The BERA prize was received by Dr Celia Jenkins(third from left); İsrafil Erbil, president of the British Alevi Federation; and Alevi Cultural Centre director Ozan Aşkın (far right)
ALEVISM CLASSES were honoured with a prestigious award for collaboration between universities and schools.
The Alevi Religion and Identity Project – run jointly by Westminster University, Highbury Grove Secondary School and the Alevi Cultural Centre – was given the British Education Research Association (BERA) Prize for Joint Collaboration between Universities and Schools after running classes in schools teaching the faith for the past three years.
Alevism is practiced by over 20 million followers in Turkey. As 20% of the Alevi population is ethnically Kurdish, they represent a ‘twice minority’ due to their ethnic and religious characteristics.
The cultural centre estimates around 150,000 Alevi Kurds are resident in London now, since coming to the UK as refugees beginning in the mid-1980s.
Dr Celia Jenkins and Dr Ümit Çetin of the Department of Social and Historical Studies were invited by the centre to help tackle the negative identities in their youth.
The centre felt young people described a sense of isolation and disaffection, particularly at school, where no one knew or understood their religion. They wanted schools to know and teach about the Alevi religion, which sparked off the project.
Dr Jenkins and Dr Cetin said they were working with the schools and the Alevi Cultural Centre to produce a resource pack for use by other schools with a significant population of Alevi families. They say the project has received critical acclaim within the Alevi community in the UK and in Turkey.
The £2000 BERA prize money will be used to set up an enrichment programme in the school next year called the Alevi Hidden Culture Project, researching Alevi culture and their family history in London and Turkey to produce an exhibition and documentary of their community
