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Running Head: EDUCATORS’ AWARENESS AND PERCEPTIONS OF ARAB-AMERICANS

EDUCATORS’ CULTURAL AWARENESS

AND PERCEPTIONS OF

ARAB-AMERICAN STUDENTS:

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF IGNORANCE

Hamsa A. Aburumuh, M.A.

Howard L. Smith, Ph.D.

Lindsay G. Ratcliffe, M.A.

The University of Texas at San Antonio



Educators’ Awareness and Perceptions of Arab-Americans 2

Abstract

This study used mixed methods to examine educators’ cultural awareness and perceptions of Arab-

American students. An analysis revealed that most educators lacked basic knowledge about the

Arab and Islamic cultures. This lack of cultural knowledge may thwart the attempts of educators to

develop caring relationships with Arab-American students and their families. The authors conclude

that Arab-American students will be at a greater risk of symbolic violence unless educators focus

their efforts in four broad dimensions: (1) understanding the Arab and Islamic cultures; (2)

eliminating negative stereotypes and erroneous beliefs about these cultures; (3) providing culturally

responsive teaching; and (4) maintaining caring relationships with Arab-American students and

their families.

Key Words: Arab-American students, Care Theory, cultural awareness, teacher preparation, culturally

responsive teaching, stereotyping




Introduction

While public schools in the United States have made great strides toward developing nurturing

academic environments for all students, much remains to be done. One critical issue which has received

little attention is that educators lack basic understanding of Arab-American students and their cultures.

John R. Weeks (as quoted in Shaikh, 2002), director of the International Population Center at San Diego

State University, asserted that “there can be no question that the Muslim population in this country is

large and is growing at a fairly rapid pace…It is projected that by the turn of the century, Islam will be the

second largest religion in the United States” (p. 4). Al-Hazza and Lucking (2005) have noted that fifty-

four percent of Arab-Americans, or 400,000 citizens, are of public-school age.

The diversity of the Arab and Islamic cultures and the ignorance about them may challenge

educators’ perceptions of students of these backgrounds. Although Arab-Americans represent a relatively

small minority in U.S. public schools, school districts are obligated to provide them with culturally

responsive caring and instruction. This article, based on a larger study conducted by the first author in

2007, focuses on two questions:

1. Do educators identify the differences among the terms Arabic, Arab, Islam, and Muslim?

2. Do educators possess basic knowledge about Arab-Americans and their cultures?

This paper explains some of the challenges facing both Arab-American students and their teachers,

explain some myths and misunderstandings in the teaching force about Arab-Americans, introduce Care

Theory as a framework for approaching this issue, present the results of the research study, and finally,

discuss the study’s implications for educational practice in U.S. public schools.

Background of the Study

Challenges Facing Arab-American Students

The Arabic-speaking student population in U.S. public schools has increased dramatically in

recent years. The number of Americans claiming Arabic-speaking ancestry grew by more than forty-five




percent between 1990 and 2000 (AAI, 2008). Providing linguistically appropriate instruction (e.g.,

bilingual and foreign language programs) is essential to meet the needs of these students. Federal law

mandates that school districts establish a bilingual education program when 20 or more English Language

Learners (ELL) speak the same foreign language at the same grade level ("Adaptations," 2007). School

districts, however, are not establishing these programs quickly enough to meet the ELL students’ needs.

For example, in 2005-2006, district records at the Southwest Public Independent School District

(SWPISD—a pseudonym), revealed that 117 of the district’s 5100 ELL students spoke Arabic. At 2.3%

of the ELL population, they represented the district’s second largest group of foreign-language speakers.

Although these students legally qualified for bilingual education, the district did not have a program in

place to serve them (Aburumuh, 2007).

In 2005, SWPISD requested a waiver from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), allowing the

district one year to set up an Arabic-English bilingual education program to meet the needs of its Arabic-

speaking population. At the time Texas had no Arabic bilingual certification, few teachers possessed

sufficient fluency in “standard” Arabic to teach the curriculum, and few Arabic-speaking individuals were

certified teachers. According to Al-Batal (2006), few U.S. educational institutions provide qualified and

certified Arabic language teachers. He wrote:

At present, the field does not have enough experienced and trained teachers to meet the student

demand, nor is it producing these teachers. Many teachers of Arabic today are native speakers

who hold degrees in disciplines ranging from political science to journalism to engineering but

have little or no language pedagogy training. (p.42)

Based on the first author’s involvement in the development of SWPISD’S Arabic-English

bilingual program, she determined that completion of this program will be complex and fraught with

logistical challenges (e.g., translation of standards, timely communication to parents, and transportation to




schools with Arabic-English bilingual programs). Even when U.S. school districts overcome these basic

challenges, however, they have more complex barriers to surmount (Aburumuh, 2007).

First, districts must determine the cultural accuracy of the educational materials they consider for

purchase. The Arab and Islamic worlds are dynamic and, as such, experience constant changes.

Available materials may be culturally biased, outdated or simply inaccurate (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005).

Second, since few research studies have been done on Arab-American students, districts have scant

literature to draw upon as they build curricula (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005; Nieto, 2004; Suleiman, 1996).

Third, and perhaps most critical, all U.S. citizens are subjected to a relentless stream of negative images

of Arabs and Muslims in mainstream media, leading to the formation of inaccurate and pernicious

stereotypes (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005; Rainey, Morelli, & Hakki, 1999).

Another significant challenge to educators is the strong tendency to confound the cultural-

linguistic term Arab with the religious term Islam. A common misperception is that all Arabs are

Muslims, that all Muslims are Arabs, and that the two terms are interchangeable (Al-Hazza & Lucking,

2005). Another misperception is that all Arabic-speaking students are Muslims or vice versa; for instance,

teachers may have Arabic-speaking Christian or Jewish children in their classrooms. Additionally, one

must consider Arabic language diglossia: while classical or standard Arabic exists, more than 20 different

dialect languages are used in everyday spoken communication, which differ substantially from the

standard. For this reason the U.S. Department of State categorizes Arabic as a “superhard” language, one

that is “exceptionally difficult for native English speakers” to learn (Ryding, 2006, p. 15).

Challenges notwithstanding, school districts are accountable for the academic achievement of

Arab and Muslim students. Even though research encourages the development of Arabic-English

bilingual programs to address the linguistic and cultural needs of the students (e.g., Aburumuh, 2007),

there remains a crucial prerequisite for such programs. Specifically, educators must be “willing to develop

culturally responsive caring, [because] even the most well-designed bilingual education programs may

not be meaningful and effective” without the right disposition or attitude of the teacher (Aburumuh, 2007,




p.7). This article assesses the knowledge a group of educators have about Arab and Muslim American

cultures and examine the ways in which their understandings may influence their teaching practices. We

also propose a framework to increase the likelihood of teacher effectiveness and student achievement.

Review of Literature

The “Invisibility” of Arab-Americans in the United States

Arab-American students do not comprise a homogeneous group but in fact represent diverse

backgrounds (Nabor, 2000). This diversity stems from geographic, ethnic, religious, political, and

socioeconomic factors and the students’ educational expectations and attitudes reflect these differences

(Suleiman, 1996). Unfortunately, little research exists on Arab-American students and their performance

in public schools (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005; Nieto, 2004; Suleiman, 1996). In fact, until September 11,

2001, Arab-Americans had been considered an “invisible” minority (Nabor, 2000; Nieto, 2004; Suleiman,

1996).

This invisibility may have multiple causes. First, Arab-American immigration to the United States

was voluntary (Ogbu & Simons, 1998), so they largely avoided problems associated with involuntary

immigrants and subjugated groups (Hovey & Magana, 2000; Pumariega, Rothe, & Pumariega, 2005).

Second, although many tend to avoid complete assimilation, most Arab-Americans have made relatively

smooth transitions to U.S. society by developing biculturalism (Benet-Martinez, Leu, Lee, & Morris,

2002; Sapna, 2004; Soto, 2002) or the ability to code-switch between cultures (Heinrich, 1991; Molinsky,

1999; 2007). Third, because they experience limited problems of assimilation Arab-Americans have

received little media attention (prior to September 11, 2001) and negligible attention in educational and

social science research (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005). Fourth, unlike some minority groups, Arabs are not

easily categorized by physical characteristics (Naber, 2000; Nieto, 2006; Suleiman, 1996).

Finally, Arab-Americans historically have not faced educational failure, the customary prompt for

educational research (Nieto, 2006; Suleiman, 1996). In fact, the U.S. Census (2000) indicates that Arab




Americans as a group are more educated than Americans on the whole: 36.3% of Arab Americans hold

bachelors degrees, and 15.2% hold graduate degrees; the American averages are 20.3% and 7.2%,

respectively. More than 40% of Arab-Americans have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 24% of

Americans overall (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005; AAI, 2008). The majority of Arabs immigrate for the

purposes of university study, a fact which may account for their academic success (Nieto, 2004).

Moreover, well-educated Arab-American parents tend to encourage education for its own sake, not solely

for purposes of employment (Nieto, 2004; Suleiman, 1996). Arab-American students also tend to

conform to the expectations of their teachers, embracing behaviors that contribute to school success

(Dwairy, 2004; Suleiman, 1996).

Although their invisibility has helped Arab-Americans assimilate into mainstream culture, it has

also caused them to be overlooked as a group in schools. As one educator in Fairfax County, Virginia

noted, “The kids from the Middle East are the lost sheep in the school system. They fall through the

cracks in our categories” (Wingfield & Karaman, 1995, p. 8). Because they demonstrate few academic

handicaps, districts seldom review the general curriculum for instances in which Arab cultures can be

acknowledged or explored in positive ways.

Overcoming Stereotypes of Arab-Americans

Perhaps the most significant challenge facing educators working with Arab-American students is

moving beyond the damaging stereotypes deeply ingrained in American consciousness (Said, 1997).

These stereotypes are not new; in 1982, James J. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab-American

Institute (AAI) and senior analyst with the polling firm Zogby International (AAI, 2006), recalled a

painful experience he endured as an Arab-American father. In “When Stereotypes Threaten Pride,” Zogby

(1982, p. 12) wrote:

Each Halloween, at my children’s school, the students stage a parade, proudly displaying their

costumes to friends and teachers. Two years ago on this festive occasion eight of the students




dressed as “Arabs.” Their accessories included big noses, guns, knives, oil cans, and moneybags.

When a short time later, the school held an ethnic festival, my son Joey and daughter Liz hesitated

to wear their ethnic garb. Confusion and perhaps fear made them resist any display of pride. What

for other students was the joy of ethnicity had become for my Arab-American children the pain of

ethnicity. Adjustment to the tensions of pluralism is a difficult process-particularly for children….

The mockery that Arab-American children undergo is no longer in jest, and its source is no longer

primarily their peer groups.

Twenty-five years after Zogby’s article was published, these damaging stereotypes persist. Rainey,

et al. (1999) noted that when writers or Hollywood producers want to portray a threatening individual or

terrorist, they put him in Middle Eastern attire, give him an accent, and make him look Arab. This attitude

also carries over to Islam and Muslims. Of all world religions, Islam “may be,” as Ariza (2006) wrote,

“one of most maligned and least understood” (p. 60). In a similar study of images and stereotyping

cultural groups, Wingfield and Karaman (2001) found that “the most damaging images are those of Arabs

and Muslims as terrorists” (p.132). It is myopic to reduce the Arab and Islamic cultures to a few negative

images while ignoring their thousands of years of historical and civic accomplishments. The sad irony of

these pervasive stereotypes and their pernicious outcomes is that they negate the quintessential principal

of Islam—one shared by all religions—the principal of peace. Data from the present study reveal that

most educators (73.2%) acknowledged that Arabs and Muslims have made significant contributions to

U.S. culture. Yet a recent national survey indicated that of all religious groups, Muslims had the lowest

favorable rating and highest unfavorable rating (Wormser, 2002).

This study examined educators’ knowledge and perceptions of Arabic and Islamic cultures. One

important element of this knowledge is basic terminology, which, as the data suggest, is commonly

misused or misapplied.




“Arabic,” “Arab,” “Islam,” and “Muslim”: Important Distinctions

The terms Arabic, Arab, Islam and Muslim are frequently conflated, leading to one of the major

barriers to maintaining caring relationships with Arab-American students in U.S. public schools. For this

reason, we wanted to assess educators’ knowledge of these terms using the corresponding section of the

E-CAP survey.

Arabic, the native language of 300 million people, is the official language of more than twenty

countries and is one of the oldest of the Semitic groups of languages (Nydell, 2006). The term Arab

refers to an individual who speaks the Arabic language and who has Semitic roots leading back to the

Arabian Peninsula (Suleiman, 1996). Contrary to popular belief, Iranians, Turks, Armenians, Kurds,

Afghans, and Pakistanis are not Arabs (i.e. Arabic speakers), although the majority are Muslim and reside

in the same part of the world.

Islam refers to a monotheistic religion revealed to prophet Muhammad Ibn (son of) Abdu Allah

between the years 610 and 632 of the Common Era. (According to Islamic practice, whenever a

prophet is mentioned in writing, his name is followed by the blessing , meaning “may the blessings

and peace of Allah be upon him”). Due primarily to immigration, Islam has become the second largest

religion in both the United States and Europe (Nydell, 2006).

The term Muslim, like Islam, comes from the three-letter Arabic root s-l-m and literally means

“one who willfully submits (to God)” (Shaikh, 2002, p. 2). Muslim refers to one who (1) believes in the

Shahada, the declaration of faith containing the basic creed of Islam, (2) embraces a lifestyle in

accordance with Islamic principles and values, and (3) calls for complete acceptance of the teachings and

guidance of God as manifested in the holy Qur’an and the life example of the Prophet Muhammad

(Shaikh, 2002).

Teachers may have students who fit a wide variety of categories: Muslim students who are not

Arabs (e.g., Pakistani, Afghani, Turkish), Arab students who are not Muslims (e.g., Christians or Jews)

and even Muslim students who are fifth- and sixth-generation Americans (i.e., Islamic converts). A




caring educator will avoid making assumptions and hasten to ask questions to learn about the cultural,

linguistic, and religious backgrounds of the students they wish to teach.

The first author recalls a confusing moment when meeting a young Arabic-speaking child in a US

public school. After marveling at their exchange in Arabic, the student’s teacher asked her if she would

make a presentation on Ramadan—the most sacred period of the year for Muslim. The young girl looked

embarrassed and bewildered. The teacher was perplexed. As the first author knew immediately from just

a few words (“nobody in my family fasts for Ramadan”), the young Arabic speaker was Christian—not

Muslim—and had scant knowledge of the month-long period of fasting observed by people of a different

faith.

As this example demonstrates, good intentions are insufficient for effective, caring teaching.

Teachers can develop an inclusive, motivating curriculum and design effective instruction to ensure that

all students perform at a high level, that their needs are met, and that their identities are validated in the

classroom. To accomplish these goals, they must move beyond their current level of understanding and

outside their comfort zone. It is at this point that we encounter Care Theory.

Theoretical Framework: Care Theory

In today’s technological age we can access countless sources of information about cultures other

than our own. Basic cultural knowledge alone, however, is insufficient to create learning environments

that support the academic achievement of linguistically and culturally diverse populations. The ultimate

goal is to demonstrate acceptance of the whole child, including familiarity and respect for the child’s

culture, language, and worldview.

Noddings has maintained that education is based on moral and ethical purposes (Grant & Ladson-

Billings, 1997). When teachers work from an ethic of care, they make a conscious moral commitment to

care for students and to develop reciprocal relationships with them and their families (Grant & Ladson-

Billings, 1997). “Caring is a way of being in relation, not a set of specific behaviors” (Noddings, 2005, p.




17). It is “one of the cornerstones of the caring-centered multicultural education framework; it directs

teachers to understand that relationships are central to teaching” (Pang, 2005, p. 12). From this

perspective, teaching is a reciprocal, relational process which demonstrates “proper regard for human

affections, weaknesses, and anxieties” (Valenzuela, 1999, p. 23).

Research shows that students need personal connections with teachers and that such connections

are made when “teachers acknowledge [students’] presence, honor [students’] intellect, respect [students]

as human beings, and make them feel that they are important” (Gay, 2000, p. 49). Caring educators move

beyond superficial or technical concerns and attempt to engage students in meaningful activities that

validate their culture, language, and perspectives while supporting their academic and emotional needs.

In order to clarify the nature of Care Theory and its applications to the classroom, theorists have

suggested dichotomies of instructional delivery such as “technical academic discourse” vs. “expressive

academic discourse” (Prillaman & Eaker, quoted in Valenzuela, 1999, p. 22) or aesthetic caring vs.

authentic caring (Valenzuela, 1999). Instruction based merely on an aesthetic approach gives primacy to

“form and non personal content and only secondarily, if at all, [to] students’ subjective reality”

(Valenzuela, 1999, p. 22). An educator whose approach is based on expressive academic discourse and

authentic caring “brings trust, respect, and compassion into the classroom” (Pang, 2005, p. 12).

To appreciate the importance of Care Theory, one can imagine a child in a classroom where her

home culture is ignored or degraded. That child is on guard to ward off the effects of the symbolic

violence of the curriculum (Bourdieu, Calhoun, LiPuma, & Postone, 1993) or the impersonal, emotionally

distant manner of the teacher. She may acquire new knowledge, but the learning process becomes more

difficult because of the emotional energy she needs to survive her situation. Classrooms based on Care

Theory allow students to take academic risks because they feel safe. Having familiarity with the culture

and customs of the children, a caring teacher can decide whether to unobtrusively accommodate a student

or to make her individual experience part of the whole-class curriculum.




When caring teachers treat students with dignity and respect, students are free to spend less time

on emotional self-defense and more time on learning. It guides teachers toward humanistic approaches to

instruction that nurture academic and affective growth. It clarifies the need to adapt the curriculum, to

scrutinize texts for inaccuracies, and to modify daily activities. It also lays the groundwork for

establishing respectful relationships with students and their families. Caring teachers recognize Arab and

Muslim students as “their children.”

Osterling and Fox (2004) offered the example of a powerful teaching moment one educator had

with an Arabic-speaking ELL student in her predominantly Hispanic classroom:

I have a student who is from a country that uses the Arabic alphabet who is minority in my class of

mostly Central Americans… her [Arabic] language is considered a low status minority language

among [ELL] peers. She had come to the blackboard this morning to write her answer to a work

problem and the rest of the class started to laugh at her as they watched her write in her labored

child-like ways. I asked the class to be quiet and then asked her to please write the answer again but

this time in Arabic. They watched quietly as she effortlessly wrote her beautiful script across the

board. I then explained that learning English meant for this student that she also had to learn a

completely new alphabet and style of writing as well as learn the pronunciation, grammar and

vocabulary. I actually saw the light go on in the eyes of several of my students’ eyes as they

realized the special challenges faced by their classmates. (p. 502)

Methodological Framework

Selection of Participants

Approximately 550 surveys were distributed to a convenience sampling pool from two

educational institutions: Southwest Public Independent School District (SWPISD), a large school district

in a metropolitan area; and Southwest University (SWU), a medium-sized university in the same

metropolitan area. The district was selected because it contained the highest concentration of Arabic-




speaking students in the county: 117 out of 5100 total English Language Learners (ELL). The SWPISD

group included staff and faculty from 5 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and the central office,

including the Bilingual/ESL department (n=131). The university group, entirely from the college of

education, was composed of teaching faculty (n =87) from five departments and student teaching

administrators. The number of surveys returned (n= 218) reflected the national trend in the teaching force:

79.8% female, 62.3 White.

Procedure

Instrumentation and Data Collection

The present study had a mixed-methods design: the descriptive statistics (i.e., quantitive data

presented by percentages) were complimented by qualitative data (i.e., written comments from

participants). The study’s mixed-methods design builds upon the complimentary strengths of qualitative

and quantitative traditions (Gay, Mill, & Airasian, 2006, p. 11).

A review of the extant literature revealed no studies focused on Arab-American students and their

academic achievement in U.S. public schools (Al-Hazza & Lucking, 2005; Nieto, 2004; Suleiman, 1996)

nor any instruments designed to ascertain data related to these students. For that reason, the first author

designed an instrument called the “Educators’ Cultural Awareness and Perceptions” (E-CAP) survey-

questionnaire; the results of a pilot study in Spring 2006 determined this instrument’s content.

The E-CAP survey-questionnaire included four sets of questions; the first two are the focus of this

paper (see appendix A). Section A was designed to examine the participants’ knowledge of the terms

Arab, Arabic, Islam and Muslim. Participants were asked to match each term with a definition in a fill-in-

the-blank format. Section B, comprised of true-and-false questions, was designed to assess participants’

basic cultural knowledge about Arab-Americans. The E-CAP survey-questionnaire included one open-

ended question (for qualitative data) that asked participants to write additional comments. Some

participants wrote extensive marginal comments as well, and these proved to be a rich source of

qualitative data.






a reference to people with geographic roots in the Arabian

Peninsula.

2.5%

The following table presents the frequency of true and false statements assessing participants’ basic

knowledge of Arab-Americans and their cultures:

Table 3.

Frequency Table of True And False Questions.

Percent of correct response (n=218)

Valid PercentStatements

True False Unsure

Eid al Fitr is a holiday. 15.4% * 8.4% 76.2%

Ramadan is a holiday. 82.2% 10.3% * 7.5%

All Arabs are Muslims. 1.4% 89.7% * 8.9%

All Muslims are Arabs. 3.3% 88.4% * 8.4%

Arab women have always had a secondary role in society. 36.2% 39.4% * 24.4%

All Arabs living in America share the same culture and

beliefs.

.9 % 94.4% * 4.7%

Arabs/Muslims have made significant contributions to the

U.S. culture.

73.2% * 6.1% 20.7%

Note. Correct answers indicted by asterisks (*).

Discussion of Data

For this study, participants were asked to respond to a series of questions to ascertain their

understanding of basic ideas about Arab-American and Muslim-American students. The limited

participants’ responses to them raise doubts about the extent to which educators are equipped to create




and maintain caring learning environments (Katz, Noddings, & Strike, 1999; Noddings, 2005) for their

Arab-American students.

Terminology and Definitions

Despite the respondents’ overall knowledge of the terms Arabic, Islam, and Muslim, the majority of

educators (97.5%) did not recognize that the term Arab may have both a geographic and a linguistic

meaning. Of the two hundred eighteen educators, only 2.5% identified the term Arab with both. Most

educators (82.4%) identified the correct definition of the terms Arabic, Islam and Muslim, a result which

reflects good cultural knowledge regarding these terms. This result may be due to the high educational

level of the sample pool of educators, 95.0 % of whom held at least an undergraduate degree, and most of

whom (71.5%) were teachers and college professors.

The E-CAP survey results revealed that educators had varying levels of cultural knowledge about

Arabs and Muslims, including knowledge of Muslim holidays. Approximately 83% of educators agree

that they need to educate themselves about the classroom implications of some Islamic cultural practices,

such as fasting during the month of Ramadan. The majority of respondents (89.7%) did not recognize that

Ramadan is a lunar month in the Islamic calendar. In fact, approximately 82.0% of educators believed

erroneously that “ Ramadan is a holiday,” and 8.0% were unsure. Similarly, most educators (84.6%) did

not recognize that “ Eid al Fitr is a holiday.” Only 15.4% of educators found this statement to be true, and

76.2% were unsure.

If educators know about fasting during the month of Ramadan, for example, they can create caring,

culturally responsive environments for Muslim students and help these students observe fasting safely

during school hours. Their familiarity with such customs would enable teachers to make appropriate

accommodations, thus promoting student success. For example, Muslim students may want to abstain

from rigorous physical exercises in their P.E. classes during Ramadan, completing alternative tasks

instead (Shaikh, 2002). Also, Muslim students “should not be forced to go to the cafeteria when fasting”




(Ariza, 2006, p. 65). Educators can show sensitivity to fasting Muslim students by providing an

alternative lunch-time location (Shaikh, 2002) such a library or computer lab (Ariza, 2006, p. 65).

Teachers can also avoid scheduling tests on major Muslim holidays such as Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha

(Manning, 2005).

These contradictory findings are evocative of the difference between technical discourse and

humanistic discourse in education. Teachers report that empathy is essential but not enough on its own for

working with culturally diverse students (McAllister and Irvine, 2002). Similarly, technical competence

and subject matter knowledge are important (Kennedy, 1991) but insufficient alone. In practice, Care

Theory unites knowledge, empathy, and willingness to create favorable learning environments for all

students. To promote students’ academic and emotional development, teachers must move beyond a

memorized list of “multicultural ideas” (technical discourse) and create learning experiences that

incorporate and validate cultural accomplishments (humanistic discourse). As it concerns Arab or Muslim

students, teachers must also have the willingness and courage to “do the right thing” despite its

inconvenience or unpopularity.

Beliefs about the Role of Women and Gender

When queried about the role of Arab women, only 39.4% of respondents indicated that “Arab

women have always had a secondary role in society” was false (see table 3). Nearly as many (36.2%)

believed the statement was true, while another 24.4% was unsure. Similarly, one of the surveyed

educators wrote in a marginal note on the E-CAP survey-questionnaire: “Arab boys need to show more

respect for female teachers ….” (Aburumuh, 2007). Such beliefs reflect stereotypes of Middle Eastern

males and overgeneralizations of conditions throughout the Muslim and Arab world. Sfeir (1985, p. 283)

observed that

the situation varies from country to country, from rural to urban areas, and depends on impact of

Islamic resurgence, secularism, nationalism, Westernization and socialism. … The original




teachings of Islam, actually favoring physical and spiritual development of both sexes, were

overshadowed by other restrictive cultural influences.

In some countries where misogynistic traditions are strong and modernization is limited, women may

hold secondary roles (Baden, 1992). However, Islamic scholars argue that the Qur’an prescribes the

“spiritual equality of men and women” (Baden, 1992, p. 4). According to Shah (2006) the Qur’an

stresses justice between men and women: “[the Qur’an] strongly guarantees fundamental rights without

reserving them to men alone. …The [Qur’an] does not make any distinction on the basis of sex and

believes in human equality” (Shah, 2006, p. 884).

In general, “the role of women in Islam has been misunderstood in the West because of general

ignorance of the Islamic system and way of life as a whole, and because of the distortions of the media”

(Office of the Secretary General of Pakistan, 2008). In some Middle Eastern countries women drive their

own vehicles, travel, complete university and professional studies, own their own business, are

guaranteed suffrage, hold high government office, and live as men’s spiritual and intellectual equals.

According to Islamic principles, women—married or single, doctors or teachers—are to be given respect.

Caring educators will know that social constructs like gender roles will differ among cultures and will

refrain from making value judgments based on limited knowledge or observations: “Culturally competent

practice requires knowledge, and nonjudgmental acceptance of the [students’] cultural beliefs…”

(Samantrai, 2004, p. 79). As they work to construct a safe, welcoming learning environment caring

educators will blend the differing value systems of school and home (McDermott, 2008, p. 132).

Arab and Muslim Boys and Classroom Disruption

The teacher cited above also wrote that “Arab boys need to… turn in written assignments, and

follow rules regarding not talking out in class” (E-CAP 75, 2006). A review of extant literature on Arab

and Muslim students failed to produce any research on differentiated teacher beliefs about gender.

However, extensive research provides evidence of teacher bias against males of color (Delpit, 1995;




Downey & Pribesh, 2004; Mickelson, 1990; Tyson, 2003). European-Americans and females are

sanctioned differently or less frequently than males of color for committing the same wrong. Gay (2000)

stated that “classroom discipline is often expected to correlate strongly with student ethnicity, gender, and

intellectuality” (p. 59). Given the extensive research documenting anti-male and anti-minority sentiments

in schools, it is logical to assume that the negative comment about Arab and Muslim boys is not limited to

this teacher alone. According to Gay (2000), “Gender interactions…are other crucial ‘sites’ where

academic achievement is either facilitated or obfuscated” (p. 56).

Some teachers expect males and students of color to create more classroom management problems

and are vigilant for their infractions (Gay, 2000). Al-Khatab (1999) reported that students’ self-

perception is influenced by their teachers’ expectations and perceptions. Mansouri and Kamp (2007) in

their discussion of young Muslim Australians argue that if schools continue to penalize students because

of their cultural or ethnic identities “there is a danger that their educational outcomes will suffer, in turn

impacting their ability to access the labour market and participate fully in civic life...” (p. 88). Care

Theory would argue that children taught under an ideology which expects them to be irresponsible with

assignments, prone to being disrespectful to teachers, and sons of terrorists, would hardly feel nurtured or

safe. Such children are subjects of symbolic violence, not members of a caring classroom.

Care Theory in the classroom: Practical applications

Based on current research with multicultural classrooms we make the following suggestions for

creating a caring environment for all children—Arab, Muslim, minority and majority. In a caring

classroom, a mathematics teacher could create academic, humanistic discourse through discussions of the

cultural origins and development of Arabic numerals system, the decimal system, and geometry. Students

could write biographies on important Arabs or Muslims like al-Khwarazmi, the mathematician who

created al-jaber (algebra) (Wingfield & Karaman, 2001; Wormser, 2002). Science students could learn




about Dr. Michael DeBakey, inventor of the heart pump, or Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Prize winner for

atomic energy research.

Students and teachers alike might be surprised to learn that Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of

Apple computers, is Arab-American. In literature classes, (older) students could be assigned the novels of

Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Peace Prize winner for literature) or Khaled Hosseini, author of the Kite Runner

and A Thousand Splendid Suns. A study of the achievements of popular entertainers like Shakira and

Tony Shalhoub, or of athletes like Mohamed Ali, Doug Flutie, and Hakeem Olajuwon, would help

students understand the many ways in which Arab Americans and Muslims contribute to American

culture.

We caution against “add-ons” or meaningless lists of famous people, festivities or foods (Banks,

2007; Banks & Banks, 2004; Lee, Menkart, & Okazawa-Rey, 2006). Caring teachers will purposefully

weave or integrate the study of the positive contributions of Arab and Muslim cultures for their learners to

foster a sense of familiarity with their cultures. In so doing, they will provide an antidote to the toxic

stereotypes that assault the minds of mainstream students and victimize Arabs and Muslims of all ages

and ethnicities (Said, 1997). Teachers are reminded to preview materials destined to the classroom for

biases and inaccuracies. The following titles have been reviewed for appropriateness, accuracy and

perspective.

Shaikh’s (2002) handbook Teaching about Islam & Muslims in the public school classroom is a

valuable resource for exploring Islam and learning about the challenges facing Muslim students in U.S.

public schools. Children’s literature is another invaluable resource to help teachers and students navigate

beyond myths, misunderstanding, and stereotypes. Teachers who wish to introduce their students to

Muslims may choose (for children) Chalfonte’s (1997) I am Muslim or (for adolescents), Wormser’s

(2002) American Islam: Growing up Muslim in America, or Islam: Eyewitness books (Wilkinson, 2005)

and Celebrations (Kindersley, Kindersley, & Copsey, 1995). Selections of children’s fiction include




Naomi Shihab Nye’s picture book Sitti’s Secrets (1997), or Rukhsana Khan’s (2002) Muslim Child:

Understanding Islam through stories and poems.

Implications

The results of this research indicate an urgent need for educators to examine their own perceptions

and expectations of their students. Data reveal that educators have limited understanding of Arab and

Muslim children, which leads to erroneous assumptions, pernicious beliefs, negative stereotypes and,

ultimately, barriers to students’ education. Starting from a position of Care Theory as the guiding

principle for education, we argue that far too much instructional delivery is reduced to superficial,

aesthetic or technical education. According to Lee, Menkart and Okazawa-Rey (2006),

…multicultural education should help students, parents, teachers and administrators understand

and relate the histories, cultures and languages of people different from themselves. But

multicultural education must be much more than that. It must be transformative; that is, encourage

academic excellence that embraces critical skills for progressive social change. (p.ix) Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, & Greenfield (2000) stated that educators must realize the necessity of

social understanding of culture that goes beyond the relatively superficial aspects often addressed in

multicultural education, such as major holidays, religious customs, clothing, and foods (Trumbull, et al.,

2000). Educators need to develop cultural awareness and a deeper kind of understanding of social values

and behavioral standards that shape approaches to child-rearing and family structure (Trumbull et al.,

2000). Without a teacher’s professional and moral commitment to care for the whole child—

academically, emotionally, and culturally—students cannot enjoy the full benefits and opportunities of

American education.

Teachers, as humans, may have “unscientific nuisances as feelings, habits, conventions,

associations, and values” (Said, 1997, p. 164). However, if committed to become moral, caring

professionals, teachers “must seek in a disciplined way to employ reason and the information he or she




has gained through formal education….so that understanding may be achieved” (Said, 1997, p. 164).

Caring educators reflect on their feelings, attitudes and personal values to ensure that they do not inhibit

the potentialities of the students. Although Arab and Muslim culture may be unknown or misunderstood,

caring teachers will seek opportunities to learn about and experience these cultures. Caring teachers

willingly problematize the beliefs they have about other cultures and ask for help from cultural insiders.

In that way they demonstrate real respect for others and the professionalism necessary to create a caring

classroom. In addition, caring educators are better able to modify pedagogy and curricula to fit their

students’ needs, cultural backgrounds and learning styles and to consider cultural differences as assets.

Although we advocated against the superfluous study of holidays, foods, and famous people,

Arab and Muslim students require unique considerations for establishing caring relationships. Many

Muslim practices extend beyond the place of worship and form an integral part of the daily lives of

children and their parents. Prayers and fasting are two practices which educators should note. They

usually occur during school hours and may conflict with school activities or scheduling. Coed sports,

mandatory school uniforms that violate Islamic principles (e.g., gym shorts or swimsuits), and food-filled

celebrations during times of fasting (e.g., Ramadan) may force children into avoidable emotional conflict.

Again, caring educators invest their time to discover ways to create the most caring, welcoming and

inclusive learning environment for all students. Whenever possible, teachers and schools must rely on the

communication and involvement of Arab and Muslim parents and community members to create such an

environment.

Conclusion

Public schools are for all students—Arab and non-Arab; Muslim and non-Muslim. Care Theory

tells us that it is possible to create learning environments in which students are given the necessary

respect and support to do their best. Understanding and teaching Arab-American and Muslim students in

U.S. public schools will require focusing attention in four broad dimensions: (1) understanding Arab and

Islamic cultures; (2) eliminating negative stereotypes related to these cultures; (3) providing culturally




responsive teaching; and (4) maintaining caring relationships with Arab-American students and their

families. Educators need to understand that the Arab-American population is diverse and heterogeneous;

not all Arabs living in America share the same cultural practices, traditions and beliefs. And just as

important, not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims.

In order for educators to engage in authentic, caring relationships with Arab-American and Muslim

students, we argue that it is imperative for them to move beyond the technical aspects of education toward

more humanistic forms of academic engagement. Such experiences would recognize, validate and

incorporate the multiple cultural, geographic, religious and linguistic identities in the Arab world. We

also believe that in order to create these nurturing relationships, educators must be willing to expand their

knowledge of all cultures.

Care Theory is also an act of courage. Educators must problematize commonly held beliefs,

assumptions, perspectives and privileges in order to create a welcoming, affirming, “safe space” for all

students. As Shapiro (2005, p. 473) asserted:

School exists not simply to prepare young people to fit in with what presently is but to encourage

them to be passionate and active agents of change in our world. In this sense, education needs to be

understood as more simply a mirror that reflects the exciting culture; it may also represent a light

that directs our way to a more hopeful future.




Appendix A

E-CAP Survey-Questionnaire: “Section A & B”

LEARNING ABOUT CULTURES OTHER THAN YOUR OWN

Arab-American Students in Public Schools: Assessing Educators' Cultural Awareness

and Perceptions

Survey Questions

A: Please choose the appropriate response(s) then fill in the blank. (Thesame response may be used more than one time.)

1- A reference to people who speak the language, 2- A religion, 3- A reference topeople who follow the religion,4- A language, 5- A reference to people with geographic roots in the ArabianPeninsula. 6- Unsure

- Arabic is : ………….- Arab is : ………….- Islam is : ………….- Muslim is: ………….

B: Please choose True, False, or Unsure for the following statements.

# Statements True False

Unsure

1 Eid al Fitr is a holiday.

2 Ramadan is a holiday.

3 All Arabs are Muslims.

4 All Muslims are Arabs.

5 Arab women have always had a secondary role insociety.

6 All Arabs living in America share the same culture andbeliefs.

7 Arabs/Muslims have made significant contributions tothe U.S. culture.




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