European Perspectives on Islamic Education and Public Schooling - Jenny Berglund

European Perspectives on Islamic Education and Public Schooling - Jenny Berglund

A ‘Home of Study’: A UFO (Unidentified Foreign Object) in the Dutch ‘Pedagogic Civil Society’?

European Perspectives on Islamic Education and Public Schooling - Jenny Berglund

Ina ter Avest [+-]
InHolland University
Ina ter Avest is Professor in Education and Philosophy of Life at the INHolland University of Applied Sciences and is also Senior Lecturer in the Pegagogics of Religion at VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her research interest is in identity development in plural societies. In her private practice, she is coach on identity development of persons, teams and institutions.

Description

Dutch Educational Centres (Educatieve Centra Nederland, Centres of Education in the Netherlands , CEN) aim at coaching students - living in two cultures – in their development in formal and informal education. In this article I give a description of a place where youngsters stay, called a ‘home of study’ (situated in or near a mosque), where they dedicate themselves to their homework and where they are coached by volunteer (experienced) ‘peer-experts’ in finding their way and positioning themselves in the Dutch plural society. A ‘home of study’ is a kind of homework-coaching in a homely atmosphere. The population of a ‘home of study’ consists of youngsters who see themselves as ‘Dutchmen with Turkish roots’. Youngsters live in the ‘home of study’ on a voluntary base; most of the (internal and external) coaches are volunteers. In each ‘home of study’ youngsters learn to take responsibility for each other and for the community as a whole. The voice of the youngsters is listened to by way of a Youth Committee and regular interviews and questionnaires. This way of coaching is ‘different’ from what ‘we’ in the Netherlands are used to. However, in an era of radicalization contributing to feelings of fear for what is ‘different’ – possibly leading to exclusion and expulsion – it seems of great urgency to explore teaching and learning of differences, without becoming indifferent. In this contribution I aim at bridging what is familiar and what is unknown, by way of exploring the contribution of this specific way of coaching in a ‘home of study’ and its positionality regarding a ‘pedagogic civil society’ in the Dutch plural society.

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Citation

ter Avest, Ina. A ‘Home of Study’: A UFO (Unidentified Foreign Object) in the Dutch ‘Pedagogic Civil Society’?. European Perspectives on Islamic Education and Public Schooling. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 292-311 Nov 2018. ISBN 9781781794845. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=30268. Date accessed: 07 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.30268. Nov 2018

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