‘I don’t necessarily identify myself as a Muslim [RE] teacher?’: considering the limitations of the category ‘Muslim’ in the case of ‘Muslim RE teachers’

ABSTRACT

Given the current context of Prevent and Fundamental British Values, there has been a surge in academic and political interest surrounding Muslim identities in British educational contexts. Noting this 'religious turn' in educational debate, scholars have begun to question the mobilisation of 'Muslim' and 'Muslimness', suggesting that there are limits to such identification. This paper considers their critique through an exploration of how ‘Muslim RE teachers’ understood and experienced their personal and professional identities, based on recent qualitative research conducted with 21 ‘Muslim RE teachers’ across England. Findings reveal that notions of being a ‘Muslim RE teacher’ are heavily contested, and instead highlight a fluid and dynamic spectrum of configurations of the participants’ ‘Muslim’ and ‘RE teacher’ identities. The paper argues in support of the above critique, demonstrating that the assumed primacy of their ‘Muslimness’ limits the multiplicity of these participants’ identities, and so does not reflect their empirical understanding and experience. The paper then suggests a move towards a more sophisticated understanding of identity, encapsulated in the notion of the ‘RE teacher who is Muslim’.

KEYWORDS:

• British Muslims
• education
• religious education
• teacher identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Muslim RE teachers’ has been placed in inverted commas throughout to reflect both the primary unit of analysis as used in the current study and within wider research, and also the term’s contested nature as discussed in this article.

Additional information

Funding

This project was generously funded by the Jameel Scholarship Programme.

Notes on contributors

Matthew Vince

Matthew Vince is a Research Associate in the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK at Cardiff University. He received his doctorate in 2018 from Cardiff, and his thesis explored the identities and experiences of ‘Muslim RE teachers’ in their school contexts. This followed Masters study at Cardiff University, a PGCE in Secondary Religious Education at Exeter University, and an RE teaching post. Matthew is currently leading a curriculum development project that is looking to embed a sociological approach to learning about Islam and Muslims in the RE classroom. He is interested in education, Islam and Muslims in Britain, and the sociology of religion.