When reading Religion in Britain: Challenges for higher education, the writers positionality come through very clearly in the text – or at least what I presume it to be. Words such as ‘even though’ and ‘fetish’ brought forth assumptions towards the writer. This however, may be due to my own positionality.
This brought forth the question, does the writers positionality really matter? It is the reader who must decide whether to believe the text or to find fault in it, which is influenced by their own positionality rather than the writers. Nevertheless, there were some key points within the article which can be adopted into the ‘secular’ classroom:
- Ensuring that within conversations involving religion the ‘means and ends are consistent with secular rationales’
- Celebrating difference, rather than tolerating difference ‘which therefore comes to be shared rather than dominated by the majority’ and ‘to fully include marginalised identities’
- Creating varied conversations that include religion, rather than solely focusing on religion, ‘and to handle those occasions without exacerbating conflict.’
- Learning about religion through the context of staff and students experiences, not just the religion itself, and ‘collaborate with them in activities not thematically religious’
By understanding that religion is an important identity strand for many. By showing interest and a willingness to engage with the stories that students of faith want to share in their creative practice. Keep asking questions and keep listening: keep the dialogue open
Shades of noir (2017) Interview with William Whitcombe: The chaplain and interfaith advisor for LCF & LCC page 37-38
Celebrating and incorporating religion, or any other identity trait, without focusing solely on it can be quite challenging. It can be easy to fall into the trap of creating a tick box culture. This is particularly the case with fashion. Clothing, and other visual representations of religion, can be inclusive but also othering. Rahul Patel explores this saying ‘I feel there is a pernicious othering of the Muslim faith…especially Muslim women, in terms of the clothes they wear and therefore immediately become objects rather than becoming a subject.’
So how can celebration without objectification be achieved?
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s – Mistaken Identity, Creed highlighted an interesting aspect to religion – community. Community is a large aspect of religion. Location, heritage, culture, family upbringing and many more aspects can play a role in how an individual associates with religion. This also applies to those without religious beliefs. And so, when incorporating religion into teaching it is more important to focus on the identity of our students than to generalise or focus entirely on religion itself.
When it comes to inclusivity in the classroom, whether that be faith, race, disability, gender, sex or sustainability, it is important to open the floor to our students to gain a better understanding of their full identity. Creating teaching environments which incorporate a wide range of identities, without assumption, will create a space for students to show themselves through their work without feeling singled out and collaborate with more understanding of their colleagues. Inclusive practices should be thought of as social practices, focusing on human interaction between our full identities.
Modood, T., & Calhoun, C. (2015). Religion in Britain: Challenges for higher education. Available at: 6379_lfhe_stimulus_paper_-_modood_calhoun_32pp.pdf (tariqmodood.com)
Shades of Noir (2017) Interview with Rahul Patel. Available at (pg 59-61): Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief – Shades Of Noir
BBC Radio 4 (2016) Kwame Anthony Appiah’s – Mistaken Identity, Creed. Available at: BBC Radio 4 – The Reith Lectures, Kwame Anthony Appiah – Mistaken Identities, Creed
2 responses to “Identity”
Really enjoyed reading this Kemi – this particular subject in the blogging tasks has been my favourite so far!
Your thoughts around positionality are quite thought provoking – my take on the subject is that it has to do with allowing the reader more context into what is written and why, rather than it being about finding fault per se. Of course we can find fault, and that may have to do with a person’s biases, but nonetheless I think an awareness of these biases adds to the conversation around a subject.
I completely agree with your ideas on integrating religion into a secular classroom – particularly the idea of having a more social and community-based approach, as opposed to a dry academic perspective.
Conflict resolution will play a key role here, which you have recognised as an important task that educators must take up. I believe it is also the responsibility of the universities to create a more diverse tutor cohort as well, so as to allow conversations around religion, race, disability, gender and social justice to be had with (forgive the pun) good faith.
Kemi
I really liked how you started this blog. Questioning the relevance of the writers positionality. I get what you are saying, is the readers positionality more influential and relevant than the writers??? Ummmm 🙂
I think the writers own positionality is important to be aware of (particularly when presenting research) as this determines how they convey their message and express their views and opinions. I think that as hard as we might try to be open and objective, it is important to recognise our potential blind spots and cognitive responsive in relation to our positionality, especially when conducting research.
I think that with all the resources, articles and research papers, we have been exposed to, it’s great that you have ben able to clearly identify some key points. I read them and thought ummm can I do this? As a teacher which of these can I realistically and successfully implement within my teaching environment…. with relevancy as well? I think perhaps number 4!
At the moment I have a non-Muslim student going on work placement in Dubai and the conversation about them working in a Muslim country came up rather organically and it was really useful for the student to be able to discuss their ideas on suitable dress and acceptable behaviour whilst living in the country.
I agree with you that within our teaching context it will be more helpful for us to focus on how religion shapes our identity and belief system and to celebrate this rather than “other it, objectify, exploit or single out”.
Great blog Kemi, especially inspiring last paragraphs!!