What are the experiences of Sikh students in U.S. schools?
What it is like to teach about Sikhi in U.S. schools?
You tell us!

WHAT: Kaur Foundation is committed to supporting Sikh students by creating classroom materials and providing teacher education about the Sikh tradition. This project is going directly to the source and conducting interviews with Sikh students to learn about their experiences, what they want their teachers and peers to know, and what forms of cultural and religious literacy education they would like to see in their schools.

We are also listening to the perspectives of Sikh parents and current social studies and humanities teachers.

WHO (Eligibility): This project is currently open to:

(a) individuals who identify as Sikh and are currently enrolled in a public school (grades 6-12) in the United States, or were enrolled in a public school in the United States within the past 4 years; and

(b) parents of Sikh students (PreK-12) who are enrolled in a public school in the United States.

(c) teachers in U.S. schools who teach history, social studies, civics, ELA, or world cultures.

HOW: Interviews will be conducted via video conference at a mutually agreed time. Interviews are expected to last 30-450minutes.

Student Bonus: The first 30 student participants will receive a $50 Amazon gift card after completing the interview.

For additional questions, please reach out to us at education@kaurfoundation.org

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I am a parent of Sikh students in U.S. public schools and would like to share my perspective and experiences.  Can I participate?
Yes! We are ready to begin interviewing parents of Sikh students. Complete the form above and we will reach out to set up an interview. Parents of students of all ages, from preschool through grade 12, are welcome to participate.

I am a teacher in U.S. public schools. Can I participate?
Yes! We are excited to begin interviews with teachers about their experiences teaching about Sikhi. If you are attending NCSS 2022, we'd love to talk to you in person. You can also sign up for an online interview using the form above.

How is this project different from the Youth Voices series?
The Youth Voices series aimed to capture portraits of young Sikh Americans working and studying in many different fields. The main goal of this project is to better understand how Kaur Foundation can support students in U.S. public schools. Therefore, the majority of the content gathered will be used internally to inform our work and planning. While we may share short video experts of the interviews as a part of our educational materials, we are not creating full profiles or narratives about each of the participants.

In-person Teacher Interviews

More Details

How will these interviews be used?
The primary purpose of this project is to develop a better understanding of Sikh students’ experiences in public schools in the United States. Kaur Foundation will use these insights to inform the creation of educational materials to increase the public understanding about the Sikh-American experience and cultural and religious literacy in general. With your permission, we may use quotes or short video excerpts from your interview as a part of these educational materials, including educational content on the Kaur Foundation website and social media.

What are you going to ask me about?
Our questions for students include:

• What do/did you want your teachers to know about you and your Sikh identity?
• What do you want your peers to know about you and your Sikh identity?

• What does/did your school do well in terms of recognizing cultural and religious diversity?
• How could your school improve in how it recognizes cultural and religious diversity?
• How was Sikhism represented or included in your history, geography, or social studies classes in Middle/High School?

What if I want to contribute, but I don’t want to be filmed? 
We definitely still want to talk to you! If you do not want the video or audio of your interview to be used on any public sites, we can stick to just using written quotations from your interview. Learning more about your experiences is the most important part of this project.

We cannot guarantee that everyone who submits a volunteer form will be interviewed. While we hope to interview as many people as possible, we also want to ensure that we hear from individuals from across the country, as well as different ages and genders. If you do not hear back from us within a week of submitting your information, please reach out to us at education@kaurfoundation.org.