Islamophobia in European Schools: A Multinational Phenomenological Research

• Main Authors: Ali Baltacı, Murat Kayacan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ULUM: Journal of Religious Inquiries 2019-08-01
• Series: ULUM
• Subjects: Din Eğitimi; İslamofobi; Avrupa; Okul; Öğretmen; Religious Education; Islamophobia; Europe; School; Teacher
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ulum/issue/42292/486798?publisher=abdullah-demir

This study, which aims to investigate the existence of Islamophobia in European schools, an important part of the social structure, is designed as a phenomenological study. Data were collected through interviews with 36 teachers working in seven different European countries. As a result of the study, Islamophobia has been identified as an unignorable and a major problem in European schools. Moreover, it reveals that the teachers do not have enough knowledge about Islam, but the majority of participants have open or hidden Islamophobic tendencies. In addition, the teachers think that Islamic lifestyles and Muslims are not part of European cultures and that Muslim students should be subjected to intense cultural training. Again, the majority of the participants argue that the fight against Islamophobia can be achieved through prejudice and communication training for teachers. This study is important in that it is a pioneering work in the literature that investigates the entity of Islamophobia among teachers in Europe.