Shamim’s book highly commended by Society of Educational Studies
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:45:00 GMT
Dr Shamim Miah is the author of Muslims, Schooling and the Question of Self-Segregation published by Palgrave MacMillan
A BOOK by a Huddersfield academic, which challenges the Government’s perspectives on the subject of Muslim schooling and integration, is named as being one of the year’s top educational books by the Society of Education Studies.
Dr Shamim Miah, (pictured left) Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Development at the University of Huddersfield, is author of Muslims, Schooling and the Question of Self-Segregation. Published by Palgrave MacMillan, the book has been Highly Commended by the coveted Society of Educational Studies Book Prize 2016.
The book draws on empirical research conducted with members of local Muslim communities including young people, teachers and community leaders. From his findings, Dr Shamim believes there to be disconnect between the Government’s reports on Muslim communities, to what happens in reality and his book gives an alternative perspective to what the Government is saying.
“According to the Government’s reports,” said Dr Miah, “Muslim communities are acknowledged as having problems with integrating, but when we go and speak to people in the community, they say they don’t.
“In addition, if you look at the Government’s strategies to integration and analyse its policies throughout the year, you can see how the Government themselves are unsure of what integration means. In one respect they say it means assimilation, in another its multiculturalism, or sometimes they say its community cohesion.”
The book has received numerous reviews applauding his work with the latest being from the book review editor, Sadia Habib, of the popular sociology website The Sociological Imagination.
“This book is an important core text for academics and policymakers working on topics of multiculturalism, integration, British Muslim identity and social justice/equality,” she said. “The author’s academic arguments and grassroots insights provide robust and detailed explanations of British Muslim perspectives on education and British identity.”
Dr Miah didn’t take the usual route into education and entered via an access course as a mature student, which he says makes this accolade particularly special.
