REVIEWS 447

CHRISTOPHER DALLADAYThe Cass School of Education and CommunitiesThe University of East London © 2012, Christopher Dalladay

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2012.742277

Islam and Education: The Manipulation and Misrepresentation of a Religion. By LynnRevell. Pp 148. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books. 2012. £20.99 (pbk). ISBN 978-1-85856-489-0.

At a time when research commissioned by the Religious Education Council (REC) isdiscussing the relevance and comprehensiveness of Religious Education, it is appropriate tohave a book that examines how Islam is represented in text books in relation to other faithsand to the complex themes that link the role of education to identity and values. This bookis primarily an examination of how Islam is represented within the RE education system ofBritain. However, it does not do so by looking at the representation of school text books ofIslam in relation to other religions in isolation, but by evaluating the policies and politicalcontexts in which Islam is perceived. The book has a number of strengths and the authorshould be congratulated for this project. The central theme throughout the book is a chal-lenge to the core assumptions about equality and power in relation to how Islam is taughtin schools. The author is successful in presenting the challenges through the five chaptersof the book offering a new perspective for teachers and schools in developing an open andcritical environment for learning about Islam.

This book is very much aimed at any one who is interested in the links between reli-gion, education and social policy, but it is primarily a book for educationists, especiallyReligious Education teachers. Revell’s introduction in the book highlights her main thrustby arguing that, even though the educationalist arena may appear distant from the commer-cial and populist demand-driven media, the presentation of Islam which prevails in schooland educational policy is shaped by a complex interplay between power structures, the posi-tion and aims of minorities and majorities and the ability and power of those actors to act(p. ix). It is the analysis of the relationship between these elements that makes this book agreat contribution to the field.

The book is divided into five chapters: the first, ‘Islam and World Religion’, intro-duces what Revell calls the RE narrative about the six world religions. She explains howIslam began to be officially recognised within compulsory education in 1975 in the SeminalBirmingham Agreed Syllabus alongside Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism andHinduism. Revell argues that this RE narrative needs to be critically analysed, which sheproceeds to do successfully and demonstrates how Islam was recognised as a world religionbut without any real social and historical context. This leads the reader to the second chap-ter which is entitled ‘The Limits of Multiculturalism’. In this chapter Revell challenges thenotion of Islam being blamed for the ‘failure’ of multiculturalism. She explores the role ofRE and multiculturalism and how that fits in with Islam in Britain. She successfully arguesthrough the chapter demonstrating that there is a relationship between the development ofan approach to race and ethnicity based on the premise that communities should integrateand the representation of Muslim communities as resistant to that same integration (p. 22).

The third chapter is called ‘Teaching and Learning, the Raw Materials’. In it Revelldemonstrates that even though Religious Education textbooks about Islam follow the sameformula of other religious textbooks, which aim to portray the religion and its adherentsin a positive way, that same formula leads to major omissions and failure to contextualise

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Muslims in Britain. This has an adverse affect since the portrayal of Islam is much moreprofound in contemporary society because of the place of Islam in the narratives outsideschool. Hence, ‘the textbooks on Islam present a view of Muslim beliefs and communitiesthat appears to be positive – but in a context that is divorced from the world in which pupilsencounter Islam through other channels’ (p. 64). Another excellent chapter is the fourth one,entitled ‘Islam, Education and the Home Office’, where Revell highlights the political con-text of teaching world religions, especially Islam, in schools. She states ‘The Home Officesees the teaching of Islam and other world religions as a key part of their strategy to opposeterrorism’ (p. 65). Through this chapter the author discusses the initiatives promoted bythe Home Office, such as Prevent, Contest and Resilience, successfully contextualising theteaching of Islam in schools. Her final chapter, ‘Tolerance and Representation’, concludesthe book by arguing that ‘a new representation of Islam, drawn not by government or by themedia but by those who are represented, should be evolved and adapted in education andwider society’ (p. 117).

This in my opinion was a very interesting and fruitful read that informs the reader abouthow Islam is represented in education in Britain and how this representation is related withvarious political, social and ideological agendas. This is a book that raises many perti-nent and challenging questions, but in a very enjoyable and accessible way. This book ingeneral is superb and essential for all readers interested in the topic of RE and Islam inschools.

AMJAD M. HUSSAINUniversity of Wales: Trinity Saint David© 2012, Amjad M. Hussain

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2012.742278

Teaching as a Design Science: Building Pedagogical Patterns for Learning and Technology.By Diana Laurillard. Pp 272. London: Routledge. 2012. £22.99 (pbk). ISBN-10: 041580387X.

In this book, Diana Laurillard has brought together a wealth of pedagogical and educationalresearch data and aligned it with real examples of how teachers design effective learning forstudents using technology, providing accessible and realistic advice for enhancing teachingpractice. Through this book, she has also made a powerful assertion that excellent teachingusing technology requires scientific study to build sound pedagogic principles upon whicheffective learning can take place.

The book is divided into two equal parts: the first section deals with the principles,definitions, concepts and frameworks for designing effective teaching and learning; thesecond section examines each of the principal learning methods in detail, meshing concep-tual frameworks with individual technologies and their application. The book ends with auseful summary chapter drawing together the key findings and encourages the idea of usingpedagogical patterns to design teaching, with some discipline specific examples. To para-phrase the final chapter of the book, Laurillard concludes: ‘Teaching is a design science. . . it is not only trying to understand the world but to make the world a better place . . .

digital technologies not only enable a change to treating teaching as a design science, theyalso require it’ (pp. 225–226).

The opening chapter convinces us of the central tenet of the book, that teaching isindeed a design science. Many experienced teachers will find comfort in this discussion, as