BBC Radio 4 2016-03-02

BBC Radio 4 2016-03-02

Following the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, British universities now have a statutory duty to ‘have due regard to prevent people being drawn into terrorism’. Schools have similar guidelines.

A young teacher in East London recently asked me if I thought the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy could be an obstacle to honest discussion between pupils and teachers about religion.

The question goes to the heart of a problem faced by our society. Educators and government want to ensure that students will be equipped to become good citizens with the skills and values to engage, participate and contribute constructively. Our society does not want to see its youth radicalised. But how do we prevent it happening?

For some, the best response is a security one, relying on state powers and the police and intelligence services. And in some of the more difficult cases that might be proportionate.

But for others, especially educators, the response goes to the very heart of the purpose of an education; to expand the mind, to prepare the student to think for themselves, to engage the world critically and to discern their path in life by testing their views and beliefs. That is the core mission of a university, as described by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman in his unrivalled 19th century text on the idea of a university. He wrote, ‘it is the place where a thousand schools make contributions; in which the intellect may safely range and speculate, sure to find its equal in some antagonistic activity and its judge in the tribunal of truth’.

So the challenge is how to find a proportionate means to adhere to the law and protect society, but at the same time remain committed to the purpose of a holistic education. I come back to the young teacher’s question and my own experience of a Catholic school in Northern Ireland and the teachers who upheld society’s values amidst the turmoil of the Troubles. Many beyond Northern Ireland might still associate the schools with being part of the problem. But for those of us in the schools at that time they were an opening to a world beyond, and teachers through rational engagement, challenge and personal example, reminded us all of the sacredness of human life, regardless of how difficult the circumstances. That engagement opened closed minds, including mine. That is the purpose of an education.