Somali mothers religious socialization and discussions around Islamophobia with their school age children
This small-scale study examines Somali-Canadian Muslim mothers’ religious socialization of, and discussions around Islamophobia with their school-age children. This qualitative research employs the use of semi-structured interviews with six Somali-Canadian Muslim mothers with school-age children between the ages of five to ten years. Guided by a constructivist paradigm and Critical Race Theory, three themes were identified: 1. Somali mothers use Islamic books, modeling behaviour and Islamic classes to formulate a religious identity; 2. Somali mothers suggested that age and gender are factors informing their discussions around Islamophobia and 3. Somali mothers framed curriculum on Islamophobia like curriculum on other minority groups (i.e. Jewish, LGBTQ, and Aboriginals, etc.). The mothers in this study suggested formulating a religious identity for their children to build a positive religious foundation to combat the negative perception of their religion in society. Somali-Canadian mothers stated, it is possible to represent Muslim identity and discuss Islamophobia in the classroom. Keywords: Somali mothers, religious socialization, Islamophobia, Critical race theory, anti-racism.