AUC GEOGRAPHICA

This article examines negative social representations of Islam among lower-secondary school pupils in Prague, Czechia, drawing on Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism. Despite growing research on media representations of Islam and the teaching of controversial issues, research examining how lower-secondary pupils in Central and Eastern Europe construct understandings of Islam remains limited. The study investigates whether Islam is perceived through Orientalist narratives that construct it as a cultural “Other” and explores the factors shaping pupils’ perceptions. Data were collected from 88 pupils aged 11–15 through mind maps, drawings, a short questionnaire, and follow-up group discussions. The materials were analysed using qualitative thematic coding informed by negative social representations. The findings reveal negative social representations associating Islam with terrorism, violence, the oppression of women, and cultural backwardness. References to 9/11 and gender inequalities were particularly prominent. Pupils contrasted a modern and progressive West with a culturally different Muslim world, reproducing Orientalist dichotomies. While television, school, and social media emerged as the main sources of information about Islam, direct contact with Muslims was associated with more nuanced and positive perceptions. The study contributes to understanding how pupils in a Central European context construct negative social representations of Islam and religious difference.

1. Abbas, T. (2025): Resilience and resistance: How young Northwestern European Muslims confront pedagogical Islamophobia. Race Ethnicity and Education, 1-26. CrossRef

2. Aksoy, A., Sreepada, N. (2021): Negotiating Normality: Using Digital Media to Combat the Stigma and Perceptions of Islam in the West. Journal of Media and Religion 20(4), 195-207. CrossRef

3. Apple, M. (2002): Pedagogy, Patriotism, and Democracy: On the educational meanings of 11 September 2001. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 23(3), 299-308. CrossRef

4. Arroita, M., Iradi, M., Ortega-Lasuen, U., Díez, J. R. (2022): Secondary School Student's misconceptions about microorganisms: A laboratory sequence to learn about their presence and function. International Journal of Human Sciences Research 2(18), 2-14. CrossRef

5. Awan, I. (2012): "I Am a Muslim Not an Extremist": How the Prevent Strategy Has Constructed a "Suspect" Community. Politics & Policy 40(6), 1158-1185. CrossRef

6. Bagoly-Simó, P., Dulamă, M. E., Ilovan, O. R., Kosinszki, S. A., Răcășan, B. S. (2016): Exploring map drawing skills of geography teacher training students. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences 18, 42-52. CrossRef

7. Baltacı, A., Kayacan, M. (2019): Islamophobia in European schools: A multinational phenomenological research. ULUM Journal of Religious Inquiries 2(1), 5-28.

8. Bláha, J. D., Pastuchová Nováková, T. (2013): Mentální mapa Česka v podání českých žáků základních a středních škol (in Czech). Geografie 118(1), 59-76. CrossRef

9. Bleich, E. (2011): What is Islamophobia and how much is there? Theorizing and measuring an emerging comparative concept. American Behavioral Scientist 55(12), 1581-1600. CrossRef

10. Bleich, E., Van Der Veen, A. M. (2021): Media portrayals of Muslims: A comparative sentiment analysis of American newspapers, 1996-2015. Politics, Groups, Identities 9(1), 20-39. CrossRef

11. Bonansinga, D. (2025): The role of public discourse in threat framing: The case of Islamophobia in the Czech Republic. CES Working Papers 7(4), 824-839.

12. Brailas, A. (2020): Using drawings in qualitative interviews: An introduction to the practice. The Qualitative Report 25(12), 4447-4460. CrossRef

13. Braun, V., Clarke, V. (2006): Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2), 77-101. CrossRef

14. Bukhari, S., Khan, H., Ali, T., Ali, H. (2019): Islamophobia in the West and Post 9/11 Era. International Affairs and Global Strategy 78, 23-32.

15. Bunzl, M. (2007): Anti-semitism and Islamophobia: Hatreds old and new in Europe; Prickly Paradigm Press: Chicago, USA.

16. Capella, C., Gutiérrez, C., Rodrìguez, L., Gómez, C. (2018): Change during psychotherapy: The perspective of children and adolescents who have been sexually abused. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 21(1). CrossRef PubMed PubMed Central

17. Cesari, J. (2014): The Oxford Handbook of European Islam; Oxford University Press: Oxford, United Kingdom. CrossRef

18. Cesari, J. (2013): Why the West fears Islam: An exploration of Muslims in liberal democracies; Palgrave Macmillan: New York, USA. CrossRef

19. Cheung, M. M., Saini, B., Smith, L. (2016): Using drawings to explore patients' perceptions of their illness: A scoping review. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare 9, 631-646. CrossRef PubMed PubMed Central

20. Ching, G. S., Chao, P. C., Kuo, Y. S., Roberts, A. (2021): Effects of Cognitive Knowledge and Intercultural Behavioral Skills on Cultural Stereotypes and Intercultural Affect: A Case of Elementary Pupils' Perspective on Islam. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(24): 13102. CrossRef PubMed PubMed Central

21. Cohen, F., Soenke, M., Solomon, S., Greenberg, J. (2013): Evidence for a role of death thought in American attitudes toward symbols of Islam. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 49(2), 189-194. CrossRef

22. Çuçin, A., Özgür, S., Cabbar, B. G. (2020): Comparison of misconceptions about the human digestive system among Turkish, Albanian, and Bosnian 12th-grade high school pupils. World Journal of Education 10(3): 148. CrossRef

23. Dunn, K. M., Klocker, N., Salabay, T. (2007): Contemporary racism and Islamaphobia in Australia: Racializing religion. Ethnicities 7(4), 564-589. CrossRef

24. Duveen, G. (2007): Culture and social representations. In Valsiner, J., Rosa, A. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of sociocultural psychology; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom, pp. 543-559. CrossRef

25. Edelson, S. M., Reyna, V. F., Singh, A., Roue, J. E. (2024): The Psychology of Misinformation Across the Lifespan. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology 6(1), 425-454. CrossRef

26. Ekinci, Y., Dam, S., Buckle, G. (2025): The Dark Side of Social Media Influencers: A Research Agenda for Analysing Deceptive Practices and Regulatory Challenges. Psychology & Marketing 42(4), 1201-1214. CrossRef

27. Erdenir, B. (2010): Islamophobia qua racial discrimination: Muslimophobia. In Triandafyllidou, A. (Ed.), Muslims in 21st Century Europe: Structural and Cultural Perspectives; Routledge: London, United Kingdom, pp. 27-44.

28. Fančovičová, J., Prokop, P. (2019): Examining secondary school pupils' misconceptions about the human body: Correlations between the methods of drawing and open-ended questions. Journal of Baltic Science Education 18(4), 549-557. CrossRef

29. Faradiba, S. S., Alifiani, A., Nasir, N. A. M. (2024): The resolution of quadratic inequality problems in mathematics: Discrepancies between thought and action. Infinity Journal 13(1), 61-82. CrossRef

30. Feijoo, B., Sádaba, C., Zozaya, L. (2023): Distrust by default: Analysis of parent and child reactions to health misinformation exposure on TikTok. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 28(1): 2244595. CrossRef

31. Green, T. H. (2015): The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West; Augsburg Fortress: Augsburg, Germany. CrossRef

32. Haas, V., Harmes Eskinazi, R., Jodelet, D. (2025): Collective memory and social representations. Current Opinion in Psychology 66: 102123. CrossRef PubMed

33. Huntington, S. (1996): Clash of Civilisations; Simon & Schuster: New York, USA.

34. Husband, C., Alam, Y. (2012): Social cohesion and counter-terrorism: A policy contradiction?; Bristol University Press: Bristol, United Kingdom. CrossRef

35. Jackson, R. (2014): Signposts: Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious world views in intercultural education; Council of Europe Publishing: Brussels, Belgium.

36. Jellema, P., Annemans, M., Heylighen, A. (2022): Drawing the researcher into data: Drawing as an analytical tool in qualitative research. Qualitative Research 23(5), 1398-1417. CrossRef

37. King, P. L., Waibel, A. (2016): Playwork practitioners' views on play provision in a South Wales local authority. Journal of Playwork Practice 3(1), 35-48. CrossRef

38. Korteweg, A. C., Yurdakul, G. (2021): Liberal feminism and postcolonial difference: Debating headscarves in France, the Netherlands, and Germany. Social Compass 68(3), 410-429. CrossRef

39. Kumar, D. (2012): Islamophobia and the politics of empire; Haymarket Books: Chicago, USA.

40. Kwon, S., Lee, K., Yoon, J. (2010): Diet of children under the government-funded meal support program in Korea. Nutrition Research and Practice 4(6), 515. CrossRef PubMed PubMed Central

41. Li, K., Zhang, Q. (2022): A corpus-based study of representation of Islam and Muslims in American media: Critical Discourse Analysis Approach. International Communication Gazette 84(2), 157-180. CrossRef

42. Löfdahl, A., Hägglund, S. (2006): Power and participation: Social representations among children in pre-school. Social Psychology of Education 9(2), 179-194. CrossRef

43. Meer, N., Modood, T. (2012): How does interculturalism contrast with multiculturalism? Journal of Intercultural Studies 33(2), 175-196. CrossRef

44. Moïsi, D. (2009): The geopolitics of emotion: How cultures of fear, humiliation, and hope are reshaping the world; Anchor Books: New York, USA.

45. Moscovici, S. (2008): Psychoanalysis: Its image and its public; Polity Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom.

46. Novak, J. D., Gowin, D. B. (2012): Concept mapping for meaningful learning. In Novak, J. D., Gowin, D. B. (Eds.), Learning how to learn; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom, pp. 15-54.

47. Novikova, I. A., Berezina, E. B., Sachkova, M. E., Dvoryanchikov, N. V., Novikov, A. L., Bovina, I. B. (2024): To be scared or not to be scared: Social representations of COVID-19 in young people (A cross-cultural study). Social Sciences 13(1), 62. CrossRef

48. Novotná, K., Hanus, M., Hátle, J. (2017): Mental map as a tool and an object of research in geographical education. Geografie 122(3), 382-400. CrossRef

49. Pettigrew, T. F., Tropp, L. R. (2006): A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90(5), 751-783. CrossRef PubMed

50. Prokůpková, V. (2018): Two Mobilization Waves of the Czech Anti-Islam Movement. Collective Actors and the Identity Change of the Movement 2015-2016. Intersections: East European Journal of Society and Politics 4(4), 51-71. CrossRef

51. Quartermaine, A. (2019): Pupils' perceptions of the religious links to terrorism. British Journal of Religious Education 41(1), 67-77. CrossRef

52. Rahayu, I., Wiji, W., Widhiyanti, T., Mulyani, S. (2024): Analysis of misconceptions on the factors that affect the reaction rate. KnE Social Sciences 9(13), 140-150. CrossRef

53. Rane, H., Ewart, J., Martinkus, J. (2014): Moving on from 9/11? In Rane, H., Ewart, J., Martinkus, J. (Eds.), Media Framing of the Muslim World: Conflicts, Crises and Contexts; Palgrave Macmillan: London, United Kingdom, pp. 154-179. CrossRef

54. Remmerswaal, D., Muris, P., Huijding, J. (2016): Transmission of Cognitive Bias and Fear From Parents to Children: An Experimental Study. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 45(5), 642-654. CrossRef PubMed

55. Rose, G. (2016): Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials, 4th ed.; Sage Publications: London, United Kingdom.

56. Said, E. W. (1979): Orientalism; Pantheon Books: New York, USA.

57. Said, E. W. (1997): Covering Islam: How the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world, 1st ed.; Vintage Books: New York, USA.

58. Said, E. W. (1998): Islam Through Western Eyes. Available online: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/islam-through-western-eyes/ (accessed on 6 January 2025).

59. Saiya, N. (2025): Was Huntington right about Islam after all? The clash of civilizations at 30. International Politics. CrossRef

60. Sammut, G., Andreouli, E., Gaskell, G., Valsiner, J. (Eds.) (2015): The Cambridge handbook of social representations; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom. CrossRef

61. Sharevski, F., Vander Loop, J. (2024): Children, Parents, and Misinformation on Social Media. In Proceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP 2024); IEEE: Piscataway, USA, pp. 1536-1553. CrossRef

62. Strapáčová, M., Hloušek, V. (2018): Anti-Islamism without Moslems: Cognitive Frames of Czech Antimigrant Politics. Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics 12(1), 1-30. CrossRef

63. Šimáček, J. (2017): Hádky o "multikulti": Islám ani křesťanství do škol nepatří, hřímá Valachová (in Czech). Available online: https://www.blesk.cz/clanek/zpravy-politika/445260/hadky-o-multikulti-islam-ani-krestanstvi-do-skol-nepatri-hrima-valachova.html (accessed on 6 March 2025).

64. Topinka, D. (2016): Muslimové v Česku: Etablování muslimů a islámu na veřejnosti (in Czech); Barrister & Principal: Brno, Czech Republic.

65. Vidgen, B., Yasseri, T. (2020): Detecting weak and strong Islamophobic hate speech on social media. Journal of Information Technology & Politics 17(1), 66-78. CrossRef

66. Voelklein, C., Howarth, C. (2005): A Review of Controversies About Social Representations Theory: A British Debate. Culture & Psychology 11(4), 431-454. CrossRef