Kl. 10:10-11:40
Jón Ingvar Kjaran
Schooling (hetero)normative practices in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Jón Ingvar Kjaran, professor, School of Education, UI and Mohammad Naeimi, adjunct, School of Education, UI
Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of policy documents and textbooks, we will discuss the role of schools and schooling with regard to the construction of gender and sexuality by focusing on school practices and educational spaces. We argue that the nation-state in the Islamic Republic of Iran is a religious biopolitical state and its official discourse in the realm of gender and sexuality relies on heteronormative as well as gender normative belief systems. School spaces are therefore constituted as strongly heteronormative, and non-heterosexuality is not recognised as a legitimate subject position. Through its everyday practices, the education system upholds the state’s ideology, by which the ideal/normal student is read as being heterosexual and cisgender, adhering to Islamic/state values, and constituted on the axis of strict gender binaries. Education about sexuality-gender diversity is, therefore, excluded and/or silenced. In this presentation we aim to demonstrate how school discourses and practices in terms of gender and sexuality sustain and (re)produce particular norms in terms of gender and sexuality and how schools construct and regulate sexual and gender identities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Religious studies on an empty stomach: child beggars in times of COVID-19 in Guinea-Bissau
Hamadou Boiro, PhD student, School of Social Sciences UI, Geir Gunnlaugsson, professor, School of Social Sciences UI and Jónína Einarsdóttir, professor, School of Social Sciences UI
COVID is mainly a disease of adults; however, social containment measures can indirectly affect children, not least children in a vulnerable situation. The study aimed to explore the impact of the pandemic on child beggars who attend Quran schools and beg on behalf of their teacher, marabout, in Guinea-Bissau. The study was conducted in July 2020. Data rests on semi-structured and open-ended interviews with 14 Quran schoolboys aged 12-16 years in the suburban areas of the capital, Bissau, and Gabú. COVID had brought many difficulties to the boys. They begged for their subsistence and for the marabout, who provided education, a sleeping place, and other necessities. With the containment measures, their income from begging became meager, resulting in hunger and continuous police threats. Almost all had contacted their parents, who encouraged them to continue with their studies. The boys listed the most important preventive measures for COVID, a knowledge gained from their marabouts and radio. Otherwise, the Quran studies had continued as usual for most of them; however, a few had temporarily returned to their home village to help with the agricultural work. For the boys, begging was an integral part of religious studies and a way to become a respected marabout. The Quran schoolboys feel the burden of the pandemic, mainly through a sharp decrease of income from begging, resulting in hunger. The government and child rights organisations need to address these issues in collaboration with them, their parents, and the marabouts who are respected religious leaders.
„Ég hef ekki fengið neinn stuðning síðan útgöngubannið var sett á“: Lýsing á áhrifum skólalokana í heimsfaraldri meðal unglinga í Bissá, Gíneu-Bissá
Fatou N’dure Baboudóttir, doktorsnemi, FVS HÍ; Geir Gunnlaugsson, prófessor, FVS HÍ; Zeca Jandi; Bucar Indjai og Jónína Einarsdóttir, prófessor, FVS HÍ
COVID-19 heimsfaraldurinn hefur haft áhrif um allan heim með aðgerðum sem fólu í sér útgöngubann og skólalokanir. Í anda Barnasáttmálans er mikilvægt að gefa börnum tækifæri til að tjá reynslu sína á heimsfaraldrinum. Í Gíneu-Bissá var lokun skóla ein fyrsta aðgerðin sem hrundið var í framkvæmd og var öllum skólum, bæði einkareknum og opinberum, lokað frá mars 2020 til október 2020. Rannsóknin miðaði að því að lýsa og greina áhrif skólalokana á unglinga í Gíneu-Bissau í Vestur-Afríku. Snjóboltaúrtaki var beitt í júní 2020 til að finna þátttakendur sem bjuggu á fimm mismunandi þéttbýlissvæðum í höfuðborginni Bissá. Viðtöl með opnum spurningum voru tekin við 24 unglinga á aldrinum 15-17 ára, bæði þá sem fóru í einkaskóla og opinbera skóla. Öll viðtöl voru á kreol, tekin upp og umrituð en síðan þýdd á ensku og greind í Atlas.ti. Enginn þátttakenda hafði fengið neina aðstoð frá skólum sínum við lokun þeirra og komu þeir með tillögur um hvernig þeir gætu aðstoðað nemendur við að halda áfram námi þrátt fyrir lokun. Margir töluðu um að þeim leiddist að hafa ekkert að gera nema að sitja heima. Þeir söknuðu skólasystkina sinna og höfðu áhyggjur af líðan sinni. Þeir höfðu líka áhyggjur af framtíðinni og að þeir yrðu að endurtaka skólaárið. Ungt fólk í Bissá hefur skýrar hugmyndir um tilvist sína og núverandi aðstæður og áhrif heimsfaraldursins á framtíðarhorfur þeirra. Rödd þeirra þarf að heyrast og bregðast þarf við til að draga úr neikvæðum áhrifum skólalokana á unglinga í Gíneu-Bissá og víðar.