RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND THE SHAPING OF MOROCCAN IDENTITY: ISLAMIC EDUCATION TEXTBOOKS AS A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Islamic education ccurricula reforms have been at the core of many debates in Morocco lately. After the 9/11 events and the Casablanca bombings in 2003, Islamic education became associated with the discourse of extremism and violence, thus becoming a top priority in the process of religious reforms. This study seeks to explore the way Islamic education textbooks shape Moroccan identity and how they reflect the state's religious policies. It also tries to explore the main differences between the old and new textbooks in terms of values and terminology, and how such reforms are perceived by teachers of Islamic education. A mixed-methods approach, based on Summative Content Analysis, is used to compare old and new curricula. Interviews with Islamic education teachers are conducted, questionnaires administered to third year, high school students. The results show that the Islamic terminology and values are compromised to focus on ethics, citizenship and human rights values. They also indicate that teachers are against such reforms, especially that of the year 2016. The new textbooks have succeeded to a certain extent to shape students' religious identity, fostering moderation, tolerance, openness and co-existence. However, the results also show that students ' religious identity is much more stable and developed than their national identity.