Balancing spirituality and secularism, globalism and nationalism: the geographies of identity, integration and citizenship in schools

Abstract

Geographies of education have drawn more research attention in the last decade. The varied motivations for geographical attention to education have led to divergent approaches. First, a macro, political economy or “outward looking” approach has examined educational provision and what it tells us about wider social, economic and political processes. Second, a micro, social-cultural or “inward looking” approach has emphasised social difference within school spaces, and the links between home and educational spaces. This latter approach has also acknowledged the importance of the voices of children and young people in understanding educational experiences. In this paper, l take stock of existing research in the geographies of education and then make a case for the examination of two types of schools that have received little or no geographical attention thus far, namely international schools and faith-based schools. I propose a multi-scalar framework for analysing the former and a relational framework for understanding the latter.

Keywords:

• geographies of education
• citizenship
• international schools
• spirituality
• faith-based schools

Summary

In the preceding pages, I have made a case for an integrated social and cultural geography of education, which recognises the larger political, economic conditions that shape education and are in turn shaped by it, while simultaneously focusing attention on the schools that carry out the work of education and the students whose identities are shaped by their educational experiences. Using the examples of international schools and faith-based schools, I have sought to demonstrate the research questions that deserve to be pursued using a multi-scalar framework in the case of the former, and a relational framework in the case of the latter. Such research is situated within, and has the potential to contribute to, geographies of inclusion/exclusion, transnational networks and mobilities, citizenship and identity, the city and the body. Above all, there is significant potential for understanding young people's geographies. The next step is to pursue detailed empirical work with these frameworks as scaffolds. Only with such descent to case study can there be ascent to theory.

Notes

1. Here, I use “socialization” to mean the ways in which individuals learn acceptable group behaviours and norms.