Education and (Counter-)Terrorism

This chapter provides an international overview of some of the different ways in which education has been utilised as a means to prevent or reduce violence. The chapter begins by providing the conventional wisdom that is offered to explain why young people are particularly susceptible to radicalisation and the value education is said to have in preventing or disrupting this process as well as building student resilience. The chapter then explores a range of educational initiatives designed to reduce violence, focusing primarily on dedicated programmes but also covering peace education, citizenship education, and the broader ways in which counter-radicalisation strategies have sought to draw on the education sector. The chapter concludes by acknowledging the positive contribution that education can have in the production of peace and the promotion of non-violence, but argues that the manner and context within which this is achieved are very important and that clumsy efforts to teach particular values or a version of citizenship as a means of countering terrorism endanger securitising education, removing the scope for critical thought and alienating and stigmatising specific students and student populations.