Educational Leadership and Islam: Critical Approaches to Identity, Advocacy, and Possibilities

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

As existing educational leadership thought is principally grounded in western Judeo-Christian beliefs and values (Dimmock & Walker, 2005; Shah, 2006), it is important to consider Islam as it relates to educational leadership and the experiences of Muslim students, practitioners, and scholars. This symposium presents findings from six research papers that examine different aspects of Islamic education as it relates to school leadership, diversity, and equity. In accordance with AREA’s Annual Meeting Theme, this symposium challenges dominant deficit discourses about Islam, Islamic education, and Muslims, as it presents wrenching truths, offers critical perspectives, and invites education scholars and practitioners an opportunity to pivot Islamophobic rhetoric to one that affirms Islamic education’s diversity and possibilities.

Sub Unit

• Division A - Administration / Division A - Section 1: Leadership

Chair

• Jeffrey S. Brooks, RMIT University

Papers

• MuslimCrit: Anti-Oppressive School Leadership for Muslim Students - Muhammad Khalifa, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Beyond National Identity: On Being Muslim and Bantu—Implications for U.S. School Context - Nimo Abdi, University of Minnesota

• Advocating for Muslim Students: If Not Us, Then Who? - Maysaa Y. Barakat, Florida Atlantic University

• Perceptions of Educational Leadership in Medieval Islamic Thought: Current Challenges in Context - Khalid Arar, Kibbutzim College

• Toward an Islamic Model of Democratic School Leadership - Melanie Carol Brooks, Monash University

• This Is Us: Islamic Feminist School Leadership - Deena Khalil, Howard University; Amaarah N. DeCuir, American University