Q&A: march 2008

I teach 4th grade and one of my Muslim students—a girl—is always being made fun of for the headscarf she wears.  What should I do?  The bullying is seriously hurting her feelings and it’s disrupting my classroom!

Unfortunately your student is not alone; Islamaphobia in U.S. schools has been on the rise for the last several years. The best thing you can do is make sure you are proactive in creating an atmosphere that is respectful of all the members of the classroom community.

Beginning “rules of respect” is a solid foundation, and         creates a way for students to hold each other accountable    for inappropriate or bullying behavior.  Have your students brainstorm what respect looks, feels, and sounds like, and then create, as a class, norms for the ways in which you will treat each other.  You can also discuss what happens when someone chooses to be disrespectful.  Sign the agreement yourself, and have students sign it as well.  Place it in a highly visible area and refer to it whenever comments go    out of bounds.  The more consistent you are in talking about respect and reinforcing the rules, the more your students will internalize them.

A second thing you might want to do is to offer new information about why some Muslim women choose to wear a headscarf.  PBS offers a great lesson plan on visual stereotypes of Muslim women and the meaning of veiling called “Who Wears a Veil?”

You can be proactive by teaching students about a variety of different religious and cultural practices as a part of your normal social studies curriculum.  By sharing the practices of a variety of faiths you make all students feel welcome and show them that difference is normal and accepted, and not something to fear or to be used to alienate others.  Use The Seven Principles of Multicultural Education to help you make your classroom a more accepting place for students of all backgrounds.

Have a question for our experts?  Contact us!