Margit Stein: In the UWIT project, we focus on Islamic religious education. Compared to other countries, such as Austria, it has been introduced in Germany fairly recently. The state-organized religious education for Muslim students is socio-politically charged with the expectation to immunize against Islamist tendencies and to have a preventive effect. In the UWIT project, we are interviewing lecturers and prospective teachers from centers and institutions for Islamic theology. We are interested in the way in which university students are prepared to work with schoolchildren in the context of Islamic religious education who have radical ideas or who know little about Islam.
In this way, we are closing a previous research gap: At the institutions and centers for Islamic theology, we find a great deal of expertise that has barely had a voice in radicalization research to date. It is precisely this knowledge about the teaching of Islam and the prevention of Islamist tendencies that can be very useful for both science and practice.
Margit Stein: The way these topics are addressed in courses for university students can vary greatly. At some institutions, there are dedicated seminars called "Islamism as a Current Challenge for Islamic Education," for example. Or there are subject units on Islamist radicalization in modules such as "Islam and Society." We are in direct contact with the lecturers. At other locations, however, there is no module that is directly tailored to the topic. Instead, we find various teaching units there that train the ability to reflect. For example, students reflect on what Islam is, what it conveys, and how it positions itself in society. That alone goes a long way toward preventing Islamist views.
The 20 interviews that we conducted with lecturers throughout Germany show a similar result. They repeatedly stated that the education on prevention does not only take place in dedicated modules, but is a cross-sectional task. Even a module that takes an exegetical look at the Quran or teaches Arabic studies conveys reflective knowledge about Islam that can have a preventive effect.
The lecturers were asked about their view of the causes of Islamist radicalization, but also about what schools, families, youth institutions, and the media can contribute to prevention. It was repeatedly emphasized that Islamic religious education alone cannot accomplish the mammoth task of preventing radicalization, but that schools as a whole must promote personal and professional competencies that prevent radicalization. It is the responsibility of all school disciplines and of the school as a whole to enable students to do this. Reflective competencies and self-responsibility should be learned and practiced throughout the school.
Margit Stein: In an interview, a lecturer and teacher of religious education told us that students ask little but quite specific questions in class. For example, they ask whether it is in conformity with Islam if they eat gummy bears because they might contain pork gelatin. Or they ask for instructions on how to avoid violating religious rules. Simply teaching several schools of Islam that represent different points of view on these issues can have a preventive effect here. The students learn that there is no one true Islamic answer. This ability to reflect can ultimately help form an attitude that questions the narrative of a single true interpretation of Islam.
Margit Stein: The search for interview partners is relatively difficult as it is. Apart from their time constraints, many lecturers are very modest and often refer us to colleagues who have already conducted research on certain topics. The pandemic period further complicates our search for interview partners. Particularly with the student survey, we face challenges because we cannot attend seminars to introduce ourselves and our ideas in person. For reasons of data protection, it is often not possible to join online and, of course, the centers and institutions are not able to pass on student contact details to us. So we have to rely on e-mails, which are forwarded indirectly and often rejected because the students believe that they must have expertise before they can be interviewed. But this is not the case at all, because we are for example looking for first semester students to report on their experiences with a certain module.
Margit Stein: The search for interview partners is relatively difficult as it is. Apart from their time constraints, many lecturers are very modest and often refer us to colleagues who have already conducted research on certain topics. The pandemic period further complicates our search for interview partners. Particularly with the student survey, we face challenges because we cannot attend seminars to introduce ourselves and our ideas in person. For reasons of data protection, it is often not possible to join online and, of course, the centers and institutions are not able to pass on student contact details to us. So we have to rely on e-mails, which are forwarded indirectly and often rejected because the students believe that they must have expertise before they can be interviewed. But this is not the case at all, because we are for example looking for first semester students to report on their experiences with a certain module.
Margit Stein: Yes. But we are not so much measuring values and norms in the sense of asking what attitudes lecturers or students have towards Islamism. We are not interested in conducting an " ideology check" to see whether students themselves have radical tendencies. Instead, we want to hear the opinions of students and lecturers and explore aspects of the transmission of knowledge.
The project has also brought us into contact with colleagues and students at centers and institutions for Islamic theology, which has inspired the idea of joint workshops. There, we discuss internally how knowledge about Islamophobia and radicalization can best be conveyed in academic studies.
Margit Stein: On the one hand, our goal with the expert interviews is to contribute to fundamental research and to provide more answers to the causes and effects of Islamist radicalization. On the other hand, in the sense of practical research, we are using a "best practice" approach to explore what students are taught in specific modules, but also across the curriculum, in order to be able to work preventively against radicalization later on. Through a handbook, we would also like to provide practical assistance on how teachers can recognize and react to Islamist radicalization in schools.