Barriers to Belonging: Navigating Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Racism in Ontario Public Schools

Muslims are the fastest growing religious minority in Canada. In Ontario, Muslim students account for over 20% of the total student body in some school boards. Research suggests that widespread anti-Muslim racism has been perpetrated by teachers in Ontario schools. Though numerous studies have examined the experiences of Muslim students and educators in public schools across Canada, little research has explored the experiences of students enrolled in teacher education programs (i.e., preservice teachers) and their preparedness for challenging anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism in Ontario schools. This study explores challenges, biases, and prejudices that Muslim students, Muslim educators, as well as students and teachers that sympathize with Palestinian solidarity face within Ontario public schools from the perspectives of preservice teachers who are in the process of beginning their careers as educators. Through a critical ethnographic approach, this study engaged in 32 semi-structured interviews with preservice teachers across 5 university teacher training programs in Southern Ontario. Participants in this study discussed Islamophobic experiences centred on archetypal perceptions of Muslim male students being discursively constructed as sexist and misogynistic and the policing and surveillance of Muslim prayer spaces and rituals. Anti-Palestinian racism manifested when students and educators’ solidarity with Palestinian rights were policed and silenced, as well as when students and educators felt compelled to self-censor their sympathies for Palestine. This study provides timely and critical insights related to the challenges faced by Ontario teacher training programs in light of growing religious and ethnic plurality in public schools and suggests approaches and strategies to address these obstacles.