Teaching Culturally-Complex Topics: Nuancing DLIFLC Students’ Views of the « Headscarf » among French-Speaking Muslim Women

Abstract

Given the recurrence of debates in France regarding “the headscarf” and France’s secularizing laws, the topic of Islamic dress in France and francophone countries must be approached with care. This reflection discusses my design of a two-hour lesson on French “secularism” and “the headscarf” to include the voices of Muslim women. Availing multiple perspectives on a singular issue invites learners to see culture as dynamic rather than monolithic, an approach that I call a “diverse voices” approach to studying culture (Anderson, 2022). The lesson utilized a content-based approach, incorporating multiple modalities and tasks to maximize student engagement. The following day, I asked students to complete a 5-question survey to explore their perceptions of studying topics related to Islamic culture within francophone countries. Feedback was strongly positive; students appreciated the content-based approach and engagement strategy employed within the lesson. One student’s comments highlighted the presence of a test-centric “washback” effect, demonstrating that more explicit scaffolding was needed. This perspective suggests that students’ pedagogical goals and values may not perfectly align with the instructor's. Inventorying students’ pre-extant assets and conducting a needs analysis of our students’ future work as warrior-linguists could better inform pedagogy. Insights from this successful lesson could be utilized to spark ideation or replication across the Institute when teaching sensitive cultural topics.