Abstract
Faith identity is emerging as significant for Muslim students in the post 9/11 scenario, with implications for their education and wider social cohesion. This poses challenges to school leaders, raising issues not only linked to student achievement and performance, but also with regard to students’ identity constructions and their educational engagement. The paper draws on data collected from a small number of teachers and Muslim students from two secondary schools in England, looking at how Muslim students experience their identity in the school context and with what implications for their educational engagement. It also discusses the challenges for educational leaders/teachers in managing ‘Muslimness’ on educational sites. The data indicate that the increasing engagement with faith identity can be a response to experiences of discrimination, marginalisation and negative media. The paper highlights the need for communication and understanding across differences, underpinned by an equally pressing need for the recognition of religious and cultural diversity.
Highlights
Faith identity is emerging as significant for Muslim students in the post 9/11 scenario, with implications for their education and wider social cohesion
This paper focuses on Muslim learners in English schools, and debates the challenges of managing Muslimness, in the post 9/11, 7/7 scenario
There are 1.6 million Muslims in Britain and 33.8% are aged 0-15 years (National Statistics, 2001), who fall within the compulsory education age
Summary
The drive towards an overarching Muslim identity is international in dimensions including countries like China (Alles, 2003; Chiang, 2001; Djao, 2004), America (Afridi, 2001), Britain (Basit, 1997; Jacobson, 1998; Hopkins and Kahani-Hopkins, 2004), France (Le Breton 1999; Limage, 2000; Tlemçani, 1997), and many others (Haddad, 2002; Kepel, 1997; 2003; Modood, 2004). Kabbani comments in postSatanic-Verses situation: We were caught between two tyrannies: Khomeini’s impossible death sentence against a writer (fallible or foolish though he may have been) and the harsh "liberal" fatwa against our religious identity, with its blanket dismissal of us as alien, barbaric Such was the polarisation, that even those who had hardly perceived of themselves as "Muslim" before, except in family ritual or personal reference, were suddenly forced to stand up and be counted as "warriors" for subtlety in either side’s position. Being imagined and created by media and masses as ‘potential terror suspects’ (Ahmed ST, 2003b, Hagopian, 2004, Hardy, 2005) and being at the receiving end of ‘institutional racism (Macpherson, 1999; Ahmad, 2006) has generated significant insecurity among Muslim students, with uncharted consequences for their learning, inclusion and commitment to the wider society These processes and practices are dividing the society and undermining Muslims’ sense of belongingness, driving them in search of personal identities. The need is to analyse the issues and to search for answers
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