Here is a wonderful resource I have chosen to provide antiracism resources and lesson plans specifically about Islamophobia. The lesson plans will help students explore and share multiple perspectives, while also demonstrating how toxic ideologies can harm inter-cultural harmony. The British Columbia Teacher’s Federation has listed many useful resources around this issue and has also provided two great lesson plans. By integrating these lesson plans students will be more aware of Islamophobia, this will help deconstruct assumptions about Islam and help students cultivate compassionate understanding in the classroom. With diverse immigration to Canada it is essential that learning environments and students are educated on Islamophobia because of racist misconceptions in various forms of media.

The two Islamophobia lesson plans are great resources to integrate into Humanities subjects especially as Social Justice 12 is now offered as a high school course. These resources are organized to be adaptable while also providing a solid framework for a lesson. The lessons will help students think about how stereotypes are manufactured and what they can do as critical thinkers and creators to dismantle them. With increasing overt racism in “Canada” and systemic racism such as Bill 21 in Quebec targeting Muslims, it is essential to raise awareness around Islamophobia so that Muslim students to feel safe from racism These lessons plans provide spaces for students to learn about Islam and to make sure that Muslim students are welcomed. The lesson plan is multimodal as well incorporating physical activity icebreakers, analyzing quotes, watching videos, engaging in deep conversations and writing as well as creating images or videos. This multimodal integrative approach allows students to think critically about information they receive about Islam and Muslims. The resource will also reflect the core competencies of communication, thinking and personal & social responsibility.

By the end of the lessons students will be able to make reasoned ethical judgements about a controversial topic and the role of personal responsibility. They will also be able to recognize and identify the role of personal, social and cultural contexts, values and perspectives in texts. These curricular competencies will be focused on along with writing and designing engaging texts to define Islamophobia which has no place within a socially just human family. These are useful lessons plans because they allow students to express themselves and learn new ideas in a safe environment that encourages sharing personal understandings to build healthy communities. These skills will be very useful for all youth’s interpersonal skills for future interactions, careers and creative passions.

Key understandings these lesson plans offer students are; understand stereotypes, how racist understandings can lead to discrimination and how without critical thinking stereotypes can influence perspectives. This lesson plan also offers a link to other broader social justice movements to show that if you are an antiracist, feminist, LGBTQ ally, environmental justice and believe in equality then you should also be an ally to various religious communities. Students will understand that to be an advocate for social justice they must support all these issues which have the potential to be united. This lesson plan offers a framework to link Islamophobia to other social justice issues as the climate crisis will lead to increasing immigration in a globalized world. Overall this resource also demonstrates the big idea of how social justice initiatives can transform individuals and systems by awareness through education.

Here are the specific Islamophobia resources

https://www.bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx?id=39278

And also a link to broader Antiracism resources

https://www.bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx?id=17632