“I am the only one”: Narrating the Stories of Muslim Public School Educators through MusCrit

• In Event: Navigating Faith, Identity, and Education: A MusCrit Exploration Across Academic Spheres

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to understand the experiences of Muslim public
school educators, as there is a lack of scholarship about and awareness of them. This research
study explores conducted 13 empathy interviews over four months, all prior to October 7. This
qualitative study uses Liberatory Design, MusCrit, and narrative inquiry. Liberatory Design is
“an approach to addressing equity challenges and chang[ing] efforts in complex systems” that is
meant to investigate “deeper causes produced by systemic oppression” (National Equity Project,
2023). This research study uses MusCrit to guide the research design and analysis. MusCrit is “a
means to explore the experiences of Muslim Americans with a CRT [Critical Race Theory] lens
by sharing six tenets that are unique to the lived reality of this demographic” (Ali, 2022a, p.
343). MusCrit allows for narratives about Muslims, how they perceive themselves, and how they
interact with their community against the landscape of anti-Muslim racism. Narrative discourse
is the manner in which stories are told and presented and is important to analyzing stories
(Alleyne, 2015).
This research identified a problem of practice: Anti-Muslim leadership practices
manifest at different levels of school systems and create experiences for Muslim public school
educators in which they (1) face biased school-based policies and practices that alienate them,
(2) encounter microaggressions and religious discrimination from colleagues, (3) are forced to
debunk misconceptions about Muslims and teach about Islam to the greater community, (4)
need to support the Muslim community to help Muslim families navigate the school system, and

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(5) must convey public Dawah to overcome these challenges. Knowledge concepts include (1)
intersectionality of Muslim identity, race, and faith, (2) definition of anti-Muslim racism, (3)
history of anti-Muslim racism, (4) anti-Muslim racism impact on the perceptions of the
community, (5) public schools as a microcosm of U.S, society, (6) anti-Muslim racism impact on
the Ummah, and (7) Muslim responses to the anti-Muslim racism.
As part of Liberatory Design, the focus of this research study was on the stories, the lived
experiences, and the community of Muslim public school educators. This research study used
narrative coding to create narratives based on the 13 empathy interviews. The researcher used a
script of six questions revolving around a Muslim educator's typical day, their perceptions
among parents, colleagues, school leaders, students, and the community, challenges they face,
potential solutions, professional support, and additional questions to understand their
experiences as a Muslim educator.
Understanding the ways anti-Muslim antiracism and school-based leadership practices
affect Muslim educators is important for establishing an intervention that can create positive
change. By thoroughly examining the relationships, challenges, hardships, successes, and
moments of joy experienced by Muslim educators, one can identify inequities against them and
how they are built into the practices of school systems in order to interrupt those inequities and
humanize Muslim educators.

Author

• Ambereen Khan-Baker, National Education Association