The Museum für Islamische Kunst Has Developed a Handout for Educators on Islamic and Rassist Attacks

15.02.2022
Museum für Islamische Kunst

A new, free handout examines the pedagogical, didactical and school-law-based challenges faced by teachers and schools following Islamic and racist attacks. How should image prohibition and the portrayal of prophets be discussed in the classroom? How can museums contribute to political education and prevention? These and other questions are answered in the German handout “Islamistische und rassistische Anschläge – ein Thema für Schule und Unterricht?” (Islamic and Racist Attacks: A Topic for School and the Classroom?), produced by the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum for Islamic Art) – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in cooperation with other educational institutions.

The handout consists of three sections: Background, Teaching Practice, and School and School Development:

• The Background section contains explanatory texts addressing how racist attacks can generally be discussed in the classroom and how experiences of discrimination and racism influence perceptions of Islamic violence.
• The section on Teaching Practice includes contributions with specific suggestions, information and materials for use in the classroom as well as experience reports from museum outreach in the field of political education.
• The third section comprises contributions about school development and reveals how an “inclusive we” can be strengthened at school.

The contributions stem from a series of web talks jointly organised in spring 2021 by the Federal Agency for Civic Education’s (bpb) Information Service to Prevent Radicalisation, the Leibniz Institute for Educational Media – Georg Eckert Institute, the Bildungsstätte Anne Frank (educational centre), ufuq.de and the Museum für Islamische Kunst. The collaborative undertaking’s overarching goal is to contribute to an appreciative, diverse and inclusive society.

The collaboration came about in response to the Islamist-motivated murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty in October 2020, an event that also deeply shook many school communities in Germany. The participating sponsors felt it was important to talk about Islamist as well as racist attacks, such as those that occurred in Hanau and Halle. On “the day after”, educators in schools and youth social work face the difficult task of talking to children and young people about such events.

Download the handout: Islamistische und rassistische Anschläge – ein Thema für Schule und Unterricht? (PDF, 2.5 MB, available only in German)

The Common Past – Common Future II Project

The Museum für Islamische Kunst’s contribution is part of the Shared Past – Shared Future II project, with which the museum seeks to encourage appreciation of social diversity through transcultural educational work. The project is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).