The experiences of Muslim high school students in the public school system in British Columbia

It is important for Muslim students to be heard and feel understood by their teachers, administrators, and peers. Academic research has overlooked the experiences of Muslim students in the public school system. There are a few Canadian studies on this topic from the perspective of the administrators, teachers, and parents. Given this limitation in the literature, the focus of this research was to directly engage in conversation with recent Muslim high school graduates to understand their experience with discrimination. I used semi-structured interviews with five recent graduates in British Columbia. Each person shared their overall experience in high school and whether they had experienced discrimination by their peers and/or staff members. Once I analysed the data, I found five major themes around the topic of discrimination. Furthermore, recommendations were provided by the participants on how best to combat these issues and provide better accommodation for future generations of Muslim students.