Third-generation British-Bangladeshis from east London: complex identities and a culturally responsive pedagogy

Abstract

This article examines the lives and multifaceted identities of a group of young Bangladeshis from east London. Qualitative research – involving predominantly group and in-depth one-to-one interviews – was undertaken with 16 young Bangladeshis aged 15–19. Two key findings emerge from this research. Firstly, the knotty and fluid concept of identity is important to these young people as their narratives demonstrate that they are negotiating meanings of what it means to be a British-born Bangladeshi Muslim. Secondly, through a detailed examination of two aspects of their multifaceted identity – the mother tongue and the hijab – this article argues that their identity problematic poses important questions for educational spaces. One of the key conclusions of this article is that by embracing a culturally responsive model of education and exploring – however difficult and ethically challenging it may be – our pupils’ cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious identities within the curriculum can be meaningful and ultimately educational.

Keywords:

• Bangladeshi
• culturally responsive education
• hijab
• identity
• Islamophobia
• Muslim

Notes

1. Developed by the Home Office in 2003, the Prevent Strategy is a strand of CONTEST – the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism strategy. Educators, as well as other professionals across a range of sectors, have a duty to ‘prevent’ terrorism and to report pupils ‘at risk’ of radicalisation through the Channel Programme.

2. The reference to ‘Bengali’ language for all of the participants in this study refers to the Sylheti dialect of Bengali, spoken predominantly by Bangladeshis from Sylhet situated in the northeastern part of Bangladesh.