Muslim Learners in the American Education System

Identity & Belonging

What I learned: The paper shows how Muslim students often experience fractured belonging, where their religious identity is treated as incompatible with “normal” school culture, pushing them to constantly negotiate visibility and acceptance. This negotiation often creates emotional strain, as students must decide when to assert their identity and when to suppress it to avoid isolation or scrutiny.

Why this matters as a mentor: It reminds me that mentorship must affirm students’ identities rather than ask them to minimize or explain them in order to belong. Creating spaces where students feel fully seen can directly impact their confidence, engagement, and sense of safety.

School Environment & Power

What I learned: Ahmad highlights how schools often reproduce dominant power structures by ignoring or marginalizing Muslim experiences, particularly through silence, stereotyping, or unequal disciplinary scrutiny. These dynamics reinforce who is considered “normal” or authoritative within school spaces while positioning Muslim students as outsiders. 

Why this matters as a mentor: As a mentor, I need to be attentive to how institutional dynamics shape students’ confidence and participation, not just their academic performance. Recognizing these pressures allows me to better support students who may be navigating unfair expectations or heightened surveillance.

Support Systems & Community

What I learned: The paper emphasizes the importance of family, faith, and community spaces as protective systems that help Muslim students navigate exclusion within schools. These spaces offer validation, resilience, and a sense of belonging that schools often fail to provide.

Why this matters as a mentor: It reinforces the need to see students holistically and value the communities they draw strength from, rather than framing those ties as barriers. Respecting these support systems allows mentorship to be more culturally responsive and genuinely supportive.

Continuity & Change 

The paper captures a reality Muslim students are still navigating today: being collectively associated with global political events and treated as monolithic, especially during moments like 9/11 anniversaries, despite the diversity within Muslim communities. I’ve experienced this personally, from growing up being singled out in school to witnessing open Islamophobia at UCLA, including harassment of hijabi students and acts like Quran pages being desecrated. What has changed, however, is visibility. Muslim students today have stronger community networks and representation, even as hostility has become more overt. Media narratives still misrepresent Islam as oppressive, particularly toward women, while ignoring how faith and modest dress are deeply tied to autonomy and identity.