Justin Olmstead 4492529

Inclusion and diversity research essay

How has the so-called Age of Terrorism affected Muslims in their pursuit of
education in Australia?

Australias young Muslims face many challenges in accessing quality education
while preserving their own culture. Generally misrepresented in Australias
media, mostly omitted in Australian curriculum, and misunderstood by many
Australians as failing to integrate or simply incompatible with Western society,
Australian Muslims could be forgiven for wondering if multiculturalism in
Australia has failed. With the advancement of knowledge and continued Muslim
integration some ground has been made, but much more must be done if
Muslims are to be afforded the same education opportunities that non-Muslims
enjoy in Australia.
The Australian publics perception of Muslims creates a major barrier to their
education. The Australian mainstream media, from which many Australians
gather information on Muslims, is largely responsible for the perpetuation of the
idea of an ever-present Muslim terrorist threat. This preoccupation with the so-
called Age of Terrorism perpetuates a failure to differentiate between everyday,
moderate followers of Islam and radical, murderous terrorists. As Poole (2006)
asserts, Australians seem to see Muslims through their press coverage
ofconflicts in the Middle East, which is largely about military engagement
(p.128). The moderate Muslim majority are held to account for the actions of the
radical few who have committed terrorist acts on the US World Trade Centre or
Bali tourist areas, in Islams name. This negative publicity also positions Muslims
as a threat to the Australian way of life that politicians and the general public
seek to define and propagate. The knowledge that some of the September 11
terrorists had operated in the United States through migration networks causes
many Australians to regard Muslim asylum seekers as potential terrorists intent
on infiltrating and destroying the Australian way of life (Mansouri 2008 p33).
This paranoia follows Muslims into workplaces, into neighbourhoods, into
schools.
The Age of Terrorism has seen non-Muslim Australians misinterpret Muslim
behaviour and erroneously assume they are unwilling to integrate into
Australian society. Muslims traditional dress has faced particularly keen
scrutiny, and students have been subjected to irrational prejudice. In 2005,
Liberal backbencher Bronwyn Bishop seemingly bowed to public paranoia by
supporting a ban on girls wearing the traditional hijab in state schools. Bishop
said that what we're really seeing in our country is a clash of cultures and
indeed, the headscarf is being used as a sort of iconic item of defiance (The Age,
28 August 2005). Bishops stance, supported by other Liberal MPs, highlighted
the popular, yet mistaken perception that Muslims are unwilling to integrate into
Australian schools, that they dressed to provoke conflict. Cruelly, it was a view
that brought unwanted, invasive attention to Muslim girls attempting to remain
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modest and respectful of their culture, and undoubtedly caused much disruption
to their education.
A major hurdle in providing inclusive education for Muslims in Australia is a
refusal to acknowledge that there is a problem. As Apple (2010) asserts, this
problem is not unique to the education of Australias Muslims:
Most governments know least about the slumsabout the services that they
need and (almost always) dont get, and so on. The lack of knowledge here
provides an epistemological veil. What goes on under the veil is a secret that
must be kept from public view. To know is to be subject to demands (Davis
2006 and Foucalt 1977 cited in Apple p.10).
Although it is clear that not all governments and school councils are adopting
this head-in-the-sand approach, and many are becoming increasingly aware of
the education needs of Muslims, deliberate and comprehensive reforms are
required. Swetnam (2003) offers that an overhaul of curriculums, to include the
multicultural content, concepts, and activities at the desired level of integration
(more than bits and pieces or separate units) would be a more successful, broad-
reaching strategy (p.209). It would also be pertinent for schools to recruit and
train Arabic and Turkish-speaking teachers or other cultural mediators to
explain classroom pedagogy and methods of discipline to parents (Akbarzadeh
2001 p.128). In the authors experience, an elder or other highly respected
member of a minority community who can perform home visits, and who can
mediate between families and the sometimes intimidating environment of a new
school, has achieved great results. A staff member with intimate knowledge of
the different groups within the Muslim faith, and an inclusive atmosphere in
which school staff feel comfortable to challenge existing stereotypes is essential.
Like other ethnic minorities, school-age Muslims from recent immigrant families
must adhere to the demands of two cultures at a time when most adolescents are
simply trying to fit in and make friends. The challenge, Bennett (2009) asserts,
involves not only two languages, but also different behavioural and social
expectations (p.53). Clearly, this is a difficult balancing act. Muslim students
cant always find the right balance between educating and preparing themselves
for participating fully in public, community and economic life, and staying true
to their deeply held cultural beliefs (Mansouri 2008 p.17). Some Muslim students
form defensive cliques as a means of reinforcing their sense of identity and
belonging (Mansouri 2008 p.21). Its difficult to gauge if these cliques do the
students more harm than good in the long run, given that they reinforce stigmas
about their failure to integrate. However, its clear that, if choosing between
assimilation and Islam, the basic instinct of the people is to protect their
religion (Rabasa 2004 p.127). While it is imperative that Muslims do protect and
strengthen their own culture, the prevalent state of ignorance and paranoia
surrounding them dictates that they also actively seek to improve their public
profile by educating others about their wish to be Australian. Ata (2014)
ventures to say that Muslims should make clearer their stance on issues of
extremism and moderationallay the fears of many other Australians who wish
to know who the moderates are and who are the fanatics (p.5). His is a blunt
assessment, but Ata raises a valid point the negative stereotypes surrounding
Muslims will not go away if they are ignored. For Muslim students, proactive
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efforts to integrate and help demystify their faith can make their school
experiences more fulfilling.
The very structure and curriculums of Australian government schools have both
indirectly and directly discriminated against Muslim students. Australian
government schools are compulsory, free and secular, which means that
religious education is generally missing from the curriculum, or poorly taught
(Victorian Education Act 1872). This is a major concern for many Muslims who
believe that education is a religious obligation, not a secular processabout
learning the revealed will of Allah (Akbarzadeh 2001). This means that
Australian government schools, while not overtly opposing Islamic values,
devalue them by omission which causes frustration for Muslim students who
seek the right balance of learning and preservation of Islamic beliefs
(Akbarzadeh p.120). Muslim parents are understandably sceptical about schools
that they fear may turn their children against Islam, or view it as irrelevant,
irrational, erroneous and archaic (Ashraf 1998 p.48). The problem is
exacerbated when schools offer religious education merely as an elective taught
by community volunteers who are not always trained teachers, and so its
neither taught as well as core subjects, nor given as much prominence by staff
(Akbarzadeh 2001 p.123). Its understandable, then, that Muslims either
disengage with school altogether, or seek education elsewhere.
Frustrated and alienated by an education system that creates a division between
religious knowledge and religious practice, many Muslim students seek
education at Islamic schools (Akbarzadeh 2001 p123). These schools, within
which Muslim students suffer none of the bullying, prejudging and
discrimination experienced at Australian government schools, are opening with
increased frequency. McNeilage (2013) reported in 2013 that Islamic schools in
New South Wales were the fastest growing sector in the state, with some
expanding so quickly they have had to freeze waiting lists, highlighting their
viability (The Sydney Morning Herald online). Students in these schools are
thriving, with students at many of the schools, including Rissalah College at
Lakemba, achieving strong academic results (McNeilage The Sydney Morning
Herald online 2013). It is unfortunate to note that many students must be turned
away due to unmanageable waiting lists, and that Islamic schools are scarcer in
other Australian states. Disturbingly, Islamic schools have also prompted some
non-Muslims to view these schools as further proof of Muslims failure or
unwillingness to assimilate, with vandalism and graffiti attacks not uncommon
(Kabir 2005). Time will tell if these negative attitudes are dispelled as the Islamic
school system prospers and becomes more familiar to non-Muslim Australians.
Australias Muslim students must remain committed to their endeavour of
completing meaningful education while preserving their culture. With positive
public perceptions failing to evolve at the rate that they seek to integrate into
Australian society, Muslim students are forced to negotiate the already
challenging education landscape under a cloud of paranoia and hostility. A
deliberate, proactive partnership between Muslim students and their parents,
governments and educators must be forged in order to build an inclusive culture
wherein Muslims may prosper.
Justin Olmstead 4492529







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