This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3187
September 23, 2007
MIM: The paper below is a precursor of the KGIA's agenda which cites the Islamist groups CAIR and the ADC as sources for determining the curriculum and social needs of Arab students who demand that there cultural and religious requirements be accomodated in a public school setting on the taxpayers dime.
ERIC Identifier: ED429144
Publication Date: 1999-03-00
Author: Schwartz, Wendy
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education New York NY.
Arab Americans in U.S. schools represent more than 20 countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa. They share many similarities with other immigrant groups seeking to establish an ethnic identity in a heterogeneous country, but they also face additional challenges. These result especially from negative stereotyping; racism and discrimination; widespread misinformation about their history and culture; and, for the majority who are Muslim, the need to find ways to practice their religion in a predominantly Judeo-Christian country (Jackson, 1995).
Some Muslim Arab American parents send their children to private Muslim schools so they can receive an education consonant with the family's religious beliefs, but most opt for public schools (Zehr, 1999). As the number of Arab American students in public schools has increased, so has the array of strategies and materials for successfully integrating them. Still, many schools have not yet acknowledged Arab culture and history or counteracted Arab stereotyping (Suleiman, 1996). This digest reviews the resources available to provide Arab Americans with a supportive school environment and all students with an accurate and unbiased education on the Middle East.
*Represent the Middle East, Arabs, and Muslims accurately, completely, and fairly in the curriculum and school activities.
*Ensure that Arab American students are treated equitably and without prejudice by teachers and peers, and that teachers respond to incidences of racism and discrimination strongly and quickly, with attention to both the perpetrators and the victims.
*Respect the customs of the native culture and religion of Arab students.
Administrators and teachers should correct erroneous information when confronted with it, such as popular myths that all Arabs are "...wealthy...barbaric and backward, and...have harems" (Farquharson, 1988, p. 4). They can help students understand that Arab Americans should not be held personally accountable for events in the Middle East (ADC, 1997). They can confront scapegoating by allowing students to air their views and helping them understand why such judgments are inaccurate and hurtful (ADC, 1997).
Schools can take care not to discriminate against Muslims. They should not enforce dress codes or showering requirements that violate the Muslim tradition of modesty or require Muslim students to engage in coed physical education classes. Educators should ensure that girls are not ridiculed for their head covering. They should not schedule tests on major Islamic holidays and should allow fasting students to go to the library instead of the cafeteria during Ramadan. Federal law permits students to organize prayer services, and schools should accommodate such requests from Muslims (Council on American-Islamic Relations, 1997). Muslims across the country are now petitioning schools to label cafeteria food containing pig products, and some schools are already doing so (Zehr, 1999).
To promote critical thinking skills by analyzing news reports, teachers can ask students to evaluate stories for biases, unsubstantiated accusations, or uneven treatment of Arabs and Jews that promote racism. To identify stereotyping, teachers can ask students to critique their textbooks, television programs, movies, books, and news reports for negative portrayals of Arabs; indeed, many studies document pervasive anti-Arab attitudes in the entertainment media, including cartoons (ADC, 1997; Wingfeld & Karaman, 1995).
A variety of resources are available to facilitate this process. The American Forum for Global Education (Kelahan & Penn, 1996) has produced an extensive bibliography of materials on Arab history that can be used by curriculum developers, and the Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services (Shabbas, 1998) has issued a large notebook for secondary school teachers to use as a basis for a multifaceted curriculum. In Michigan, which has the largest Arab American community in the U.S., parents work with the school system to produce a high quality and accurate curriculum (ADC, 1993a).
The counselors of Arab American students need to respect both traditional Arab attitudes toward usual counseling practices and the Arab communication style in all interactions. Jackson recommends first meeting with the student outside the counseling office to build rapport. Group counseling should be considered because it "reflects the Arab value of collectivism," and the group should be single sex. Also, a cognitive approach may help allow students to honor their reluctance to discuss personal feelings with strangers. Finally, Arab clients are more comfortable sitting very close to the counselor than are members of other groups (Jaclson, 1995, p. 49).
Family life and harmony are crucial to Arabs, so educators need to demonstrate respect for the sanctity of the nuclear and extended family and the familial role of elders. Nevertheless, when Arab American students seem troubled, it may be productive to determine whether their problems stem from intergenerational differences within their family or another source. Inviting family participation in the counseling process regardless of the nature of the student's problem can be useful Jackson, 1995; 1997). Because Arabs are very sensitive to public criticism, teachers should express concerns to Arab American students in a way that minimizes "loss of 'face'" (Adeed & Smith, 1997, p. 505). Finally, helping families cope with varying levels of acculturation, language differences, and conformity to tradition can enable students to develop a positive identity that is both personally satisfying and respectful of their heritage.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. (1993a). Educational outreach and action guide: Working with school systems. Washington, DC: Author.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. (1993b). Teachers' resources on the Middle East. Washington, DC: Author. (ED 363 531)
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. (1997). 1996-97 report on hate crimes & discrimination against Arab Americans. Washington, DC: Author.
Barlow, E. (Ed.). (1994). Evaluation of secondary-level textbooks for coverage of the Middle East and North Africa (3rd ed). Ann Arbor, MI/Tucson, AZ: Middle East Studies Association/Middle East Outreach Council.
Council on American-Islamic Relations. (1997). An educator's guide to Islamic religious practices. Washington, D.C.: Author.
Farquharson, M. (1988, March). Ideas for teaching Arab students in a multicultural setting. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Chicago, IL. (ED 296 575)
Jackson, M.L. (1995). Counseling youth of Arab ancestry. In C.C. Lee (Ed.), Counseling for diversity (pp. 41-60). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. (ED 389 789)
Jackson, M.L. (1997). Counseling Arab Americans. In C.C. Lee (Ed.), Multicultural issues in counseling (2nd ed., pp. 333-352). Alexandria: American Counseling Association.
Kelahan, B., & Penn, M. (Eds.). (1996). Spotlight on the Muslim
http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-4/arab.htm
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3187