The following text has originally been published by the Finnish Institute in London.
How can schools prevent extremist views?
Growing Up Radical? is an international project led by experts from several different fields of study. According to the project’s spokesperson Pia-Maria Niemi, Ph.D., they will bring together scholars from the University Helsinki and the University of Oxford for a bilateral mini-conference on the role of education in addressing societal polarization:
“Our conference is part of a larger study project that examines the role of educational institutions in guiding young people’s worldview construction. The project seeks to discuss how school education could contribute to addressing the societal tensions that may lead to the development of extremist worldviews and how it could ensure equal opportunities for positive identity construction for all students, both nationally and internationally.”
The project aims to answer questions on what the educational institutions’ role is and can be in preventing extremist views.
“We also attempt to find a way to establish the school as a safe place for every student to question and discuss different values. This information will then be applied in teacher training,” says Niemi.