Faith

Reflections on Religion, Belief and Faith Identities in Learning and Teaching at UAL

When exploring the resources around religion, belief and faith identities in learning and teaching, I came across an array of resources which aim to foster space in the learning environment where students can talk about their beliefs without shame. 

As a Muslim woman, my faith plays a part in the way I see humanity. To see humanity as a unified body helps me connect with people. My faith also teaches me to coexist with people who do not have the same beliefs. In the Qur’an there is a verse which states “You follow your religion and I follow mine” for me this verse highlights the importance of feeling affirmed in your values and beliefs but also being aware of the fact that not everyone shares your worldview. The learning space is a place of exchange and dialogue where students should be encouraged to share and challenge each other’s perspectives, respectfully and compassionately. 

I am interested in the occult and ritual as a means of healing. When students talk about their faiths/ beliefs, I employ an empathetic listening strategy to hear them out firstly and reflect what they’ve said to me in my own words. I like to find points of connection where the foundational elements of faith intersect as well as acknowledging the differences. 

A resource that really spoke to me is the Race, Religion and free speech conference and the point made around Religious Literacy.

http://shadesofnoir.org.uk/race-religion-and-the-influence-of-media/

Firstly, framing faith alongside the intersections of race ensures that both are not seen as mutually exclusive and that both feed into a person’s positionality in society. When tabloids spew the narrative that brown skin equates to terrorism and the British government specifically targets muslims with the Prevent Programme, it breeds a sense of distrust between students and the institution. In my positionality as an educator of Arab linage with Islam in my spirit, I aim to dismantle this skewed narrative by leading by example. 

Reflections on Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education By Tariq Modood and Craig Calhoun

The Public Sphere (Religious literacy)

Modood and mentions the need for Religious literacy in Higher Education to accommodate the increasing demographic of students who have non western faith backgrounds. He draws the link between a decline in public religion in Britain and how key decision makers have little to no foundational understanding of the importance religion may have in a person’s life. I think this an important term to embody because faith functions not just as a private belief but as a way of living life for many people. Modood goes on to highlight that religion can shape the structures of family and social life, that it is gives people a sense of community and solidarity with groups in other parts of the world. (Pp.12) The way religion manifests in people’s lives plays out in how they live in public and in private so it needs to be accounted for somehow in the educational realm.  

Religion and Dissent in Universities

Calhoun begins this chapter by stating that free speech is being threatened and that this is concerning. Gag orders against religious speakers, specifically muslim thinkers, in the university setting are becoming commonplace due to being labelled as extremists by people who don’t share the same worldview. The importance of free speech is rooted in article 19 of the human rights declaration under the inalienable right of freedom of expression where “This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.” (Equality and Human Rights Commission) The fact that universities are banning these speakers is a ‘betrayal to the commitments of free speech’ (pp.16). The muslim community is been marginalised and labelled as extremist which is a denial of free speech while benefactors to universities and lobbyists with monetary power can set the terms of who gets to speak and who doesn’t. This is how cronyism and censorship go hand in hand. 

Reflection on Kwame Anthony Appiah

This lecture was refreshing and very informative. Appiah uses personal narrative as a way of highlighting his positions around religion. I found the distinction between orthodoxy (latin for correct belief) and orthopraxy (latin for correct action) compelling. He made a poignant point that often times we view religion as a set of beliefs held by and individual but that in actuality religion takes a more tangible form and is held by dietary, hygienic practices, rituals, public and private and forms of dress. The case and point here is that there are outward signifiers and indicators of faith which have a standing in the way people choose to lead their lives.

Reflection on SoN Faith Case Study

Aalimah’s Tutor did not possess religious literacy and alienated her from her peers by allowing students to pose questions around the nature of extremism. The burden on Aalimah to be a spokesperson for a her community is one that involves a lot of emotional labour and extraction. It was not Aalimah’s responsibility to educate her peers about terrorism. It was the responsibility of the tutor to accommodate Aalima’s beliefs into a fair discussion. In disclosing his atheism he did not leave space for a difference of opinion or faith. The power dynamic between Tutor and student should be taken into consideration here. Because her tutor shut down and negated the idea of a personal God from the onset, Aalima was left on the the margins in the classroom and was the target of a barrage of islamophobic comments and questions. This was incited by the tutors lack of balanced judgment.