From Mainstream to East African Charter: East African Muslim Students’ Experiences in U.S. Schools

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Persistent link to this item

Statistics
View Statistics

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Title

From Mainstream to East African Charter: East African Muslim Students’ Experiences in U.S. Schools

Published Date

2008-07

Publisher

Type

Thesis or Dissertation

Abstract

It is in schools where immigrant and refugee youth most directly encounter the dominant and competing cultures of their new society. As youth interface with these cultures, schools become central places for youth to explore the meaning of their own identity and who they are in relation to others. In this study, I explore how East African Muslim immigrant youth experience and become shaped by the environments of U.S. mainstream schools as compared to a charter high school designed by an East African community and intended specifically for East African students. Describing their former experiences in mainstream schools through a lens that is altered by their current experiences attending the charter school, these youth present a failing relationship between mainstream schools and East African Muslim immigrant students. Students report feeling invisible and unwelcome in mainstream schools, experiencing academic discrimination, religious and cultural hostility, and racism. As a response to these difficult experiences and in an effort to maintain their religious and cultural identity, immigrant communities have begun to create specialized schools, like the culturally specific charter school central to this study, which better accommodate their culture, religion, language, and history. At the East African charter school, youth reported no longer feeling marginalized. The once-overwhelming process of trying to “fit in” and “belong” with either dominant society or their home community was ameliorated. Youth became empowered to resist, contest, and/or embrace the dominant and competing cultures of their host society. While not all participants experienced the same degree of academic success or complete satisfaction with the learning milieu of the charter school, ultimately the school environment promoted a positive learning environment where students’ academic and social identities were positively affected. For some participants, the school experience also appeared to repair previously damaged student identities—damage that occurred from prior mainstream school experiences. Results from this study highlight how East African Muslim immigrant youth are affected by academic, racial, cultural and religious discrimination in schools and reveal how differing school contexts serve to affect the overall school experience and identity construction of these youth. Implications are discussed for how schools can decrease the barriers these students face in schools and demonstrate inclusive and necessary ways to accommodate and respect the academic, racial, cultural and religious identity of East African Muslim immigrant youth.

Description

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. Major: Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. Advisor: Martha Bigelow. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 196 pages.

Related to

Replaces

License

Collections

Series/Report Number

Funding information

Isbn identifier

Doi identifier

Previously Published Citation

Other identifiers

Suggested citation

Basford, Letitia Elizabeth. (2008). From Mainstream to East African Charter: East African Muslim Students’ Experiences in U.S. Schools. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/45637.

Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.