Using Critical Race Theory to discuss the development of educational policy in Britain

By the 1980s, the discussion had become an issue of the past and had disintegrated with the contending theories of education concerning antiracist and multicultural education. In review, the positions presented in this case can reflect partial truths, but cannot be deemed to be helpful to the complicated situation witnessed by the racial minorities in the UK. The emergence of the assertiveness of the Muslim, the polarization of level qualifications, the broad appeal of the black culture and the feminist interventions have all brought about challenges and opposition to the earlier beliefs of anti-racism and multiculturalism. Introduction The expansion of schools sponsored by Islamic religion and funded by the state in Britain has seen an upper trajectory against the backdrop of a sustained political rhetoric in the broader position of the British-Arabs in both the educational and political contexts.

This task sets out to explore the public and political policy rhetoric that revolve around multicultural schools, especially the Muslim schools as dictated under the New Labor laws together with the subsequent Coalition as well as Conservative governments initiatives while comparing how the narratives align themselves with the results in terms of the types of, and number of, denominational schools of Arabs origin in Britain. One thing was certain about this campaign. People failed to react to government’s criticism of terrorism definition2. With the particular reference to the instances of terrorist invasion of the British mainland, the response to bringing the perpetrators to book is something that was seen to be terribly below par. It is no doubt that the bombings brought about the wave of Islamophobia in the country, with everyone branded a terrorist in the country, provided one subscribed to the ideals of Islam6.

There were a series of attacks on mosques, anti-Muslimism graffiti, attacks and assault of Arabs, an example being the instance where a Muslim was assaulted and murdered in Nottingham. Multiculturalism as a term invokes the demographic dynamics, the legal, theoretical, intersecting political debates over the means and strategies of staging a response to these issues, the attempts by the government to accommodate the changes and multicultural diversity and the manner in which it could promote the same. This is against the backdrop of the economic, security and political challenges that have been mentioned above. There are a series of changes that have been occasioned by the onset of the new millennium, putting pressure on government officials to set up programs that would support multiculturalism, with a tone of prominent social and political commentators that include the then Prime Minister, David Cameron who repudiated the critical aspects of the case11.

What remains to be seen is whether the rhetorical shift about the multicultural discourse has translated or will translate to full-scale withdrawal at the law and policy levels. One thing that is clear though is that multiculturalism in the UK is a fact that is facing a series of re-evaluation. In political terms, the word multiculturalism appears fluid, making the issue a contest between different political players14. It is, however, convenient to acknowledge and identify the fundamental themes running through the various multiculturalism issues, which then means that the debates bear on the family representation and resemblance balance to the other. In most instances, the presence of the members of a community considered to be in the minority group often brings with it challenges to fathom certain issues adequately.

Therefore, any person debating the multicultural issue must at all times incorporate tolerance, for, with this, the subject of multiculturalism will see the light of day and appreciation of the diversity will be in force8. The recurrent feature of the issue of multiculturalism and the debates thereof, pose a massive challenge to the minority groups, as explicitly presented by the majority groups. The surveys on the postwar British multiculturalism have played a significant role in contextualizing the present debates on policies. The discussions are nonetheless, comprised of interrelated policy strands, theory, and law. The policies that address multiculturalism in the UK and those addressing the same elsewhere in the continent are entangled with the details of the normative and legal debates.

However, the public discussion and discourses that touch on policies on cultural minorities are often left or discussed in narrow contexts than it would in political theory or law. In contemporary Britain, multiculturalism is primarily connected to immigration, race and national identity, and in the more recent time, to Islam, as presented in the opening stages of this task. One of the ways and means through which multicultural education can help eradicate cultural differences together with cultural bias is through subjecting individuals to education systems and teaching them on the importance of cultural diversity. By treating all students fairly, the school system will help the students in promoting a harmonious system of education where students interact freely without minding their cultural and religious differences4.

The Muslim community has always placed high regard to premium education. Through learning of the Quran, the Islamic education traces back to the time of Prophet Muhammed. The rich diversity that constructed within the Islamic education should therefore not surprise anyone, given the fact that Islam is a system of both culture and religion. There is the school of thought with the view that there is no racial hate in the education sector, and that there are no such penetrations of race and hatred in the abstract terms. The British system of education is intensely oriented on the white supremacy and majority rule10. This is the reason why the system realizes its interests in the material and ideological sphere. The racial minorities like the Arabs in the UK are often instrumentalized in public debates as instruments of change, and not subjects or objects of social change and social life.