As someone who does not practise and has never practised a faith, faith is not something I often think about. In all honesty, within the context of my role, it has not been a focus for me. My lack of personal direct, or indirect, experience with discrimination related to beliefs might explain why this aspect has not been on my radar. However, through exploring the resources shared in this course, I have gained a new perspective on the many intersecting factors that can become barriers for individuals practising their faith in an educational environment.
Within the course resources it was an eye opening experience to investigate the intersections between religion and overlapping identity characteristics. Within Jaclyn Rekis’s writing, Rekis highlights the prevailing stereotypes of race and religion with examples of how women often face epistemic injustice due to the way they dress (Rekis, 2023) – misconstruing personal beliefs within faith as a lack of personal agency. Undermining individuals and further reinforcing biassed stereotypes surrounding their faith, race and gender. Furthermore within Dr. Haifaa Jawad’s article “Islam, Women and Sport”, it was revealed how socioeconomic barriers discriminated against women, particularly individuals with faith-based modesty requirements, from partaking in sports, not necessarily from direct discrimination, but instead indirectly, due to the additional expenses required to access private facilities (Jawad, 2022); therefor hindering women within faith from freely participating, a clear barrier. Alongside a talk by Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, American educator, writer and activist, discusses international discrimination and the difficulties faced by people whose faith intersects with other marginalised identities (Trinity University, 2016). Discussing how race, faith and identity can lead to prolific stereotyping when in reality the experience of individuals varies vastly – discussing how these stereotypes can be broken through communication and an emphasis on creating a greater human connection.
Within my own teaching practice and the wider technical department it has certainly led me to question the policies or decisions that are made and the wider repercussions that has on our students. One particular example of this is not directly related to me, but instead my department is the use of a body scanner – this in hindsight of reading the resources provided seems to be a blaring example of something that we should be highly cautious around its use cases and more importantly alternative options. However closer to home, outside of the obvious adjustments like flexible scheduling, being aware of religious holidays and additional considerations around fasting. I would like to make sure that my resources are combative of typical stereotypes within technology – which directly links to my intervention proposal, by adjusting the resources to show a larger variety of representative works, I hope this will allow students to feel a greater sense of belonging within the space.
With this in mind it strikes me, the importance of continual self-reflection and learning. Being able to recognise my own potential biases and the influence of white fragility, I am committed to creating an inclusive and respectful environment for all students. This means not only being aware of overt discrimination but also understanding and addressing the subtle, systemic barriers that can affect students’ experiences.
Bibliography
Jawad, H. (2022) Islam, Women And Sport: The Case Of Visible Muslim Women, Religion And Global Society. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2022/09/islam-women-and-sport-the-case-of-visible-muslim-women/ (Accessed: 31 May 2024).
Rekis, J. (2023) ‘Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account’, Hypatia, 38(4), pp. 779–800. doi: 10.1017/hyp.2023.86.
TED (2014) Kwame Anthony Appiah: Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY (Accessed: 31 May 2024).
Trinity University (2016) Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in Classroom. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAOKTo_DOk&ab_channel=TrinityUniversity (Accessed: 31 May 2024).
Interesting reading Elliot, the subject of using the body scanner is not something I had thought of before but could be an important one. It’s incredibly important of course that work or study shouldn’t insist on the use of processes and/ or materials that could cause offence, it would be wise for courses to review practices or content for such clashes.
Faith, is a curious intersection when it is largely a self controlled factor compared to that of Race or disability, in that we can choose and adjust belief systems to suit and just like Dr. Haifaa Jawad’s article “Islam, Women and Sport”, this is not a hard and fast rule but one of interpretation to the individual.
I talked about the same article and I think it can be applied to may discussions on faith, where maybe we generalise too much what might cause offence or be a barrier to those of faith and simply allow the decision up them without the fear of marking penalty and they suggest alternatives to the situation.
Your comments on the intersectionality of faith and socioeconomic standing as well as race and other marginalised identities are eye opening and such a key consideration when addressing disadvantaged people groups. Historically these things haven’t clearly been considered together, when in reality they are often very closely linked and considerations of both identity factors should be holistically assessed when creating change for a more inclusive teaching environment.
Campbell I think thats a really interesting point, a distinction that I had not actually considered myself. I think this idea of dialogue has certainly been under looked within these blogs and my thinking. I write as if there are hard rules but like most things are open to interpretation and beliefs. More importantly it makes me think how we are supposed to go about opening up conversations that touch upon sensitive areas – such as body scanning technology. Thank you also Kira for your feedback.
Your reflections on faith in the context of your role clearly demonstrated your increased understanding. It’s great to read that you’re taking into account things such as your department’s use of the body scanner. It would be good to understand how you could put an alternative in place without singling out or unintentionally othering students. Perhaps sending out a questionnaire to find out exactly what the needs of the students are or offering a private time for them to experiment with the equipment should they wish to? Great read!
Thank you Jazmin, I think thats a great idea regarding the private times and is definitely something that needs to be acted on. Thank you for your time!