Teaching on Top of the Frame: The Trouble With Educating Against Islamophobia

• In Event: Perceptions of (Im)Possibility: Muslim Students' Reality Within a Context of Islamophobia

Abstract

Objectives. The phenomenon of religious illiteracy is one which has been well established (Moore, 2007). Though not exclusive to Islam, the political and social consequences of ignorance about Islam, lends easily to a populist mentality whereby Muslim-bodies are the target. To address this intensifying challenge, educators have focused on building religious literacy in schools, under the assumption that education will address religious illiteracy (Asani, 2011; Moore, 2007). This paper complicates this assumption by examining the strength of existing conceptual frames of ‘Muslim’ and ‘Islam’, which, I argue, pose a considerable challenge to the implementation of religious literacy. I use data from a 2014 study of social studies teachers and Muslim students to highlight the necessity for responding to existing frames of ‘Muslims’ and ‘Islam’ before being able to develop religious literacy.

Theoretical Framework. In exploring the challenges of teaching against Islamophobia, this paper brings together two distinct areas of scholarship: religious literacy and frame analysis. Religious Literacy, particularly the work of Diane More (2007) and Ali Asani (2011) which posits a cultural studies/contextual approach as the most effective way of teaching for religious literacy, is critically examined through Lakoff’s (1987) work on categorizations. Lakoff, heavily influenced by Goffman (1974), explains that due to the strength of undergirding frames that are part of a larger matrix of an individual’s worldview, being presented with facts and logic will not shift one’s worldview. These two areas of scholarship, particularly Lakoff’s work in linguistics which is used to interrogate the religious literacy approach, helps bring complexity in responding to the larger implication: how do you effectively teach against Islamophobia?

Methods and Data Sources. The conceptual perspectives in this paper are supported by a phenomenological case study (Merriam, 2009) of two sub-studies conducted over a six-month period in 2014. The first data set involves eight high school Social Studies teachers who taught about Islam in their school settings, and the second data set includes six Muslim students who identified with minority communities of interpretation within Islam. Both subject groups were interviewed and participated in questionnaires about their experiences with the school curriculum on Islam. The patterns that emerged from the single-case were then compared across each case, determining commonalities and exploring conditions that may have caused differences (Yin, 1994).

Results. Student and teacher data reveal that even when teaching against Islamophobia is an explicit instructional goal, the approaches often reify precepts of Islamophobia, namely that Islam is a monolith and that most Muslims are “good” because they are “just like us”.

Implications. This paper contributes to the scholarship seeking to discover the most effective ways to teach again Islamophobia. It does so, by challenging simplistic notions that education on Islam will alleviate Islamophobia and religious illiteracy. Ultimately this study calls educators to build curricula which address undergirding frames of ‘Muslims’ and ‘Islam’, which serve as substantial barriers to building religious literacy.

Author

• Natasha Hakimali Merchant, University of Washington Bothell