Month: May 2023

This has been the hardest blog for me to reflect and write about on the PGCert so far due to the nature of the subject and my positionality. There are several interviews in SoN’s Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief, where the same question was asked: “Is there a distinct difference between religion, faith, spirituality and belief?”.  For me there is a big distinction. Faith, spirituality, and belief is personal to the beholder and comes from experience in life, it is what you feel in your heart. This I have the utmost respect for and those who feel these things. I have had many experiences that I can not explain and struggle to talk about with others through fear of judgement and disbelief. But I know these experiences were true and that gave me faith, belief and spirituality and the knowledge that there is more in this world that we cannot yet scientifically explain. However, I do not follow a particular religion. Religion to me is something else entirely it’s a construct created by mankind. Again, I respect those who follow religion and have no judgement against those individuals, but the hypocrisy and intolerance that many religious institutions preach, the establishments exploiting those with faith in order to gain power, control and finances is a difficult topic for me to openly discuss without fear of offending.

History is a topic I love and it truly saddens me to contemplate how many people have died in the name of religion in the history of religious wars, something that is truly avoidable. Catholics vs Protestants fighting each other for centuries, The Greek War of independence, The Soga-Mononobe conflict and the Reconquista to name a few global “holy” conflicts in history, despite the fact these religious texts say,

 “You shall not murder.” Exodus 10:13

 Do not take a ˹human˺ life—made sacred by Allah—except with ˹legal˺ right. Quran 6:151

“It is forbidden to murder, as it says “You shall not murder” Deuteronomy 5:17.

Buddha said, “One should not kill a living being, nor cause it to be killed, nor should one incite another to kill.

I am unable to find an academic source that estimates the number of deaths caused by religious wars in the last millennium, because the number increases daily. Religious wars are justified by those who follow as an interpretation of the texts. Yet when questioned why religions are still anti LGBTQ+, those statements within the same texts are non negotiable or interpretable.

Intolerance of non believers, equality for women, the LGBTQ+ community preached within the worlds most followed religions is a conflict of interest in terms of the inclusivity we strive for at UAL. When asked “How can religion, race, gender & sexuality intersect” Bridget Crutchfield (2017) responded “Based on the holy books – they can’t” As staff, we must always respect students who are religious as this does not define them as a person, but I question what is UAL’s policy if a devotedly religious student was to be intolerant to another student based on one of these beliefs. Can we be truly inclusive if we punish a student for intolerance if it is preached within their holy book? Do we become intolerant of them in return? I have looked through UAL’s policies and procedures, UAL’s Tell Someone service, and have not found the answer. Thankfully this is an issue that I have not encountered yet, and hope never to, but as Mark Dean stated in his interview with SoN, 50% of UAL students identify as being religious and so guidance on this should be made clearer on this.

As explained by Modood (2015 pg. 9) “While in general, young people are less likely to be religious than older people, amongst ethnic minorities, expressions of commitment by the young can be exceptionally high: more than a third of Indians and African Asians, and two-thirds of Pakistani and Bangladeshi 16-34 year-olds said that religion was very important to how they led their lives” we may encounter more students in the future who may struggle between their religious beliefs and acceptance of other students identities. This also made me question, with the 50 % of students who identify as religious, and religion on the rise with the youth, why is there no multi faith room at LCF’s new building in Stratford. Yes, there are 4 quiet rooms, but this is not close enough to accommodate potentially half the college. A dedicated room should have been in the foresight of the planners.

When reading Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education (2015) the heading “Secular states and public religions” resonated with me. I do not identify as an atheist, however I do agree that religion, schools and politics should be secular. It is my belief that everyone should be free to follow whatever religion they wish to, and worship when they need too. But as Modood points out in the chapter Changes in religious demography, the decline of religions as a whole in the UK census, is there a place for any religion to have a say in politics and school. Religion is a personal choice to follow, it should not be imposed on anyone in any aspect of life. It should be explored during religious education classes to help understand and teach tolerance and acceptance of different religions, but religious specific schools can be divisive. With religious schools having an enforced cap of how many religious students they can take versus non-religious to avoid discrimination, would it not be better to abolish religious schools all together? The problems that can arise if a religious school is the only option due to catchment areas for families, and they follow a different religion, what choice do they have? For centuries, religion as suppressed progression in subjects such as science. For me, religious specific schools create divides between religious people rather than encouraging multifaith environments and acceptance of each other.

When it comes to religion in higher education and UAL, we should support and allow students to practise their religion, to have the freedom to explore how their faith can inspire their creativity if they wish and foster an inclusive environment.

References

Shades of Noir (2017) ‘Interview with Bridgett Crutchfield’ Higher power: religion, faith, spirituality & belief. London: Shades of Noir. p.32-33. Available at

https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/higher-power-religion-faith-spirituality-belief/ (accessed 25/05/23)

Shades of Noir (2017) ‘Interview with Mark Dean’, Higher power: religion, faith, spirituality & belief. London: Shades of Noir. p.24-26. Available at

https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/higher-power-religion-faith-spirituality-belief/ (accessed 25/05/23)

Modood, T. and Calhoun, C., 2015. Religion in Britain: Challenges for higher education. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Available at http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/6379_lfhe_stimulus_paper_-_modood_calhoun_32pp.pdf (Accessed 25/05/23)

As a someone with a learning difference, I understand the importance of how difficult the world can be for those with seen and unseen disabilities. I understand that this may influence my opinion on this topic. The difficult experience I had through education influences the way I teach today and how I strive to be as inclusive as possible during my workshops.

Having Dyslexia, it has been very important to me to make my classes and resources accessible by all. After watching and reading the resources for this task, it made me question what else could I do to make this better and can I make my classes truly accessible by all? After watching the film by Christine Sum Kim (2012) I considered if I would have to change my technical workshops to accommodate students who may be deaf or visually impaired, something I have not yet experienced. The answer most certainly is yes, but the how is something that that would depend on those students’ individual needs and reasonable adjustments. When asked how I make my teaching inclusive during my job interview for the permanent position, I referred to the LCF technical resource pages I created during Covid. Step by step written instructions alongside diagrams, photos and videos of processes taught within my workshops, would allow students to choose which method suited them for them to learn. This works in an online environment, but not for face-to-face sessions. Is it fair for students with disabilities to have to look at these resources in advance of the class to have the same experience? I know myself that my own disability meant having to work longer and harder to achieve the same as everyone else, and it took a long time to come to peace with that.

The lack of empathy surrounding hidden disabilities explored by Barokka (Okka) (2017) is a subject close to home. My husband has often been confronted on public transport for sitting in a disabled seat while wearing his blue badge. So much, that he now refuses to wear it and will stand and suffer the pain rather than attempt to explain himself. Because of this, I do feel that I have a better understanding of how hard this can be for students who also share this. ISA’s are a great way to inform staff of any reasonable adjustments a student may need while keeping conditions confidential, however this is not always enough information for us to be inclusive. Our student’s model for each other and are often paired up by tutors especially in year one when they may not know each other well enough. We have had situations where students have then informed us that they have conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder and do not like to be touched. This can be very hard for a student to do and an option to disclose conditions with the consent of the student could relieve them of having to do this themselves. A situation where students do not need to disclose any information at all would be the ideal, but reality is that to give students the best experience, adaptations need to be made.

Barokka (Okka) states that “Pain hides in plain sight” (2017) which is my biggest concern with students. I cannot recall how many times I have told them that their health is more important than their projects. There is far more help with the academic side of the courses, but very little with the practical. In my 6 years at the university, only one student had a practical support assistant and fought very hard to get it. I can say that in the same amount of time, at least 15 other students with ISA’s should have had the same level of support did not get it. The Access Support and Facilities Statement for Disabled Students at UAL (2021) document makes the process of getting support look easy. The reality is far difference which I have learned from my own experience. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia in 2007 and had my report to hand, yet it took 3 months from enrolling onto the PG cert get my ISA in place, (They forgot to send it) I had handed in the first unit before I received the specialist equipment from the Disabled student’s allowance and I have still not been able to set up my first one to one study skills session. It is all well printing or publishing on yellow paper, but when the actions written down are not being implemented, there are improvements to make.

Masters, S (2021) LCF Technical resource ½ scale petticoat class one Available at: https://artslondon.sharepoint.com/sites/LCFTech/SitePages/1-2-scale-petticoat-class-one.aspx (Accessed 8th May)

Kim, C, S (2012), A Selby Film. Available at: https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed: 8th May 2023)

Barokka, K.( 2017). Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), pp.387-392. (Accessed: 8^th May 2023)

University of the arts (2021) The Access Support and Facilities Statement for Disabled Students at UAL  Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/30767/Access-Support-and-Facilities-for-Disabled-Students-at-UAL-PDF-302KB.pdf (Accessed 8th May)