The formation of opinions on the existence of an Islamic school

(1)

The Formation of Opinions on

the Existence of an Islamic School

By Jonneke Heesterbeek

B.Sc. (University of Amsterdam) 2014

10155457

Jonnekehees@hotmail.com

Thesis in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Social Sciences June 2016

in the

Department of Sociology

Track Social Problems and Social Policy Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences

First supervisor: S.P. Ayuandini Second supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Kremer

(2)

(3)

Summary

In the Netherlands, Islamic primary schools are formally recognized and funded but they are not always accepted by the Dutch population. Feelings of resentment towards the Islam and negative evaluations about the management of Dutch Islamic schools have resulted in many arguments against Islamic education among the Dutch non-Muslim population, but also among the Muslim population. Among the people who are against Islamic education, the idea exists that Islamic schools do not give the Dutch Muslim children the opportunity to integrate. They state sending Muslim children to public education would contribute to the process of integration.

Available literature has indicated there are several factors that can influence opinions on the Islam and Islamic education. Negative opinions towards the Islam or Islamic education are often related to the idea that the Dutch Muslim population is a threat to the interests or to the values of the Dutch non-Muslim population. These ideas are often based on prejudices and stereotypes which are formed by experiences of events, interpersonal interaction and discussions on social media or in printed media. New experiences of events or discussions could result in a reinterpretation of old opinions and in the formation of new opinions.

Former research about Islamic education has primarily focused on the response of the Muslim population on the challenges Islamic schools have to face. This research is primarily based on

available literature. Most of the research has not included the voice of Muslim or non-Muslim people involved. This research does focus on the voice of the people involved in a situation in which an Islamic primary school is established behind a public primary school. The voice is used to understand the formation of opinions. This research analyzes how opinions on the Islamic primary school Elif are formed.

Elif is an Islamic primary school which is situated in the schoolyard of the Zilvermeeuw Public Primary School. Elif had been situated there for a year at the time this research was conducted. Zilvermeeuw parents have formed different opinions concerning the situation. Because it is interesting to get to know how the differences in the Zilvermeeuw parents’ opinions emerge, this research

primarily focused on how opinions on Elif are formed among Zilvermeeuw parents in the year that Elif has been established behind Zilvermeeuw. Furthermore, it focuses on gaining insight in the formation of the Elif parents’ opinions to see if differences can be found in the formation of their opinions. To gain insights in this, in-depth interviews have been done with parents. The interviews have focused on the experiences parents have had of the situation, on discussions they have had about the situation, and on the stories they have read in the media. The aim of the interviews was to get to know if the parents’ experiences have influenced the opinions of parents. Further information about the situation and about the parents’ opinion is gained through in-depth interviews with the principals of the Zilvermeeuw and Elif.

This research has indicated that all the Zilvermeeuw parents would like Elif to move to another building. They share the opinion that it is not right that Elif students are occupying space within the school, on the schoolyard, and in the neighborhood. Elif occupies space through taking over classrooms in the school building of the Zilvermeeuw and through parking their school busses in front of the school where they are not supposed to park. The Zilvermeeuw parents see Elif as a threat to their interests because they are afraid the school might take over their building or cause accidents.

(4)

They state that their opinion on the situation of the occupancy of space does not have anything to do with the fact that Elif is an Islamic school. Elif parents and the principal of Elif think differently about the discontent of Zilvermeeuw parents. They think Zilvermeeuw parents are discontent about the occupancy of space because Elif is an Islamic school. Elif parents think so because they have

experienced that Zilvermeeuw parents react in a less negative way on the occupancy of space by non-Mulsim people. Elif parents have for example experienced that Zilvermeeuw parents do not correct the non-Muslim parents if they park in the wrong spot.

There are also differences in opinions between Zilvermeeuw parents. Some Zilvermeeuw parents are content about the fact that there is no contact between the people of the Zilvermeeuw and Elif. This group of parents would not like to see any changes in the organization of the situation. Other Zilvermeeuw parents would like to see changes. They would like to see an initiation of more contact between people of the Zilvermeeuw and Elif. This group of parents thinks contact could lead to a better understanding of each other’s cultures which can contribute to a society in which people from different cultures live together peacefully. The Elif parents interviewed for this research would like to see an initiation of contact as well. They think more contact could contribute to the acceptance of the Dutch Muslim population by the Dutch non-Muslim population. However, the Zilvermeeuw and Elif parents who would appreciate an initiation of contact do not actually initiate it. They share the opinion that it would not be a good idea to initiate contact because they assume that some Zilvermeeuw parents would not like that.

The different opinions about the situation seem to have stayed the same over the year. Zilvermeeuw and Elif parents do not seem to have encountered many experiences of events or discussions in interpersonal interaction or in the media, which could possibly change their opinion. New experiences of contact or exchanges with people from the other group could possibly have led to a reinterpretation of the opinion and to the formation of new opinions among parents. But it seems like the parents do not allow new experiences or exchanges with other people to form their opinions. The exchanges and experiences they do allow to shape their opinion are the ones that reconfirm their existing opinion. Because the existing opinions about the initiation of contact continue to exist, contact between the people from the different schools will not be initiated.

(5)

1. Introduction

1.1. Islamic primary schools in the Netherlands

This master’s thesis considers the formation of opinions on an Islamic school in the Netherlands. Islamic schools in the Netherlands are founded for Dutch children from Muslim backgrounds in order to create a learning environment in which the principles of the Islamic religion and the specific needs of children from Muslim backgrounds were taken into account. Islamic schools provide Dutch children from Muslim backgrounds with the opportunity to pray and fast. They also promise to provide a quality education that offers improved opportunities for children from Muslim backgrounds who achieve worse than their peers from non-Muslim backgrounds (Driessen & Merry 2006: 204). All the Islamic schools are required to teach according to the statutory requirements of the Dutch

education system. This means that children have to be taught in Dutch by qualified teachers, and that the curriculum has to be approved in accordance with the Primary Education Act (Ibid.: 203-204). Nevertheless, Islamic schools can differ from each other considerably as each Islamic school is organized according to the ideological standpoint of the Muslims who established it. There is diversity among the ideological standpoints of Dutch Muslims due to their different ethnic and cultural

backgrounds (Hussain 2004: 320).

The stance of the Netherlands towards Islamic education is unique and is a result of

pillarization. During the period of pillarization, Dutch society was segregated according to religious backgrounds and ideologies. Political parties, newspapers, schools and other institutions with a religious point of view all existed within the pillar of a certain religion. Many of these religious institutions disappeared during the period of secularization in the 1960s, but many religious schools continued (Driessen & Merry 2006: 203). After pillarization and secularization the Dutch decided to adopt a neutral approach to religion, which held that the state should treat people from different religions in the same way (Karsten 2006: 5; Noll & Saroglou 2015: 219). It cannot permit some kinds of religious education while prohibiting others, as the state would then be propagating a particular religion and would not be neutral anymore (Karsten 2006: 25). This resulted in freedom of education in the Netherlands, which means that everybody has the freedom to establish a school and to teach according to a certain ideology or religion. Islamic schools are therefore formally recognized and funded in the Netherlands (Driessen & Merry 2006: 202-203).

However, the attitude towards Islamic education in the Netherlands is not as open as it might seem. After the disaster of 9-11, the populist right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn, together with other political parties who had adopted his views, spread the idea that Dutch immigrants, the majority of whom are Muslims, were insufficiently integrated into Dutch society. The spread of these ideas across the Dutch non-Muslim population led to increased feelings of resentment towards the Dutch Muslim population (Driessen & Merry 2006:214-215). Today around 50% of the Dutch population have unfavorable opinions towards Islam. This sector of the population believes that Islamic and western culture cannot coexist (Velasco González et al. 2008: 667-668). These feelings of resentment affect the public perception of Islamic schools.

Apart from the feelings of resentment, the negative evaluation of the management of the Islamic schools has also had a large impact on the arguments against Islamic education. The schools have received negative evaluations because the average results of students from the Islamic schools

(7)

if one compares the results of the children from Islamic schools with children from similar socio-ethnic backgrounds, this evaluation has affected attitudes towards Islamic education (Niehaus 2009: 114-125). Those who are opposed to the existence of Islamic schools are convinced that ethnically mixed schools are the solution to the lack of integration and the low grades among Dutch Muslim children (Driessen & Merry 2006: 214-215).

According to the Islamic School Board Organization (ISBO 2016), there are now fifty Islamic primary schools in the Netherlands. The majority of the students at these schools are Dutch-Moroccan or Dutch-Turkish. In 2006 40% of the Dutch children at Islamic primary schools were from a

Moroccan background, while 37% were from a Turkish background. The rest of the children were of Surinamese, Somali, Afghan, Iranian and Iraqi descent (Driessen & Merry 2006: 204). It is important to understand how attitudes towards Islamic schools are formed as the number of Islamic primary schools will probably increase in the near future. In 2004 there were indications that the Netherlands would need 160 Islamic primary schools in order to meet the demand from parents (Driessen & Merry 2006: 204-205). With the fifty Islamic primary schools that currently exist, there is probably still a shortage of Islamic schools.

There is a high demand for Islamic schools because the needs of certain Dutch Muslim parents will not be met at regular primary schools. These include the provision for Qur’an classes, separate sport classes, clothing regulations, and help with specific needs such as extra Dutch language classes (Driessen & Merry 2006: 205-206; Karsten 2006: 30; Phalet & ter Wal 2004: 46). Furthermore, the Islamic school is seen as a safe place that is free of stigmatization and discrimination, and where Dutch Muslims can express their religion unhindered (Niehaus 2009: 126). Parents who send their children to Islamic schools consider it really important that their children are able to wear a headscarf to school, or pray at school without being judged by other students (Phalet & ter Wal 2004: 45).

However, some Dutch parents from Muslim backgrounds also see the advantages of public schools with children from different socio-ethnic identities. They feel that they and their children need to be active citizens and develop their Dutch identities as well as their Islamic identities (Niehaus 2009: 126). In order to develop their children’s multiple identities, they consider it better to not send them to exclusively Islamic schools. They fear that this will lead to segregation, rather than integration into Dutch society as no attention is paid to the general norms of the non-Muslim Dutch population. Such views are also held by many Dutch non-Muslims (Driessen & Merry 2006: 205-206; Phalet & ter Wal 2004: 50) who argue that Islamic primary schools should not be supported in the Netherlands. Instead, there should be public primary schools that give attention to Islam as well as to other religions, which would contribute to a more integrated society (de ISBO 2000: 12). Thus there are clearly different opinions on the existence of Islamic schools, both among Dutch Muslims and among Dutch non-Muslims.

1.2. The Elif Islamic Primary School

In this thesis I analyze the formation of opinions on the Elif Islamic Primary School. Elif is a school for children in the age range of 4 to 12 years old. Elif’s principal stated that he had 80 students at the time of research. The school is situated in Heemskerk, a town in the Netherlands with approximately 39.000 citizens (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistieken 2014a: 27). Preliminary exchanges clarified that Elif attracts children from different towns in IJmond, a region within Noord-Holland. 6,4% of the

(8)

population of Noord-Holland was Muslim in 2013 (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistieken 2014b: 7). At the beginning of the 2015 school year Elif relocated from a school of music in Heemskerk to the unused building of the public Zilvermeeuw Primary School, also in Heemskerk. According to data from the school comparison website, Zilvermeeuw had 189 students in 2014 (10000 Scholen 2014b), and its students are in the same age range as those of Elif.

When this research was conducted, Elif had been using the spare buildings on Zilvermeeuw’s property for almost a year. Interviews with the parents indicated that they had formed different opinions regarding this situation. However, they all shared the opinion that it would be better to move Elif to another location soon. The parents often spoke of the possibility of Elif moving to another location. Floor is a mother of two children who has been involved with Zilvermeeuw for some year. She has helped with school activities such as swimming and reading. She says that Elif could move to another school building in Heemskerk if the groups that are now occupying that building vacate it. She also argues that this would be the best solution.

FLOOR:”I did hear, they would move to an additional building of the Anne Frank [another primary school in Heemskerk] which is located on the Jan van Kuijkweg [another location than the main building of Anne Frank itself]. I suppose they [Elif] would be going to use that additional building. But I think the Anne Frank won’t get a license to build new classrooms on their own location. So the classes of the Anne Frank, which are now in the additional building, can’t move back to the Anne Frank. This means that this school, Elif, can’t move to the additional building of the Anne Frank, which would of course be the best solution.”

1.3. The importance of analyzing opinions on Islamic schools

There is considerable literature on Islamic schools in the Netherlands. This literature often focuses on the challenges Islamic schools face, and on how Dutch Muslim people act in response to these challenges (Merry 2010: XIII-XIV). In most of these studies on Islamic education in Europe, North-America, and Canada statements consist of impressions and opinions, based on literature research (Driessen & Merry 2006: 202; Merry 2010: XIII-XIV). Little attention is paid to what people say about their response to challenges. People’s voices are often left out of research (Merry 2010: XIII-XIV). People’s voices can be important to gain a better understanding of how opinions on Islamic schools are formed and by understanding opinions we can interpret certain behavior better (Krauss 2005: 762-763). Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to understand the formation of

opinions on the Elif Islamic Primary School through listening to the voices of respondents involved in the situation of Elif. The case of Elif is interesting to do research on because there are Dutch Muslim and non-Muslim people involved in the situation and preliminary observations have indicated that they all seem to have different opinions on the situations. The different opinions of Muslim people as well as non-Muslim people can be analyzed in this research. The inclusion of the voice of respondents to understand the formation of different opinions on Islamic education can contribute new insights to the literature on opinions in the public debate on Islamic schools.

(9)

worldview, perspective or stereotypes. These meanings are created out of experiences (Ibid.: 763). According to Merizow (1997: 5-6), the experience of events can affect opinions directly. Therefore, this thesis will analyze whether experiences actually have a direct influence on parents’ opinions on Islamic schools, and how this influence occurs.

The creation of experiences and opinions could also have occurred in an indirect way through the discussing of events that concern Islamic schools in interpersonal interaction (Krauss 2005: 763). There are different ways in which Islamic schools are discussed. Discussions could occur during interpersonal interaction between parents, on social media or in other kinds of media. The learning processes that result from these experiences of discussion could lead to new opinions, but they could also confirm old opinions (Ibid.: 763). Opinions are a result of interaction that reinforces or challenges certain conceptions of meanings, and which justify behavior (Ibid.: 762-763). This thesis therefore also analyses how certain kinds of interpersonal interaction and interaction through social media lead to the formation of opinions among parents. In explaining their opinions, it became apparent that parents did not often discuss the media. Because the media seems to be less important in the formation of parents’ opinions, this thesis does not discuss the media as extensively as it discusses other possible influences.

It was not possible to consider every aspect that might have had an influence on parents’ opinions in this research. There was insufficient time to consider every historical aspect that might have influenced parents’ opinions. Therefore, this research focuses on how parents’ opinions have been formed during the period in which Elif has been established behind Zilvermeeuw. It asks whether certain aspects of that situation have influenced parents’ opinions.

In-depth interviews with the parents of the two primary schools were used in order to analyze what influenced the parents’ opinions. Additional information about the situation and further insights into the opinions of the parents were gained through interviews with the principals of the two primary schools. The research questions I sought to answer with this analysis were the following:

Research question:

How are opinions on the establishment of an Islamic school formed? Sub questions:

 How do experiences contribute to the formation of opinions about the Islamic school among parents?

 How do interpersonal interactions contribute to the formation of opinions about the Islamic school among parents?

 How do the media contribute to the formation of opinions about the Islamic school among parents?

This thesis will first discuss how opinions related to Islam and Islamic education are formed through experiences of events, interpersonal interaction, and media discussions. It then discusses the different opinions among the parents of Zilvermeeuw and Elif concerning contact with each other. In describing the contact between the parents of Zilvermeeuw and those of Elif, a distinction is made between brief interaction and actual interaction or contact. In this research, brief interaction means that parents greet each other or have a short conversation of one or two sentences with each other, while interaction and contact encompass all the interactions that are longer than one or two sentences. The parents have different opinions about how much contact

(10)

should be initiated between the people of the different schools. It will be shown that the differences in opinions are reinforced through the experience of certain events, interpersonal interactions, and media discussions related to the establishment of Elif behind the Zilvermeeuw. The lack of contact between parents with different opinions results in the fact that the parents do not encounter new experiences or new ideas. This lack of new experiences and new ideas leads to a continuation of existing opinions. The different opinions concerning the initiation of contact between people from different backgrounds therefore continues to exist.

2. Theoretical framework

2.1. The creation of opinions

There are different opinions on Islamic education in the Netherlands. The opponents of the Islamic schools argue that Islamic education will lead to more segregation and a lack of knowledge of Dutch norms and values among Dutch Muslim children (Karsten et al. 2006: 234). Others are not really opponents of Islamic schools, but argue that it is crucially important for Dutch children from Muslim backgrounds to share norms and values with the non-Muslim Dutch. They want the children to

become well-integrated Dutch citizens and they also want to avoid segregation. Such people argue that Islamic schools should continue to exist if they contribute to the integration of Dutch children from Muslim backgrounds into Dutch society (Merry & Driessen 2014: 18-19; Shadid & van Koningsveld 2006: 84-85). This opinion is supported by the inspectorate of education, and its rules for education seek to diminish the non-integrative tendencies in Islamic schools (Shadid & van Koningsveld 2006: 85). Those with reservations about Islamic schools include not only Dutch non-Muslims, but also Dutch Muslims. Equally strong differences of opinion can be found among Dutch Muslims and among Dutch non-Muslims. One individual may even at times express conflicting ideas about Islamic

schools. (Karsten et al. 2006: 234; Phalet & ter Wal 2004: 80) There are also supporters of Islamic education within the Dutch population. They argue for the existence of Islamic schools because they are dissatisfied with the public primary schools in the Netherlands. Moreover, they claim that non-Muslim primary schools seem unable to provide an environment in which Dutch children from Muslim backgrounds can develop their Muslim identity (Karsten et al. 2006: 234).

The reservations about Islamic education can be explained against the backdrop of the development of a public debate on Islam and Islamic education in the Netherlands in the past few years. The attitude of the non-Muslim Dutch population has shifted from open-minded tolerance towards religious education to a critical and even hostile stance. Media discussions following 9/11 attacks, other terrorist attacks, and the murder of Theo van Gogh, a Dutch film director who had made a critical movie about the treatment of women in the Islam, led to a shift in public opinion (Merry & Driessen 2014: 17). The spread of information about new circumstances influenced people’s opinions, primarily because the media reproduced negative images about certain situations in which Islam plays an important role (Shadid 2005: 330-331). Dutch Muslims are often presented as problematic and troubling. They are perceived to be primitive, violent, criminal, radical or extremist (Said 2008: 16-17). The stories told in the media often present simplified images of actual situations as they do not show everything that occurred (Shadid 2005: 330-331). Positive images about Islam are often left out of these simplified stories, and the negative images associated with Islam are thereby reinforced (Said

(11)

stigmatization, and could lead to negative judgment of the Dutch Muslim population by the non-Muslim population. These negative judgments have the potential to make Dutch non-non-Muslims treat the Dutch Muslim population in an inaccurate way (Shadid 2005: 337). The literature on Islam and Islamic education described above presents many factors that can influence opinions. But how the opinions are being influenced is not explained.

2.2. Possible influences on opinions of Islamic education

According to Velasco González et al. (2008: 669), negative opinions about Islam could be related to ideas that Islam forms a realistic threat to the interests of the Dutch non-Muslim population, or that it forms a symbolic threat to their values. A realistic threat to the interests of Dutch non-Muslims could be that the Dutch Muslims have rights to scarce resources such as houses and jobs. This forms a threat to some of the Dutch people from non-Muslim background, who do not necessarily have access to these scarce resources. This feeling that Islam is a realistic threat to the values of Dutch people from non-Muslim backgrounds primarily appears during periods of high unemployment or considerable immigration (Coenders et al. 2008: 281-282). The social and temporal context therefore seems to be really important in creating negative attitudes towards the Dutch Muslim population. These negative attitudes emerge particularly among the more disadvantaged Dutch people from non-Muslim

backgrounds (Ibid.:283). A symbolic threat to the values of the non-Muslim Dutch is that new values, introduced by the Dutch Muslim population, might override the established values of the Dutch population. Stereotypes and prejudices lead to the expectation that Dutch Muslims will have negative and threatening characteristics. The feelings of threat discussed above, together with the feelings of fear of the Dutch Muslim population, often result from prejudices and stereotypes about the Muslim population. The desire to protect in-group interests and values often results in negative attitudes towards other groups, such as discriminatory behavior (Velasco González et al. 2008: 670-672).

Prejudices and stereotypes lead to feelings of threat and fear towards Islam, and these could influence opinions about it (Velasco González et al. 2008: 696-672). Moreover, they could also influence opinions about Islamic education. Stereotypes and prejudices are often affected by

experiences of events or by contact with people from a Muslim background. The theory of Merizow indicates how these experiences lead to changes in stereotypes and prejudices. According to Merizow (1997: 5-6), experiences can result in a frame of reference that leads to certain assumptions through which we make sense of our experiences. This frame of reference shapes and limits our expectations, perceptions, cognition, and feelings. This creates habitual ways of thinking and a certain point of view or an opinion. While habitual ways of thinking remain the same, points of view change whenever an event occurs in a way we did not expect. Certain experiences can make us reflect on our opinions and change them if they seem to be misconceptions, or wrong prejudices or stereotypes (Merizow 1997: 7).

These feelings of threat and fear may originate because people do not have much experience of or contact with the other group, and therefore strongly identify with their own group. More positive ideas about Islam emerge when Dutch non-Muslims do have experiences of contact with Dutch Muslims, or when Dutch non-Muslims have a positive attitude towards multiculturalism (Velasco González et al. 2008: 670-672). Experiences of positive affective ties and close relationships with members of another group can result in a more positive attitude towards the entire group. However, people could still be prejudiced and believe the stereotypes about the other group. The fact that the one

(12)

person they know does not have the characteristics of a certain stereotype does not mean that the other members of the group also do not have the characteristics of that stereotype (Tropp & Pettigrew 2005: 1146-1147). But if people have many meaningful relationships with different people from the other group, then the prejudices and stereotypes will be less likely to exist (Ibid: 1155). Having many experiences of pleasant interactions with the other group results in positive judgments about the other group. It also results in less anxiety when it comes to interacting with them (Paolini et al. 2004: 782). Because experiences could create certain opinions, this research will consider whether parents’ experiences of certain events have had an influence on the opinions of those parents.

Opinions can also be shaped by interpersonal interactions. Sharing stories in face-to-face interactions is an important way of distributing knowledge about each other’s opinions. Anti-Muslim discourse increases the prejudices and stereotypes and therefore has a negative effect on attitudes towards Dutch Muslims (Velasco González et al. 2008: 681). According to Merizow (1997: 5-7), interpersonal exchanges are a highly important factor in influencing opinions as opinions are very dependent on feedback from other people. Feedback in interpersonal interaction can make people more self-reflective on their own opinions, which can lead to transformation. The creation of opinions is thus a result of a common learning experience. Interpersonal interaction makes people reinterpret their former experiences and provides them with new perspectives on their experiences. Interpersonal interaction could therefore make someone change their opinion of a certain experience (Erickson 2007: 66). The sort of interaction in which different opinions are created often emerges when various ideals contradict each other. One sees this, for example, when the ideal of freedom of religious expression or freedom of speech contradicts the ideal of non-discrimination, such as with the disapproval of homosexuality in specific religions. In the case of Islamic education, it could be said that the ideal of freedom of religious expression and the ideal of educational freedom contradict the ideal of integration. It could also be argued that the ideal of the transference of Muslim identity conflicts with the ideal of integration (Phalet & ter Wal 2004: 79-81).

Sharing stories between different groups of people is easier today due to online

communication. We can share accounts of particular experiences quickly and easily within a large social network (Jenkins et al 2013: 2-3). The stories concerning events around Islamic schools can thus be spread both through interpersonal and online exchanges. This research project will therefore focus on whether certain kinds of interpersonal interaction have contributed to the formation of parents’ opinions.

Experiences can also be discussed in relation to other kinds of media than the social media. Discussions on Islamic education in newspaper articles and in television programs have had an important influence on opinions related to the public debate on Islamic schools in the past. For example, they have influenced ideas about the lack of integration caused by Islamic education. Likewise, they have influenced ideas about the bad quality of the organization of Islamic education. Such media have also influenced the more nuanced view of Islamic education, which has resulted from discussions about the freedom of religious education (Phalet & ter Wal 2004: 50).

(13)

3. Methodology

Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were employed in this research in order to understand what influenced the opinions of the parents from the Islamic and the public primary school. During the interviews the attention was focused on the potential contextual influences on the parents’ opinions, such as experiences, conversations, and media. The aim of research was not to create a theory that could be generalized, but rather to develop a theory that resonates with the acquired data as adequately as possible. A larger research population was therefore not necessary (Bryman 2008: 57).

Opinions towards Islamic education can be influenced by many factors that cannot be captured in a single answer (Noll & Saroglou 2015: 234). Therefore, the parents’ opinions were discussed in in-depth interviews. The main focus of these interviews was on how the opinions of the parents whose children attend Zilvermeeuw Elementary School (henceforth the Zilvermeeuw parents) were formed. Preliminary observations based on newspaper articles and the Internet had indicated that there had been different opinions about Elif moving into the Zilvermeeuw’s spare building. The negative opinions had resulted in considerable commotion on social media and had even caused some parents remove their children from the school. Preliminary observations have indicated that there were also parents who seemed to have less negative opinions about Islamic education and who did not agree with the commotion in the media. It is interesting to primarily focus this research on the

Zilvermeeuw’s parents because their opinions seem to be considerably different at face value. It is interesting to discover how the differences in opinions are formed.

In order to obtain data on their opinions, sixteen interviews were conducted with the parents of Zilvermeeuw. The interviews focused on the parents’ opinions and on their experiences with the situation (see appendix I). To get to know how opinions are formed, it is important to consider the interviewees’ experiences that might have influenced their current opinions (Bryman 2008: 440-442). In the interest of obtaining a more complete impression of the situation, this research project also focused on the opinions of the parents whose children attend Elif Elementary School (henceforth the Elif parents). The interviews with the parents of Elif were conducted to triangulate and made it

possible to ascertain whether their opinions, or the factors that form their opinions, differed from those of the Zilvermeeuw parents. If differences were found in how the opinions were formed, one could compare the different ways in which they were formed, which could help to better understand the formation of opinions. In order to analyze the opinions of the Elif parents, four interviews were conducted with the parents of Elif. The focus of these interviews was also on the opinions and experiences of the parents. In the interviews with the Elif parents, similar questions were asked to those used in the interviews with the Zilvermeeuw parents. In addition, the Elif parents were also asked what they thought about the reactions of the Zilvermeeuw parents to Elif being established in Zilvermeeuw’s schoolyard (see appendix II). A total of twenty parents were interviewed, of whom four were men.

Some additional up to date information about the current situation was obtained through interviews with the principals of Zilvermeeuw and Elif. They were also asked give their point of view on how parents reacted to the situation. The principals may well have different views on the parents’

(14)

reactions than the parents themselves. The interviews with the principals primarily focused on the situation around the Islamic school and on the parents’ reactions to the situation. They also focused on what the principals had discussed with the parents and on how they had communicated certain

information to the parents (see appendix III).

All the interviews were conducted at the interviewee’s preferred place and time. This was usually at the interviewee’s home, in a bar, or at one of the schools. The interviews with the principals took place in their offices. A list of topics was prepared in order to ensure that the most important topics were discussed in each interview, but the interviews could diverge from the topic list. Sometimes other interesting topics emerged in the interviews. If these topics were also valuable for discussion in other interviews, they were added to the topic list

The Zilvermeeuw parents were usually asked to participate in this research in the schoolyard. An email has been sent to all of them prior to this. This email has been sent in cooperation with the principals in order to provide the parents with information about the research. The fact that the parents had already read what the interview would be about made it easier to gather several interviewees within the five minutes that they were in the schoolyard to collect or bring their children. The Elif parents were asked to participate via email. The original intention was to also gather Elif interviewees in the schoolyard, but this turned out to be impossible as the Elif parents were not often present in the schoolyard. The Elif children were generally brought to school by school busses as they often had to travel a longer distance, although some were also brought by their parents by car. However, it appeared that it was not as common for the Elif parents to get together in the schoolyard as it was for the Zilvermeeuw parents. This was probably caused by the fact that not many of the parents brought their children to school themselves.

The interviewees were generally hesitant to talk about a sensitive topic such as one related to Islam. Judgments about topics related to the Islam could easily be interpreted as discrimination. People seemed to be afraid their answers would be judged as the parents appeared to be more willing to be interviewed about Islamic education once it was made clear to them that it did not matter what kind of opinion they had, and that their opinion itself was not the focus of the research. Instead, the research was aimed at getting to know how their opinions are formed. Making clear that the interviewees’ opinions would not be judged made them feel comfortable enough to share their opinions. It also seemed to be important to make clear that parents with all kind of opinions were important for this research. It did not matter whether the parents’ opinions were neutral, or whether they favored or disfavored the Islamic school. Instead, the interest was in how any opinion is formed.

Nevertheless, there were still some parents who were unwilling to be interviewed. Some of them refused because they did not care about the situation at all. These parents were mostly men who, when asked if they were willing to participate, answered that this situation was something they did not think about but was rather something their partner was more concerned with. These parents probably did not have an opinion about the situation at all and would therefore not have been relevant for this research. The other parents who refused to participate were women who refused to talk about the situation at all. When asked whether they were willing to participate, they answered that they did not want to discuss this situation with anyone. Data on these women’s opinions would have been really relevant for this research as their opinions may have differed from those of the parents interviewed, but this data could apparently not be obtained through interviews. Getting data on their opinions may have been possible through more anonymous research methods, such as surveys. However, it is impossible to say with certainty whether this would have been possible.

(15)

After reaching the point of saturation, the gathered data was analyzed by means of axial coding using the computer program Atlas.TI. The data was compared, distinguished, and broken down into specific categories. The codes given to these categories were linked to contexts, consequences, and causes of the situation (Bryman 2008: 543), which made it possible to differentiate various ways in which the parents’ opinions were formed.

In order to adhere to the highest ethical standards, records of this research remained

confidential and descriptions of the respondents kept them as unidentifiable as possible (Bryman 2008: 118; Silverman 2011: 94). To ensure this, pseudonyms are used in discussing the interviewees’

answers and the characteristics of the interviewees are not extensively discussed. The only people who can be identified are the school principals.

Furthermore, it was ensured that all participation occurred with fully-informed consent. Every interviewee received an exact explanation of how their answers were going to be used (Bryman 2008: 122). The interviewees knew that their participation was voluntary and that they could refuse to answer or withdraw data from the interview if they did not feel comfortable (Bryman 2008: 123; Silverman 2011: 97). Being informed about the voluntary nature of the interview made the interviewees more confident in agreeing to the use of their answers in this research.

4. Results

The first sections of this chapter describe the opinions that are generally held among the Zilvermeeuw parents. It then proceeds to discuss how these general opinions appear to be formed. The following sections then describe how the Zilvermeeuw parents’ opinions differ from each other, and also how they differ from the opinions of the Elif parents. The following sections then proceed to discuss how these differing opinions appear to be reconfirmed.

The answers given in the interviews indicate that almost all of the Zilvermeeuw parents were dissatisfied with the fact that Elif had moved into Zilvermeeuw’s spare building. They all voiced the opinion that the municipality had erred in moving Elif into this building because the municipality had promised that the buildings would be removed. Floor is the mother of two children who was also mentioned in the introduction, and has helped with many school activities over the years. Floor said the following about the municipality’s approach.

FLOOR: “I just think, the way it went back then, is just not right. These children saved money for something, like, for a little playground. I don’t know exactly what would be realized, but these containers [the spare building of Elif] would go away. Yeah, that’s a pretty big part of the schoolyard which is now occupied. Look, the way it went is of course not, it’s just not right. Look, it’s just, for these children. A lot of things have been promised and in the end, they don’t get it.”

The fact that the children had saved money for a playground they had never got, made the parents angry. They complained that the municipality had failed to keep its promises. Many parents

(16)

Elif. They did not want to blame the Elif parents for the situation as they realized that this was also an unfortunate situation for the parents and children of Elif. Many parents therefore emphasized that they thought that Elif had the right to a new building, but just not in their schoolyard. Two parents who stated this quite clearly were Linda and Brenda. Linda is the mother of two children at Zilvermeeuw, who has previously had more children at Zilvermeeuw. She does not really participate in many school activities as she does not have time for that. But she does want to be more engaged in school activities and she is concerned about the circumstances at the school.

LINDA: “I don’t like it. Let’s say, Zilvermeeuw and Elif, both can’t do anything about it. It’s all forced upon us, or how you want to call it. I think that both of the schools deserve to have their own building.”

Brenda is also a mother of two children who go to Zilvermeeuw. She was not really concerned about what other people had to say about the situation, but was mostly concerned about what her own children have to say. If her children are fine with the situation, then she is also fine. She said the following about Elif’s right to exist.

BRENDA:”Eeemh, well if the Islamic school actually has the right to exist, than it deserves to have a building just like every other school.”

Although the Zilvermeeuw parents do not blame Elif for moving into the Zilvermeeuw’s schoolyard, they do seem to blame Elif for occupying their space in and around the school building. All of the parents voiced their discontent at the experience of Elif occupying space in their school and neighborhood.

4.1. The dissatisfaction about the situation of occupancy of space

When the fieldwork was conducted Elif was growing really fast. The school was already occupying space in Zilvermeeuw’s school by using a classroom in the building, but Elif needs even more space if they are to give the good education that they want to give. The building “Elif has three classrooms, one small office, and one small kitchen that is used as a teachers’ room. The principal of Elif gave several reasons for why Elif needs more space. One of the reasons is that the school needs space for activities outside the classroom. The principal said: ‘You need to take the children outside the classroom once in a while’ because ‘education has to be differentiated nowadays’. For example, the school needs space for its volunteers, who come to school each day to read with the children. The volunteers do not have a space for themselves, which the principal claims is crucial. The parents’ council has to meet in the hallway, and the parents have to sit on the children’s small chairs. The principal would rather offer the parents’ council another space. Furthermore, the principal would like the school to serve as a community center after school hours. He wants the school to be a place where parents can come together and participate in activities, but this is not possible in the small building they are presently using. The principal said: 'When they [the Elif parents] would like to stay at school longer, I have to say, please guys go away,' while he would rather keep them at school after school hours as other Islamic schools do. The principal spoke of classes that are too large, with too many children having to share one classroom and one teacher. However, he cannot form new classes as he does not have enough classrooms. Elif is unable to grow in Zilvermeeuw’s spare building.

(17)

Most of the Zilvermeeuw parents stated that they thought a new school building for Elif would be better for both schools. They said that a new building would be better for Elif, because Elif would be able to grow in a new building, while a new building for Elif would be better for Zilvermeeuw because it would help to ensure that Zilvermeeuw stops shrinking. The number of students at Zilvermeeuw has been decreasing considerably this year. According to the parents, the number of students has been decreasing because people took their children out of the school after it was

announced that Elif would move into Zilvermeeuw’s schoolyard. However, the parents admitted that the fact that parents took their children out of the school could also be related to an inspection report from the schools inspectorate that gave Zilvermeeuw a poor evaluation. The news of the inspection report emerged around the same time as the news about Elif. Therefore, the parents cannot be sure what made those parents remove their children from the school. They think that the number of students been decreasing primarily because the parents of young children prefer to sign their children up for another primary school that does not have an Islamic primary school in its schoolyard. The parents considered it unfortunate that the number of students at Zilvermeeuw was decreasing as they thought that the school was performing really well at the time of the fieldwork. After several changes had occurred, the parents no longer had any problems with the school’s performance. They shared the opinion that the children are educated in the right way and that information is communicated to the parents correctly.

Given the decrease in the number of students, Zilvermeeuw did have empty classrooms and the school had therefore decided to allow Elif to use one of their empty classrooms. This was made clear in the following quote from Inge. Inge is a mother of two children who had quite recently sent her first child to school. She has considered the situation extensively over the last year, but is really content with the school’s performance and is sure that she wants to keep her children at Zilvermeeuw.

INGE: “And you know, it’s fine if one of the classrooms is empty. Why not? And that’s what the principal also said at the beginning of the year. [He said] I am not going to leave those children [of Elif] on the streets. I am doing this for the children. They need that space to learn, you know. And this was communicated to us correctly. [He also said] and now [at the beginning of this school year] it turns out, they are having more children than expected and we have a spare classroom. You know, like that.”

Inge thinks it is alright for Elif to use one of the classrooms in Zilvermeeuw’s building. But the fact that Elif is growing and occupying space in Zilvermeeuw’s building also leads to concerns.

Zilvermeeuw parents often state that they do not want Elif to take over too much of their space. After the quote above, Inge said the following.

INGE: “…if they grow even more, I’m gonna go somewhere else, because this is not how it is meant to be. That they take over the building or something. I’d rather not see that happening”

Linda also expressed her concerns about the growth of Elif in the following quote. LINDA: “That’s what people told me. And I have this from a reliable source. That the people of Elif did have plans to divide Zilvermeeuw into two parts. Elif already has a classroom in Zilvermeeuw. They told me that there is a sketch, like, till the end of the hallway and then fence it off right there. The part of the long hallway would then be for Elif and the other part would be for Zilvermeeuw. That [the takeover

(18)

of big parts of the building] scares me. And because that scares me, the other suddenly becomes the enemy, you know. While it was not my enemy originally. Because I think it is fine, if you want to be Muslim, you should. But still, it is a part which belongs to me, that you want to take over, or steal.”

Like the other Zilvermeeuw parents, Linda did not want the school to shrink or to be taken over. Some parents also voiced the fear that Zilvermeeuw might shrink until it can no longer survive. This scares them because they do not want to have to find a new school for their children. They are satisfied with Zilvermeeuw and they would like to keep their children there. The parents who spoke about the decreased number of children at Zilvermeeuw thought that it might be able to grow if Elif were to move to another building.

The experience that the Elif children are occupying the space of the Zilvermeeuw children was often used to explain the Zilvermeeuw parents’ opinion about the situation. The fact that the Elif children use parts of the school results in less space for the Zilvermeeuw children. This occupancy of space could be seen as a realistic threat to the parents’ interests, as described by Velasco González et al. (2008: 669-672). It would seem to be in the interests of the Zilvermeeuw parents to have their own school. Elif seems to be a threat to these interests because the Zilvermeeuw parents often say that they do not like the fact that Elif is using parts of their school. It is also in their interests for Zilvermeeuw to stop shrinking so that it can continue to exist. In the above quote of Linda, in which she speaks of her fear of Elif trying to take over Zilvermeeuw’s building, it becomes clear that Elif occupying large parts of her school building is seen as a threat to her interest of having a school that continues to exist. She does not want her school to be taken over by the children of Elif. One can argue that she sees the occupancy of the building as a threat because she is afraid of Elif’s plans to take over large parts of their school building. Linda says that she had heard about Elif’s plans to take over the building from ‘a reliable source’. However, the principal of Elif has denied that there are any plans to take over the Zilvermeeuw building. It is therefore not clear how reliable the source in this quote was. What Linda heard may therefore not be true, but it nevertheless reconfirms Linda’s opinion. Here one sees that what the parents had heard about the situation can also be used to explain their opinions, in addition to their own experiences of the situation.

The Zilvermeeuw parents not only think that Elif is occupying their space within the school, but they also think that Elif is occupying their space in the neighborhood. Most of the Elif children are brought to school by school busses, which drive through the streets and park in front of the school. The parents also cite their experiences with these school busses in order to explain their opinions. They consider it wrong that the Elif school busses drop the children off right in front of the school, where they are not allowed to park. Helena is a mother of two children of nine and ten years old. She gets her information about the school through the emails that the school sends to parents. She does not feel the need to attend school activities or information evenings, and she does not talk much about the situation to other Zilvermeeuw parents. Helena said the following about the presence of the busses.

HELENA: “Yeah, and in front of the school the parents of Zilvermeeuw painted dots on the sidewalks. Like, you are not supposed to park here. And they [the parents of Elif who volunteer as bus drivers] just park their busses over there, right in front of the other parked cars. And I think, these rules should be obeyed to by everyone. I think they should just park their busses around the corner. Then they of course have to take all of these children to these school

(19)

busses. But still, I think they should park their busses a little bit further away. And then they will have to walk for a bit, so what.”

The Zilvermeeuw parents have an agreement that cars are not to park in front of the school where the dots are painted on the sidewalks. But many parents complain that the Elif school busses do not obey these rules. They think that the Elif busses should have to park around the corner, as the other parents have to. However, the Elif parents disagree with the reactions of the Zilvermeeuw parents to the busses and cars that park in front of the school. They argue that, apart from the dots, there is no clear sign or rule that states that they are not allowed to park in front of the school. One of the Elif parents is Sinem, who has one child at Elif. She clarifies that some of the Elif parents are simply unaware that they are not allowed to park in front of the school as they are new and have not yet heard about the agreement. She expressed her dissatisfaction with the way in which the Zilvermeeuw parents react to parents parking in front of the school. She thinks that their reactions lead to an unpleasant situation in which one negative reaction leads to another.

SINEM: “And eeh, the new parents, they don’t know the rules. And it is not written down anywhere. In the beginning I also didn’t know what these dots meant. I thought it was decoration. Someone painted that on the sidewalks because it looks nice. But it turned out you’re not allowed to park in that spot. But where is it written down, is it a law? Where can I find that, where should I look. But also for the new parents [of Elif]. And they are approached [by the parents of the Zilvermeeuw] very rudely. In a really negative way. Like, you’re not supposed to park your car here. And then you’ll get a situation in which a negative action leads to a negative reaction”

Yeliz is a mother of two sons who attend Elif. She also described the negative way in which the Zilvermeeuw parents approach the Elif parents.

Yeliz: “Yeah, [the parents of the Zilvermeeuw will get] help from enforcement yeah. [And they say something] like you’re not supposed to park here. So we’ll say in a correct way like, there’s no sign [which says we’re not supposed to park here] anywhere, so why aren’t we allowed to park here?”

Some of the Zilvermeeuw parents also stated that the Elif busses and cars drive through the streets of the neighborhood too early and too often. Jaap is the father of one young child who has been attending Zilvermeeuw for around 2 years. He lives around the corner from Zilvermeeuw and states that ‘it [the neighborhood] is not as nice and quiet as it used to be anymore’. He argues that the neighborhood is busier because the Elif busses drive through it several times in the early mornings, and because there are many more cars in the streets than there were before. However, the Elif principal stated the following when the subject of school busses and cars arose.

“Well, what I said, these cars. Almost two-thirds of our children are brought to school [by school busses]. There aren’t that many parents here. And when it is busy. Let’s say the Zilvermeeuw has more students and more parents than us, maybe twice as many. But if it is busy, it’s our fault.”…. “Also physically, there are more people. They’ve got 200 students and if parents come in pairs, sometimes they’ll come with two parents. They will cause way more overcrowding and congestion than us. But that’s what people define as normal and we are the ones who

(20)

cause the overcrowding and congestion. This is rationally

unexplainable. Why am I the one who causes the overcrowding with the 80 students I have.”

The Elif principal disagrees with the parents’ reactions. According to him, Elif does not have that many students and therefore does not cause the overcrowding. Observations in the schoolyard and conversations with Zilvermeeuw parents also indicated that many Zilvermeeuw parents park in the spots where they are not supposed to park. This confirms that it is not only the Elif busses and cars that park in the wrong spots. There were already been many cars that drove and parked in the neighborhood before Elif was established behind Zilvermeeuw as many Zilvermeeuw parents bring their children to school by car. But the Zilvermeeuw parents still complain primarily about the additional busses and cars that are in the neighborhood as a result of Elif’s establishment.

For the Zilvermeeuw parents, the neighborhood feels busier and less safe because the Elif busses are parking in a dangerous spot and driving through the quiet streets of the neighborhood. They experience the additional Elif busses as a threat to their interest of having a school in a quiet and safe environment. They appear to feel that they have reason to complain about the Elif busses and cars because they do not necessarily have to be in their neighborhood. The cars and busses would have been somewhere else if the school had been established somewhere else. However, they see no reason to complain about the Zilvermeeuw parents’ cars as these have to be in the neighborhood. In the following quote Floor sees the Elif school busses as a threat to her interest of having a safe environment because of the victims that the busses might create.

FLOOR: “Well it is, [points at school bus] these busses drive to school right now. Mostly, I am gone right now, so I don’t really notice. But I think, at 12 o’clock [when all of the children go home for a lunch break] they should obey the rules. These dots are there for a reason. Because we don’t want other victims. It is for safety. In the morning also, these children are really small who get out of these busses. And they walk to school on their own.”

This quote again shows how Floor explains her opinion using what she had heard rather than what she had experienced herself. Like Floor, Martha does not really notice the overcrowding on the schoolyard herself as she is never there on Fridays, but she does use what she has heard to explain her opinion. Martha is the mother of two children and has been involved with Zilvermeeuw for some years. She is on the parent committee and says that she is involved in many school activities. Although she does not experience the overcrowding herself, she claims to have formed a negative opinion about the

schoolyard overcrowding based on pictures she has received from other parents through WhatsApp. This again reveals that, in addition to what they experience themselves, what parents hear about the situation is used to support the opinions they form.

The parents often emphasized that their negative opinions have nothing to do with the fact that the Elif parents and children are Muslim. In the interview cited above, Linda sought to emphasize that her opinion about Elif taking over the building had nothing to do with Elif being Muslim. She

emphasized this by saying the following.

LINDA: “…the other suddenly becomes the enemy you know. While it is not my enemy originally. Because I think it is fine, if you want to be Muslim, you should. But still, it is a part which belongs to me, that you want to take over, or steal.”

(21)

She tried to make clear that she is not against Muslims and that the fact that the parents and children of Elif are Muslim has nothing to do with her discontent at them taking over the school building. Other parents emphasized that their opinion on the busses parking in the wrong spot has nothing to do with the fact that their users are Muslim by noting that they also think negatively about the Zilvermeeuw parents’ cars that park in the wrong spot.

However, the quote below indicates that the Elif principal has different experiences of the commotion related to the busses than those of the Zilvermeeuw parents. He thinks that the

Zilvermeeuw parents’ opinions are related to the fact that the Elif children are Muslim. This becomes clear in the following quote.

"Because hey, they [the parents of the Zilvermeeuw] talk about overcrowding and we don't even have masses of parents here in the morning because a lot of children are brought to school by school busses. But even these three busses are a reason for parents to

complain. And then there is a bus of Brede school [an organization for after school activities] which comes here several times in the morning to bring or to pick up children. And they also park in the middle of the road to drop off children. And in the building next door, there are several sports clubs and after school activities. And sometimes the whole sidewalk is blocked by parked cars [of the parents of children who go to the sports club or after school activities]. And nobody complains about that. Maybe they think something like: Yeah, they're thoughtless people, but they are our thoughtless people. In that sense, we are the other people. And sometimes I'd like to say something like why? Why are we the other? I am a Dutch citizen, but I look different, I have a different name, I've got different habits, and have another religion than the average Dutch citizen. So what?"

In his view, the parents’ opinions about the Elif busses and cars, has to do with the fact that Elif is Muslim. He thinks this because he does not see the parents complaining about the cars and busses of non-Muslim people, which he claims also park in spots where they are not allowed to park. The fact that Zilvermeeuw parents park in the wrong spots is something I also observed during the fieldwork. Moreover, some Zilvermeeuw parents also briefly mentioned that other Zilvermeeuw parents park in front of the school where they are not supposed to park. The Elif parents interviewed viewed these complaints about the Elif busses in the same way as the Elif principal. They also thought that the parents’ negative ideas are related to the fact that the Elif parents are Muslim. This was made clear in quotes from Fatma and Sinem, two mothers of Elif students. Fatma, the mother of two children who attend Elif, stated that she hoped that 'the irritation is not only about the busses, but also about the cars [of the Zilvermeeuw parents, who also park in the wrong spot]'. Sinem, the mother of one young child who attends Elif, said the following concerning the situation with the busses.

SINEM: "I understand [that it annoys the parents that the busses park in front of the school] because that [you're not supposed to park there] is made clear. And that's obvious. It's not that I don't understand it. These busses are way bigger and way faster than the cars. But I have to admit that I've been standing here and that I've seen a lot of cars of the Zilvermeeuw parking here. And I did not see any complaints [about these cars]. And then I think, yeah, these are different ways of thinking. I think they should decide whether you can or cannot [park

(22)

in front of the school]. And they can’t say one can [park in front of the school] and the other cannot. That’s what I think. I do not accept that.”

While Zilvermeeuw parents think that their negative ideas have nothing to do with the fact that Elif is Muslim, the Elif parents think that they are treated differently by the Zilvermeeuw parents because they are Muslim.

In the quotes from the Zilvermeeuw parents, one sees how their experiences of the situation are used to explain the opinions have had about it ever since the announcement was made that Elif would move into the Zilvermeeuw schoolyard. The parents do not like the experience of the busses parking in the wrong spots, nor do they like the experience of Elif occupying their space. The Zilvermeeuw parents see the situation as an annoying circumstance in which problem is the cars, busses and space occupancy. However, the Elif parents appear to have experienced the situation differently and their experiences have resulted in a very different view of the situation. The Elif parents see the situation as a circumstance in which the busses, cars and occupancy of space are not the problems. Instead, disagreement and discrimination are the problems. The experience of the Elif parents will be discussed more extensively in the final chapter on the results.

The Zilvermeeuw parents also often explained their opinions about Elif with accounts they had heard from other parents. In many cases, the parents did not experience the problems themselves, but had heard about the experiences of other parents. Quotes from the parents show that interpersonal interaction in which experiences were discussed was really important in the formation of opinions about this situation as the parents often used things they had heard from other parents in order to explain their opinions. The interviewees often spoke about what they had heard from other parents before saying what they thought about the situation. For example, Linda argued that there should be better rules and better surveillance in the schoolyard during lunch breaks based on what she had heard. The children play together in the schoolyard and Linda had heard from other parents that the fact that the different schools have different rules had resulted in problems. She had heard about the problems and she therefore thought that the surveillance was not as it should be. The following quote from Inge provides another example of how ideas are explained through what is heard in conversations with other parents.

INGE: “And eeh, then the stories were blown up, like, Elif is going to be really big and then Elif will take over our building and the Zilvermeeuw has to use the spare buildings. Because a lot of children are going to leave the Zilvermeeuw. And then I thought, Oh my god! Help![…]But I also thought like, indeed, what if the Zilvermeeuw shrinks and Elif grows, what if they are going to use each other’s buildings. I think, yeah, that’s not what we want of course, you know.”

What they hear from other parents’ experiences influences the way parents think about the situation. In addition to their own experiences, the interpersonal interaction between parents appears to be

important in the formation of the parents’ opinions. Moreover, it appears that it is not only the parents’ own interests that are important in the formation of their opinions, but also the interests of the other parents. The parents cited the interests of the people whose experiences they had shared in order to explain their opinion.

In explaining the situation, the Zilvermeeuw parents also seemed concerned with the Elif parents’ interests, but only to a certain extent. They know that the Elif parents would like to have their own school building in order to be able to grow. Therefore, many of the Zilvermeeuw parents thought

(23)

that the Elif parents deserve a new school building. However, their explanations for their opinion that Elif should have another school building also involve their own interests in having a school that continues to exist. In explaining their opinion, they do not appear concerned with any other interests of the Elif parents. They do not know anything about the interests of the Elif parents because they do not have contact with them or know anything about their experiences.

The sharing of experiences through interpersonal contact with other parents turned out to be more important in explaining opinions than the information gathered through different kinds of media. The interviewees did not often justify their opinions with what they read in letters, in printed media, or on social media. Some of the parents said that they sometimes read letters, articles, posts, and

discussions in the papers and on social media. But this was mostly to get to know the facts about the situation rather than to get to know what other people had to say. They stated that they do not mind how people react to the situation in the media.

BRENDA: “Eeh, there are a lot of discussions on the Internet of course. That’s eeh. I have to admit I always read the short version of the story. I have the opinion that the whole discussion around it is a bit […] On social media you can stir the discussion in every direction, but I just want to get to know how things work statistically. With that information in the back of your mind, you could start a discussion with people who know more about it.”

Like Brenda, many of the parents said that they prefer to learn the facts about the situation through interpersonal contact with people who are knowledgeable about it, rather than through the media. Indirect contact through social media and information gathered from other kinds of media therefore turned out to be less important than direct contact in the formation of the opinions of the Zilvermeeuw parents.

The parents claimed that their opinions discussed above remained the same over the course of the year. It would appear that they allow certain experiences and interactions to shape their opinions and keep out other opinions. They allow their own experiences and the things they hear from other Zilvermeeuw parents to reconfirm their opinions. However, they do not seem to allow the accounts of the experiences of the Elif parents and children to challenge their opinions.

The opinions discussed above were generally held among the Zilvermeeuw parents. But there were also some differences in the ways in which the Zilvermeeuw parents thought about the situation. There were differences of opinion concerning contact between people from the different schools. Some of the parents were satisfied with the fact that there is no contact between the Zilvermeeuw parents and the Elif parents. Others would have preferred more contact between the parents of the different schools and the Elif parents would also have preferred more contact. These differences in the ways in which parents think about the situation will be discussed in the following sections, which will also discuss how these differences in opinion appear to be formed. The parents had thought about the contact in the same way over the course of the year. They appear to have allowed only some

experiences to influence their opinions, while excluding other experiences that could have had altered their opinions. How this occurred will become clear in the following sections.

The formation of opinions on the existence of an Islamic school