Dr Fida Sanjakdar - Researcher Profile

Fida Sanjakdar

Address

Faculty of Education
Building 6, Clayton

Biography

Sex, Islam and education

Nothing in Islam shies away from questions about sexuality, says Dr Fida Sanjakdar. If anything, it is incumbent on Muslims to acquire all knowledge. So when she was confronted by the paradox of schools that claimed to teach a holistic Islamic education, yet failed to include sexuality education, she decided to investigate. 

Fida was teaching in Islamic schools when she became aware that students were flipping past the reproduction chapters in text books. 

“It’s what we call the null curriculum,” she says. “It’s curriculum that’s deliberately omitted, not because of timetable constraints or lack of resources, but because it’s deemed to violate college ethos or policies.”

But it was culture rather than religion that kept sex off the curriculum. 

“I did an exegesis of Islamic doctrine and realised that Islam didn’t shy away from these topics. Nothing was kept from Muslim understanding. Everything was explored, every facet of sexuality, every facet of human nature.”

Fida’s research background is in curriculum theory, critical education and critical pedagogy, with a particular interest in questions of Muslim youth identity. She is now engaged in a collaborative international project, supported by an Australian Research Council grant, investigating sexuality education in different religious and cultural settings. 

If Islamic schools stay silent rather than teaching about sexuality, Fida says, they will merely help perpetuate myths and misconceptions about sexuality and Islam. Having grown up as a Muslim in Australia, she knows just how strong those myths can be. 

One commonly held view is that Muslim women are expected to be entirely submissive to their husbands. The Koran in fact characterises the relationship between husband and wife as one of “gentle touch”, Fida says, so the belief in submission is anchored not in scripture but in cultural scripts.

 “But it’s powerful because Muslims grow up believing it to be true.”

Avoiding a comprehensive study of sexuality also means bypassing one of the best ways to learn about Islam, Fida says. 

“Every aspect of a Muslim’s life impacts in some way on issues of sexuality, from hygiene to social education to understanding pleasure and desire.”  

A secular approach is not a solution. 

“It is important to recognise that you can’t strip religious identity from an individual when you’re talking about this issue,” Fida says. Her research “acknowledges religion as an important component of youth identity that has some impact on their sexuality”. 

She also takes issue with the view that secularism represents enlightenment and faith a barrier. 

“Religion in this area of study is far more liberating than the cultural constructions,” she says. “My motivation is to put on the intellectual landscape some recognition of the importance of religion in this area because it is something that is paramount to so many people.” 

Her stance may be contentious, but Fida does not step back from the fight and wants to extend the debate to sexual difference including homosexuality. 

“Islam doesn’t seek to harm people who choose to be homosexual,” she says. “Everyone has the right to name their own identity in Islam. No one is in a position to make a judgment.”

Ultimately she hopes to influence those who make curriculum decisions as well as students and young people, and the teachers who work with the expanding Muslim population.

“We need to invite attention to build a wider discourse,” Fida says. “I am tired of seeing Islam as a barrier. I want to be a living, walking, breathing example: I am comfortable in the attention I draw to myself.”

 

Research & Supervision Interests

    • Sexuality Education and Schooling
    • Cultural and Religious Education
    • Curriculum Theory, Design and Development
    • Critical Theory and Pedagogy
    • Critical Action Research and Ethnography

Qualifications

PHILOSOPHY (PHD) IN EDUCATION
Institution: University of Melbourne
Year awarded: 2006
MASTER OF EDUCATION
Institution: University of Melbourne
Year awarded: 2000
BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
Institution: RMIT
Year awarded: 1998
BACHELOR OF TEACHING
Institution: RMIT
Year awarded: 1996

Publications

Books

Sanjakdar, F., 2011, Living West Facing East: The (De) Construction of Muslim Youth Sexual Identities, Peter Lang, New York NY USA.

Sanjakdar, F. (ed), 2009, Digital Portfolios: Reconceptualising Inquiry in Pre-Service Teacher Education, Pearson Education Australia, New South Wales, Australia.

Book Chapters

Sanjakdar, F., 2012, Probing the boundaries: How religion and sexuality are negotiated within Islamic educational institutions, in The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality, eds Stephen J. Hunt and Andrew K.T. Yip, Ashgate, Surrey United Kingdom, pp. 157-172.

Sanjakdar, F., 2010, A frank intercourse: Combating Islamophobia in sex education, in Teaching Against Islamophobia, eds Joe L. Kincheloe, Shirley R. Steinberg, Christopher D Stonebanks, Peter Lang, New York, pp. 281-296.

Sanjakdar, F., Cacciattolo, M., 2009, Reconceptualising inquiry in pre-service teacher education: Learning from imagining, in Digital Portfolios: Reconceptualising Inquiry in Pre-Service Teacher Education, eds Fida Sanjakdar, Pearson Education, New South Wales, Australia, pp. 1-17.

Sanjakdar, F., Cara, C., 2009, Storylines of student and teacher reflections on the digital portfolio, in Digital Portfolios: Reconceptualising Inquiry in Pre-Service Teacher Education, eds Fida Sanjakdar, Pearson Education, New South Wales, Australia, pp. 96-105.

Sanjakdar, F., Cara, C., McKenna, T., 2009, The I in digital portfolios: Inquiry, identity, inclusivity, in Digital Portfolios: Reconceptualising Inquiry in Pre-Service Teacher Education, eds Fida Sanjakdar, Pearson Education, New South Wales, Australia, pp. 88-95.

Senior, K., Sanjakdar, F., 2005, Narratives of struggle: dialogues and conversations on the preservice teaching portfolio, in Portfolios, Performance and Authenticity, eds Trevor Hay and Julianne Moss, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W., pp. 88-104.

Sanjakdar, F., 2004, Developing an appropriate sexual health education curriculum framework for Muslim Students, in Confronting Islamaphobia in Educational Practice, eds Varry van Driel, Trentham Books, Sterling VA USA, pp. 143-162.

Dixon, M., Sanjakdar, F., 2004, Holding the gaze: teachers noticing and naming students, in Invitations and Inspirations: Pathways to Successful Teaching, eds Julianne Moss et al, Curriculum Corporation, Melbourne, pp. 52-63.

Journal Articles

Sanjakdar, F., 2013, Educating for sexual difference? Muslim teachers' conversations about homosexuality, Sex Education [E], vol E, issue E, Routledge, Abingdon Oxon United Kingdom, pp. 16-29.

Allen, L.E., Rasmussen, M.L., Quinlivan, K.A., Aspin, C., Sanjakdar, F., Bromdal, A.C.G., 2012, Who's afraid of sex at school? The politics of researching culture, religion and sexuality at school, International Journal of Research and Method in Education [P], vol E, issue E, Routledge, Abingdon Oxon United Kingdom, p. E.

Sanjakdar, F., 2009, Participatory action research: creating spaces for beginning conversations in sexual health education for young Australian Muslims, Educational Action Research [P], vol 17, issue 2, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 259-275.

Sanjakdar, F., 2009, 'Teacher talk': the problems, perspectives and possibilities of developing a comprehensive sexual health education curriculum for Australian Muslim students, Sex Education [P], vol 9, issue 3, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 261-275.

Sanjakdar, F., Thomas, P.D., Cacciattolo, M., 2008, Reconceptualising pre-service teacher education at Victoria University: putting the byte into enquiry learning, The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, vol 3, issue 3, Common Ground, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 125-133.

Sanjakdar, F., 2008, Revelation vs. tradition: beginning curriculum conversations in sexual health for Australian muslim youth, The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, vol 3, issue 4, Common Ground, Australia, pp. 163-173.

Sanjakdar, F., 2004, Challenging English teaching: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird as a means of developing moral education through English, METAphor [P], issue 4, The English Teachers' Association (NSW), Newtown NSW Australia, pp. 66-70.

Sanjakdar, F., 2002, The health issues of Australian Muslim youth: what every teacher must know, Education Links [P], vol 64, The Centre for Popular Education, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 27-30.

Conference Proceedings

Sanjakdar, F., 2005, Controversy in our classrooms: problems, perspectives and possibilities, AARE Conference 2005, 27 November - 1 December 2005, AARE, Parramatta, pp. 1-17.

Sanjakdar, F., 2005, Teachers' struggle for an Islamically appropriate sexual health education curriculum at their school, AARE Conference 2005, 27 November - 1 December 2005, AARE, Coldstream Victoria Australia, pp. 1-26.

Sanjakdar, F., 2004, The critical role of schools and teachers in developing a sexual health education curriculum for Muslim students, AARE International Education Research Conference, 28 November - 2 December 2004, AARE, Coldstream Victoria Australia, pp. 1-16.

Sanjakdar, F., 2001, Educating Muslim children: a study of the hidden and core curriculum of an Islamic school, AARE Conference 2001, 2 - 6 December 2001, AARE, Coldstream Victoria Australia, pp. 1-10.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Purdah, education and globalisation: Young women studying in a public university in Bangladesh nego.
Supervisors:
Southcott, J (Main), Sanjakdar, F (Associate).
Program of Study:
(MASTER'S BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Teachers' Interpretation of the New Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.
Supervisors:
Southcott, J (Main), Sanjakdar, F (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:
Zulfikar, T.
Program of Study:
Young Indonesian-Muslims in Australia: identity, family and the ummah. (PHD) 2011.
Supervisors:
Joseph, C (Main), Sanjakdar, F (Associate).