Supporting Muslim Students

A Guide to Understanding the Diverse Issues of Todays Classrooms

By (author) Laura Mahalingappa, Terri L. Rodriguez, Nihat Polat

Publication date:

08 June 2017

Length of book:

180 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781475832945

This book provides school professionals - including teachers, principals, counselors, psychologists, and administrators - with a practical guide for supporting Muslim students in PK-12 schools. It is important that school professionals are culturally responsive and understand students’ backgrounds in planning effective instruction and creating safe schools. However, in the post-9/11 world, negative biases and stereotypes permeate mainstream discourses. Muslim students and their families often find themselves in conflict with school practices, procedures, and policies and do not often find themselves represented in the curriculum.
This book provides a practical guide to the important issues that may impact the lives and education of Muslim students. This books give essential information about Islam and Muslim students from authentic perspectives. This text will support teachers and other school professionals in their advocacy for all students to provide equitable and just educational opportunities for all students. Beyond basics such as food and clothing requirement, this text advocates for the implementation of anti-bias pedagogy for diverse learners. Through school-based vignettes and case studies, we situate experiences of Muslim students in lived realities and help school professionals think deeply and critically about who their students are and how to engage their experiences in the curriculum.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Muslim Students in U.S. Public Schools
Chapter 2: Food and clothing
Chapter 3: Peer relationships
Chapter 4: Bullying
Chapter 5: Civic participation and belonging: An anti-bias curriculum
Chapter 6: School-community relationships
Conclusion
References

[T]he different chapters of this valuable work ask educators and schools to review their practices and analyse their pre-judgments, assumptions and provision around different aspects of inclusivity of Muslim students. . . The usefulness of the book lies in the simplified and practical approach that integrates nuanced theoretical analysis, background information, relevant case-studies and in-depth reflective questions. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in supporting young Muslim learners in non-Muslim Western majority contexts. It can be used by schools interested in enhancing their inclusive environment, by individual practitioners seeking to develop their professional practice or by tutors working with groups of trainees on diversity and inclusivity issues.