Marshall launches UK’s first anti-radicalisation course for Colleges and Universities
Marshall E-learning has launched a new course in response to recent legislative changes related to the UK Government’s £40 million national counter-terrorism strategy called CONTEST, of which the Prevent strategy is a part.
Guildford College is the UK’s first Further Education College to roll out the new “Inclusive, Cohesive & Safe Campuses and Colleges” course to tackle the issue of integration, understanding and religious freedoms.
One of the requirements of this new legislation is that all Public Sector organisations must take responsibility to ensure they are compliant with the new laws - particularly those who deal with children and vulnerable adults. The new “Inclusive, Cohesive & Safe Campuses and Colleges” course fulfils the legal requirements of the Terrorism and Security Act 2015, while not compromising the values of equality and diversity.
Guildford College engaged Marshall to help them implement a training programme that will assist in educating academic and support staff members to not just address the core of the Prevent strategy, but to actively promote inclusiveness and community on campus.
Universities and colleges have a duty to safeguard their students already, but Marshall’s new course puts into perspective the types of discussions Higher Education and Further Education employees can and should be having with their students about managing views in a safe environment, including what this means within a diverse society and how best to manage that process.
David Marshall, founder and director of Marshall, explained why they developed the course: “When we spoke to colleagues and clients in the higher education sector about how we could best fulfil their training needs in the wake of the Prevent legislation, the legal and ethical challenges facing campuses became clear. This course is about making your campus more inclusive and caring by helping people to communicate with each other in a positive way. We’ve worked hard to create a course that is within our values.”
Created by Michael Howard and Daniel Whiston, both specialists at Marshall’s, this unique course looks to recast and broaden Universities and Colleges’ views and understanding about what makes an inclusive, cohesive and safe campus.
Even though both Michael and Daniel are well experienced in creating elearning courses around similar issues, such as Equality & Diversity; creating the “Inclusive, Cohesive & Safe Campuses and Colleges” course was a challenge:
“Creating the course was a real balancing act”, stated Marshall consultant Daniel Whiston. “We wanted to stick to Marshall’s core values as far as possible and not take advantage of an urgent need among our clients for training in this area. Instead the course we have created – the first of its kind – is a comprehensive look at the issues involved and how universities, colleges and other education institutions can navigate their way through these sensitive issues within a safe environment.”
The course will form part of a suite of courses and will be due to roll out to a little later this year.
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The full course description is available via Marshall ACM's website: Inclusive, Cohesive & Safe Campuses and Colleges. Further Education institutions interested in finding out how Marshall’s course can help them address the Prevent agenda in their organisations should contact David Marshall on 0845 123 3909 or [email protected].