This study analyses how the educational experiences of adolescents from families originating in Muslim-majority post-Soviet societies shape their identity formation within secondary schools in England. It examines how these students interpret, express, and negotiate Muslimness within school contexts, drawing on semi-structured interviews. Across different historical periods, Muslimness in these societies has often been lived primarily as a social identity, blended with folklore and cultural traditions, rather than as a religious identity or as strict scriptural practice (Khalid, 2007).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This study does not require participants to self-identify as Muslim, and religion or belief is not used as an inclusion or exclusion criterion. Participants are selected based on family background and ethnic affiliation linked to Muslim-majority post-Soviet countries: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, rather than their personal religious identification or practice. Any references to religion or Muslim identity will arise through open conversation based on participants\u2019 own perspectives and self-expression. No assumptions are made about belief, practice, visibility, or personal identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aim of this study is to analyse how educational experiences in secondary schools in England influence the identity formation of adolescents from post-Soviet Central Asian and Azerbaijani backgrounds with cultural or familial connections to Muslimness, through their interpretation, expression, and negotiation of Muslimness within school contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This research addresses a gap in UK educational literature, where Muslim students are frequently examined (Panjwani & Stoeckl, 2017), but Central Asian and Azerbaijani adolescents are rarely the specific focus of study. In addition, it introduces a new perspective by analysing how wider educational experiences and discourses encountered by students contribute to processes of identity formation, examined analytically through identity formation theories. Examining the perspectives of adolescents from these backgrounds allows for a more differentiated understanding of the diverse historical and cultural formations of Muslimness that young people bring into school settings, and how these may interact with educational representations of Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Key words:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Identity formation; adolescents; post-Soviet backgrounds; Central Asia; Azerbaijan; non-visible Muslimness; cultural Muslimness; educational experiences; curriculum; Religious Education; social identity; personal identity; belonging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Influence of Educational Experiences on Identity Formation among Central Asian and Azerbaijanian Adolescents in Secondary Schools in England. This study analyses how the educational experiences of adolescents from families originating in Muslim-majority post-Soviet societies shape their identity formation within secondary schools in England. It examines how these students interpret, express, and negotiate Muslimness within […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"page-sidebar-boxed-feature-img.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n