Education Commons^™

Discussing Yasmina Khadra’S Novel The Sirens Of Baghdad In The Upper Secondary Classroom To Promote Intercultural Learning, Karl Ågerup

Essays in Education

Based on interviews with four teachers who engaged in discussions about Yasmina Khadra's novel The Sirens of Baghdad with a total of 92 students, this article explores the potential of using fictional narratives to achieve Global Citizenship-related goals in upper secondary education. The novel, which portrays the journey of a young aspiring Al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq, emerged as a response to the increasing need in the Western world to mitigate intercultural tensions following the September 11 attacks. The article addresses the novel's capacity to promote intercultural understanding while acknowledging practical challenges such as intense emotions in the classroom, potential …