Narratives of Identity and Pluralism
This book is a collection of readable, accessible, compelling, varied, voiced, passionate, real, textured, multi-faceted, hybrid, fearless, fearful, cautious, bold, modest, and inspired accounts of living Islam in relation to mainstream schooling in the West.
The book helps to make the diverse experiences of Muslim students (from elementary through university, student through professor) both contextual and complex. The politics and education about Islam, Muslims, Arabs, Turks, Iranians and all that is associated with the West’s popular imagination of the monolithic “Middle-East” has long been framed within problematics. The goal of this book is to push back against the reductive mainstream narratives told about Muslim and Middle Eastern heritage students for generations if not centuries, in mainstream schools. The chapters are each authored by Muslim-acculturated scholars.
This book will be of interest to teachers, administrators, students and scholars. As well, the content is suited to fields of study including ethnic studies, critical multicultural education, anti-oppression approaches to education, curriculum studies, social issues in education, social contexts of education, and qualitative research in education.
PRAISE FOR Muslim Voices in School:
WINNER! of the National Association for Multicultural Education’s 2010 Philip C. Chinn book award!
"The narratives in Muslim Voices in School have authenticity and readability because most of the authors are Muslim-acculturated scholars. The chapters present multiple perspectives on key issues of identity and pluralism at different levels of the education strata. As pedagogical tools, the discussion questions and extension activities accompanying each chapter are priceless. Muslim Voices in School is an excellent resource for understanding and deconstructing the evolving meaning of being a Muslim in the West in a post-9/11 world, a phenomenon alluded to by many of the contributors to this book." -- MULTICULTURAL NOTES - A Publication of the Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington College of Education, Volume 3, Issue 1
“The editors of this book provide the reader with excellent narratives that quickly shed the myth of monolithic Muslims. The accounts presented demonstrate the courage of young children, youth, and adults as they experience discrimination because of their faith. If the reader expects to encounter stories of victims in this book, look elsewhere. This book is a work of resistance where a diverse group of Muslims choose to tell their own story rather that have it told for them by those who, willingly or unwillingly, remain uninformed or downright ignorant of Islam and its billion plus adherents.” -- RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION, 14(4), 579-583.
"Muslim Voices in School sheds light on the challenges Muslim youth face in Western schools ... it brings together a number of studies conducted by university professors, teachers, students and scholars who have dealt with Muslim youth experiences in regards to Western schooling ... the book highlights the role educators play in the lives of their students and sheds light on the importance of understanding how youth identity is shaped and influenced by what takes place outside of formal schooling." -- ARAB NEWS, April 2010
