Abstract
Emerging from the legacy of colonialism, Britain and France have been the sites of large waves of migration from people whose ethnic origins and religious beliefs vary. A significant proportion is of Islamic faith (about two millions Muslims in Britain and nearly five in France) and attempts to integrate Muslim minorities into the host society reveal differences in the ways the two countries accept cultural diversity and practices. While Britain bases its societal structures around multiculturalism and communitarianism, France fundamentally rejects a society based on communitarianism, advocating its societal structures around the Republican principle and value of laicite [1]. The paper derives from the findings of a cross-national comparative study that examined the educational experience of Muslim pupils and the ways cultural diversity is addressed in Britain and France (Bernard-Patel, 2010). By examining the multicultural environment of British state secondary schools and that of French republican schools, the paper aims to present an account of the ways young Muslim pupils define themselves, their sense of self-identity and the significance of cultural identity within the school environment. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n7p117
Highlights
Since the end of the Second World War, both Britain and France have had the aim to provide education to all children in order to encourage all individuals to participate in the democratic process
This paper derives from a cross-national comparative study whose goal was to compare the educational experience of Muslim pupils in state schools in Britain and France and the ways cultural diversity is addressed
Being a young Muslim pupil in Britain and France engages with the realities of living as a minority in a nonMuslim country
Summary
Since the end of the Second World War, both Britain and France have had the aim to provide education to all children in order to encourage all individuals to participate in the democratic process. One way to improve the situation is through the school curriculum whose role is to promote cross-cultural tolerance by providing greater understanding and a more open approach to Muslim needs. The system presents inequalities in the standards of education with a noticeable lack in performance of ethnic minority children To improve such discrepancies and the poor achievement of particular schools, additional teachers, security personnel and substitute teachers are allocated to schools in Education Priority Zones in disadvantaged areas.
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