Navigating the Landscape: Young Muslim's Perceptions and Experiences of School-Based, Informal, Parental and Islamic Sex-Education in Canada

Date
2019-08
Authors
Haque, Maysa
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Publisher
Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina
Abstract

This study examines the landscape of experiences and perceptions of young Muslims in Canada regarding school-based, informal, parental, and Islamic sexual education (sex-ed). The concept of religiously and culturally sensitive sex-ed is also discussed. This study explores the messages conveyed to young Muslims by these different sources of sex-ed and how they negotiate them. Focusing on Muslims in Canada between the ages of eighteen and twenty-nine, data from 251 online survey responses and fourteen interviews were collected. Survey responses were analysed as quantitative data and used to contextualize interview data, which was analyzed using grounded theory in NVivo 11. Similar to young people from other backgrounds in Canada, young Muslims in Canada demonstrate a wide variety of opinions and experiences with regard to sex education. Informal sources such as the internet and friends/peers were found to shape survey respondents’ and interview participants’ understandings of sex-ed the most, followed by public school sex-ed. Parents, religiously designated schools, Islamic teachers/authorities, Muslim gatherings, and pornography provided the least sex-ed. Through their navigation of sex-ed, many of the Muslim youth in this study demonstrated the adoption and integration of Canadian educational and social values into their beliefs and practices of Islam, for instance, multiculturalism, critical thinking, and individual autonomy. Participants indicated that greater clarity regarding how to navigate sex-ed from parents, “Islam”, Muslim communities, school, and mainstream Canadian society would have especially benefited them during their school years by mitigating confusion and increasing a sense of security and confidence in their Muslim identities. Three strategies that could help achieve this goal arose from the data. The first strategy employes a more comprehensive and multi-culturally competent school-based sex-ed, which would include recognition that following religious teachings is a normal choice for some. The second strategy would emphasize more openness from parents, religious teachers, and Muslim communities towards discussing Islamic and non-Islamic sex-ed. The third strategy would develop a greater degree of connection between “rule book” Islam and the reasons, ethical objectives, and spiritual meaning behind Islamic teachings concerning sex, gender, and sexuality. Participants indicated that these three strategies would help them more confidently bridge potentially conflicting information.

Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Religious Studies, University of Regina. xi, 182 p.
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