Cultivating religious, racial, and cultural identities: Opportunities and challenges at a Muslim homeschool co-op in the U.S. Midwest

Doukmak, Noor Alhuda

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117570 Copy

Description

Title

Cultivating religious, racial, and cultural identities: Opportunities and challenges at a Muslim homeschool co-op in the U.S. Midwest

Author(s)

Doukmak, Noor Alhuda

Issue Date

2022-11-28

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Dávila, Liv T

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Dávila, Liv T

Committee Member(s)

• Dhillon, Pradeep
• Kashani, Maryam
• McCarthy, Cameron
• Span, Christopher

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Multicultural Education
• Identity
• Postcolonial Theory
• Homeschooling

Language

eng

Abstract

This dissertation study is based on an ethnography I undertook of a Muslim homeschool co-op in the U.S. Midwest. The co-op was founded in 2016 by African American and South Asian American Muslim women and grew to include families from a range of racial and cultural backgrounds. The study examines how identity shapes the motivations and aims of Muslim parents involved in the designing of their children’s education and explores the opportunities and challenges that exist at the co-op as a result. Between February 2020 and July 2022, I spent time in the co-op’s physical and virtual spaces; spoke with its founders, administrators, parents, teachers, and students; attended classes; and surveyed materials authored or used by co-op educators. Using an approach guided by postcolonial theory and focused on questions about identity, I discuss how findings of the study may inform culturally responsive pedagogy within mainstream K-12 schools as well as implications for the educational spaces created and sustained by minoritized communities in the United States.

Graduation Semester

2022-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117570

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Noor Doukmak

Owning Collections