Muslim learners in English schools: a challenge for school leaders

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.

Notes

1. Undoubtedly, this approach has serious limitations as for example, Indians are a high achieving group and about 20% of Indians are Muslims (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_India#Demographics). In the absence of data being collected by faith, Muslims of Indian origin become excluded from generalisation regarding achievement of Muslim learners.

2. There are sixty‐four occurrences of the term in the Quran (Al‐Ahsan, 1992), where it is used as an overarching concept for wider Muslim community operative beyond geo‐political bounds. Commonly, this term is used among Muslims to convey the fact that Muslims the world over constitute one Ummah or community.