as the “growth of culture” and “respect for the community” found on the Prevent for Schools website. Alternatively you could use the RE curriculum to increase pupils’ awareness of similar aspects of religion and the common values they share.
Another good exercise is to explore multiculturalism in the UK and celebrate how it has created a diverse national identity. You could do this by exploring tales of immigration through traditional stories or perhaps picking a few British celebrities and mapping their family trees to highlight the diversity present among well-known people. You could also examine the different foods, music, festivals and public holidays present in the UK which have influenced British culture.
Build critical-thinking and emotional intelligence
Help pupils to develop aspirations and set high standards for themselves. Build self-esteem and encourage pupils to be positive about others and not be influenced by peer pressure.
Encouraging empathy and tolerance for different perspectives will strengthen resistance to the pull of biased and discriminatory influences, whatever they may be.
Support your pupils to think about attitudes and experiences that are different to what they are familiar with. Both the Philosophy for Children (P4C) and the Go-Givers resources are a great way to develop this thinking with your pupils.
The key is to make pupils feel comfortable and confident in their own identity but able to understand and respect other people’s views. Draw out empathy for different perspectives and build strong emotional and social skills by asking pupils to explore the ideas of others.
A great technique to use here is the “what is your belief” game. Assign one part of the room as “agree” and the other as “disagree”. Get your pupils to stand in the middle of the room and then make a definitive statement like “junk food should be banned”. Ask pupils to form a line or horseshoe according to how they feel about that statement. Pick a few students and ask them why they have chosen to stand there. This will encourage pupils to consider other viewpoints, as well as why they have chosen their own.
Create a safe place for development and dialogue
A safe environment of mutual respect and understanding is crucial to facilitate the successful development of key values, a positive identity and critical-thinking skills. Pupils must first feel confident enough to form and express an opinion before being able to formulate a deeper understanding of their position and that of their peers.
If a pupil feels unable to express themselves in the classroom, this could lead to a loss of self-esteem, potentially creating a vulnerability to a multitude of negative influences.
Help and support students in forming and expressing views, perhaps by using the Miss Dorothy programme, which empowers pupils to speak out about issues they encounter in day-to-day life.
Circle time is another good place to create a respectful community in the classroom and facilitate the expression of thoughts and feelings. Allow pupils to understand that people will have different opinions and that this is something to be celebrated. Encourage openness and nurture curiosity.
Depending on the age of your pupils, this environment could also be used to discuss difficult topics. You could host a series of debates for year 6 pupils on controversial issues, such as the death penalty or military intervention.
Where necessary, try to set the record straight on the facts surrounding controversial issues – but always allow group discussion to unfold organically.
Focus on digital critical-thinking and internet safety
As well as creating a safe, off-line environment for pupils to develop positive and critical ways of thinking, there must be an equal focus on how to shape their online behaviour. As children aged between five and 16 spend an average of 6.5 hours a day in front of a screen, the ability to independently use the internet in a safe way is crucial.
Internet filters play a key role in protecting children of this age. However, to protect pupils from becoming susceptible to the kinds of propaganda and conspiracy theories used by extremist groups and other negative influences online, it is important to help them develop critical filters in their minds. The ability to discern what is false and what comes from a legitimate source is a skill that not only will build resistance to bad influences, but will equip young people with the critical-thinking skills that are necessary on a day-to-day basis in all walks of life.
There are many ways through which to teach young people what online propaganda looks like and how to approach it. Computing lessons are a good place to expose pupils to different viewpoints online, while history lessons can teach about the providence of sources and the importance of thinking about where information and opinions come from before passing them on.
If you wanted to try something more creative, resources like Digital Disruption offer some creative ideas for talking through and tackling digital literacy. Alternatively you could use Safer Internet Day, which takes place every February, as an opportunity to try new activities and raise further awareness of the importance of e-safety.
Don’t be afraid to have difficult conversations
Knowing about an issue that is at the forefront of national and international conversations is crucial to a pupil’s understanding of the world and their place in it. For those pupils who are slightly older, don’t be afraid to introduce the subject of extremism, perhaps through discussing experiences of racism and discrimination.
Another important conversation to have is that which follows a terrorist incident, such as the Paris or Brussels attacks. Explain to older children what has happened by giving them only the facts they need to know. Too much information can be overwhelming and unnecessary. Using bite-size, age-appropriate news stories from Newsround could be a good way to spark discussion on these topics.
When having these conversations, be honest but reassuring. Remind pupils that they can always discuss the event and any anxieties they may have with you.
Use the curriculum to your advantage
Use the existing curriculum to implement the outlined methods without having to carve out additional time in class. Each recommendation will fit into a lesson somewhere. Anchoring them in the curriculum will keep these methods sustainable and increase their maximum potential impact.
Relate what you teach your pupils back to their own lives by asking what they take away from the lesson. This will encourage them to connect the positive values learnt in the classroom back to their behaviour outside the classroom.
- Lucie Parker is policy and research consultant at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and Olivia Iannelli is a volunteer for the Extreme Dialogue project. Extreme Dialogue is a series of films, resources and tools for teachers to help facilitate safe classroom discussions around extremism and radicalisation. The project’s resources are aimed at 14 to 18-year-olds but this article seeks to pass on some lessons from this work applicable to primary-aged children. Visit http://extremedialogue.org/
Resources and further information
- Prevent for Schools: www.preventforschools.org
- Philosophy for Children: http://p4c.com/
- Go-Givers: www.gogivers.org
- Miss Dorothy: www.dotcomcf.org
- Safer Internet Day: www.saferinternetday.org
- Digital Disruption: www.digitaldisruption.co.uk