As part of my commitment to life long learning I recently embarked on my Masters in Education & Applied social sciences with the University of Wolverhampton and chose to explore the educational impact “PREVENT” has had and continues to have on young children, teachers and education settings, below is my research into this topic.

Outline:

The September 11^th, 2001 terrorist attacks on America was a focusing event, which is as Dorey (2014 p17) highlights how Kingdon explains this as “a critical moment that brings a particular policy to the fore” causing high levels of public unrest so that politicians are forced into swift policy decision making, this terrorist attack mobilized Governments in such fashion. In 2003 the UK Government introduced legislation a wide-ranging key Government strategy commonly known as CONSENT and this became part of the wider Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) the policy has four key strands these being: “Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare”.

This UK multidimensional counterterrorism policy arm known as Prevent was poorly designed, is in dire need of reform as Dorey (2014, p12-13) reflects it is at “stage four of Downs issue attention cycle” this is where decline in public interest has caused the original policy to stagnate, caused by the public’s interest being drawn on other issues such as successive Government austerity programs, this is in part as Dorey (2014, p13) quotes Downs “placing an issue on the institutional agenda policy, does not always lead to policy change”

I intend to reflect how the Prevent policy is fundamentally flawed when designed by the UK New Labour Government and this is recognised      (Parliament, 2010) where Prevent is described as “the least developed strand of CONTEST” this policy now two decades old is widely acknowledged by virtually all key stakeholders as unfit for purpose as highlighted by The Muslim Council of Britian (2023) who state:

“There are serious concerns about discrimination in the implementation of terror legislation”.

This brief will identify using an evidence-based approach what I consider are the pressing issues for policy reform around the Prevent arm of CONSENT. The primary role being a statutory requirement that all education settings must deliver to ensure young people are not drawn into or supporting terrorism and from this how young Muslim males ranging from primary school age to college settings (5–18-year-olds) are being profiled based around specific religious and cultural backgrounds causing greater levels of friction and tension in their communities.

This policy brief will highlight that Prevent:

• Requires radical reform to address a policy that was poorly designed and has been heavily criticised by Civil liberty groups, Education trade unions and successive Governments.  

• Any reform must address the inequalities around educational referrals and these be should refined to consider various factors before proceeding to a Channel case.

• Prevent reform must address the concerns that the policy is discriminatory and Islamophobic and take into consideration the wide-ranging concerns of all communities and stakeholders to deliver a trustworthy Government policy that addresses terrorism and security needs.

Fundamental Issues with the existing policy:

The UK Government records and monitors the number of referrals passed onto them for action, where an individual is deemed at risk of radicalisation this is known as a Channel referral, in 2015/16 through to 2019/2020 education settings made up the largest proportion of referrals from all sectors of society including: the Police, Healthcare, Local Authority, HM Prisons and family and friends being the other referring agencies. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/individuals-referred-to-and-supported-through-the-prevent-programme-april-2019-to-march-2020

When we consider all the other reporting agencies reflect a referral reporting percentage of 2% to 12% HM Government data reflects education settings are reporting far greater numbers of students than any other referral body.

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I again used Amtrak to travel from New York to Washington D.C. this 3 hour train journey took me through some of America’s heartlands such as Trenton, Philadelphia & Baltimore before arriving at Washington D.C. As I exited the train station into the mid afternoon sunshine I was struck by how warm and close it was in D.C. the temperature and humidity seemed to have jumped considerably from the milder and wetter Northern States I had just travelled from.

As I left the train station to make my way to my Airbnb which I had booked for my first couple of nights in Washington I felt a heightened sense of excitement seeing the Capitol’s distinctive red taxi cabs, most American cities taxi providers are the iconic yellow cabs, but in D.C. they are red and I for one think this difference suits Washington.

Continue reading ““Super Week on Capitol Hill” visiting Washington D.C. on the 4th stage of my Walter Hines Page Scholarship.” →

We are all familiar with New York, it is the backdrop and landscape to many of our favourite television shows, movies and music videos, this was never made clearer to me than as I rode the train from Newark, New Jersey to Central Station, New York.

The panarama of familiar buildings and landscapes as the train arched around the city to snake into Central Station had my face pressed up against the window childlike in awe, I challenge anyone not to be impressed by the city unfolding in front of you from that moving train window. The train brought me into Penn station which is in Midtown area of Manhattan and sits beneath Madison Square Garden, between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue and between 31st and 34 street on New York’s street grid system.

New York:

Continue reading ““How do you like dem apples” visiting New York on the 3rd stage of my Walter Hines Page Scholarship” →

I left Boston by Amtrak which I had researched and decided upon would be my primary mode of transportation down the East Coast of America.Whilst it may be stating the obvious America is huge country and traveling times and distances would be a factor as to where I would visit during my three week WHPS.

https://www.amtrak.com/home/

Boston to Newark (the main train hub for New Jersey) is around 250 miles in distance it takes roughly around 4 hours on the Amtrak and costs just under $100, with comfortable seats, air conditioning, free wifi and not forgetting the toilets for me it was no brainer.

Continue reading “Visiting New Jersey, home of Tony Soprano on the 2nd stage of my Walter Hines Page Scholarship to America.” →

I have always liked to set myself objectives within my teaching career to ensure I constantly stretch and challenge myself in an effort to improve my teaching pedagogy.

At the beginning of my teaching career I became aware of the Walter Hines Page scholarship (WHPS) which is available to teachers to enable them to visit America for the purpose of undertaking research on a specific aspect of the American education system which is of interest to them and is relevant to their job.

It is something that I have always wanted to apply for but external circumstances such as having a young family, building a career etc. has meant it has been not until recently that I was in a position to explore this opportunity further.

Organised by the English Speaking Union (ESU), the (WHPS) aims to promote the exchange of ideas, understanding and knowledge between Britain and the United States of America.

Continue reading “Visiting Boston’s “Sacred Cod” on the 1st stage of my Walter Hines Page Scholarship to America.” →