God save the Queen? The Trojan Horse case and educative policies in United Kingdom
Author: Ana Gracia-Gil, graciagilana@unizar.es
Department: Sociología
University: Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
Supervisor: Chaime Marcuello Servós
Year of completion: 2023
Language of dissertation: Spanish and English
Keywords:
religious education
, Islamophobia
, cultural diversity
Areas of Research:
Education
, Political Sociology
, Religion
Abstract
"Jihadist Plot to Control City Schools". This was the alarming headline in the British press in March 2014. The story originated from a letter sent to the Birmingham City Council months earlier, describing a conspiracy to control schools with a predominantly Muslim student body. Several investigations ensued, revealing that these public schools were functioning as Islamic religious schools. However, no evidence of a radicalization conspiracy was found. Despite this, the government and media reacted with severe alarm, fostering widespread paranoia. Observing the impact of the so-called Trojan Horse case inspired this work to explore such incident in depth.
This PhD seeks to identify the factors influencing the management of religious education, evaluate the responses proposed by educational policy, gather opinions from key stakeholders involved in similar cases, and explore how these findings can be applied to other contexts, such as Spain.
A comprehensive case study was conducted, analyzing official reports on religious education and educational inspections related to the Trojan Horse case. Additionally, individuals with significant involvement in the case were interviewed, including members of the central government, Birmingham City Council, and school management of the implicated schools.
The study found that the central government's desire to centralize control over religious education significantly influenced its management. The local authority, with its socialist-labor ideology, felt marginalized and unable to adequately address the cultural needs of its citizens. The educational administration's decision to allow external figures, such as families and volunteers, to have substantial influence over school management was intended to meet cultural needs but inadvertently limited the students' integration with broader Western society.
Content analysis showed that official recommendations on religious education were largely ignored. Interviews revealed that the British government's response was to emphasize national identity as a counter-terrorism measure. All interviewed stakeholders agreed that the Trojan Horse case was a result of poor political management of religious education.
A similar incident could occur in Spain, as evidenced by a comparable case in Fuengirola in 2001 involving Moroccan teachers and overly conservative measures.
This case underscores the need to reevaluate how religious diversity is managed in education. Teaching religion from a multicultural perspective can serve as a powerful tool to foster positive intercultural coexistence, an increasingly vital goal in our diverse societies.
