ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the ways when teachers can approach Islamophobia so that pupils can understand its controversial and complex nature. Many teachers, aware of Islamophobia in their schools or communities, respond by presenting a positive and non-threatening model of Islam to pupils. Challenging Islamophobia then would entail strategies that asked children to consider how one think about their selves as groups, nations, neighbourhoods, regions, religiously, ethnically, socially and culturally. Stereotyping is widely recognised as central to communicating ideas and values about groups, so enabling pupils to recognise and challenge stereotypes associated with religious groups is an integral part of Religious Education (RE). Vygotsky's belief in the significance of consciousness, the instrumental role of the teacher and the importance of the sociocultural environments of the child means that teachers can expect to play a very particular role in education about Islamophobia.
