Houda Nizam

Foreign Placement Application Screening

Position: High School Administrator

Location: Syria

Academic Year: 2007-2008

  1. Which of these recommendations proposed by the French commission “set up to reflect upon the application of the laïcité principle” was the only one adopted by the French legislature? [1]

    1. Adding Muslim and Jewish holidays to the school calendar

    2. Emphasizing teaching about religion, slavery, and decolonization in North Africa

    3. Implementing measures to improve life in immigrant neighborhoods

    4. Banning the “veil” (a.k.a. hijab) in public schools

  2. Fill in the blank: Former French president Jacques Chirac said that the “veil” (a.k.a. hijab) is a(n) ________ symbol. [1]

    1. Aggressive

    2. Personal

    3. Laughable

    4. Decolonial

    5. a and d

  3. True or False: Students in France can be expelled from school for wearing a headscarf.

  4. Describe a past experience or possible scenario in which institutional islamophobia facilitated discriminatory behavior and intimidation (excluding Algerian educational settings):

  5. Case study: A 6-year-old girl takes her praying clothes (a long white skirt and head cover patterned with clowns) to pray in an isolated corner of school during lunch.. Compare and contrast how a French school principal and an American school principal might respond differently.

  6. A student wants to wear a hijab. Which option do you encourage? She should:

    1. Change schools since the “veil” was banned in public schools under President Jacques Chirac

    2. Show up wearing a hijab and deal with the consequences later

    3. Transition to homeschooling

    4. Remember that the hijab is “an ostentatious religious symbol” [2]

  7. A student comes to school wearing a hijab. What do you say to convince her to remove it?

    1. That covering her hair doesn’t make her a better person or a better Muslim

    2. That the hijab doesn’t look good on her

    3. That people like her will cause Islamist groups to take over the country

    4. That students are not allowed to wear religious symbols, even though many of her Christian classmates wear cross necklaces

    5. All of the above

  8. Place in sequential order the following actions to be undertaken following a student’s refusal to take off her hijab:

    1. Giving the student the option of removing the hijab at the school door since the school is supposedly on French territory.

    2. Compromising by allowing the student to cover her hair with a bandana.

    3. Threatening to make other students remove their hijab if the student continues to wear hers.

    4. Ignoring the student and pretending you didn’t have a conversation with her

  9. Case study: After an hour of mind games directed at pressuring a student to remove her hijab, she leaves your office crying. You shake her hand and tell her that her grandfather, a prominent businessman, is your good friend. Which ensuing scenario surprises you most?

    1. Her mother tries to convince her to take off the hijab

    2. Her aunt calls the recently promoted bursar, a long-time family friend, and tells him to remind you that the grandfather’s hefty donation is still warm under your seat

    3. Her grandmother surprises the student with a cheesy slideshow and dramatic music at a big dinner gathering with people she doesn’t know, even though she didn’t want a hijab party

    4. The student, deeply disturbed, tosses and turns all night replaying her conversation with you

  1. https://www.facinghistory.org/civic-dilemmas/france-bans-veil-public-schools

  2. https://time.com/6049226/france-hijab-ban/

Houda Nizam is a somatic mental health counselor. Her writing explores themes of belonging, love, and identity through the lens of a shiite Syrian moving between cultures and spaces with often contradicting messages about what it means to be human and what it means to be good.

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Joanna Acevedo