Abstract
Muslim American students deal with many challenges, including bullying and discrimination in schools due to their religious identity, resulting in adverse psychosocial outcomes. From a social justice advocacy stance, school counselors can play a vital role in empowering this student population. It is also school counselors' ethical responsibility to develop multicultural competency and promote diversity by gaining knowledge and skills regarding cultural elements. Therefore, this chapter endeavors to give voice to Muslim American students and serve as a resource for school counselors and educators to work with Muslim youth in PK-12 schools effectively. More specifically, this chapter provides an overview of the Muslim population, identifies critical tenets of Islam, explores significant challenges Muslim students experience in schools along with detrimental effects of discrimination on their psychosocial health and suggests practical recommendations for school personnel including school counselors to facilitate positive social interactions and healthy development of Muslim youth.
TopMain Focus Of The Chapter
Muslim American students experience specific challenges in school settings because of their adherence to the Islamic faith. Ethically, school counselors are expected to be culturally competent by acquiring knowledge and gaining skills and awareness regarding cultural elements considering the growing diversity across the U.S. schools. Indeed, school counselors and educators seem more willing to learn from their religiously diverse students and recognize them as contributing citizens when they acquire further knowledge about cultural elements and adopt a social justice advocacy perspective in dealing with multiculturally challenging issues (Grant & Sleeter, 2011; Isik-Ercan, 2015). Therefore, this chapter endeavors to give voice to Muslim American students and serve as a resource for school counselors and educators to work effectively with Muslim youth in K-12 schools.
This chapter begins with the characteristics of the Muslim population in the U.S. to highlight diversity among this minority group, followed by a discussion on the basic tenets of Islam and the impact of culture on Islamic practices. After that, this chapter identifies specific concerns and challenges of Muslim American students and highlights adverse psychosocial outcomes of discrimination. Finally, the chapter concludes by presenting practical recommendations for culturally sensitive and effective strategies for school counselors and educators to be better informed to empower and advocate for Muslim American students in educational settings.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Hyphenated Identity: A term that applies to those categorized as belonging to more than one sociocultural group, such as Muslim and American .
Islamophobia: Unfounded hostility towards Islam, especially as a political force, and stigmatization, dislike, or fear of Muslims.
Qur’an: (Also spelled as Quran or Koran) The holy book of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the word of Allah, includes 114 units of varying lengths, knows as suras, that touch upon all aspects of human existence regulating principles for everyday life.
Hijab: The headscarves worn by Muslim women in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family.
Islam: The monotheistic Abrahamic faith followed by Muslims and believed as revealed through Mohammed as the Prophet of Allah.
Allah: The Arabic word referring to God in Abrahamic religions.
Muslim: A follower of the religion of Islam.