Table Of ContentLiving within the Hermeneutic Circle:
Interpreting the Curricular Inquiry of Canadian
Secondary Ismaili Religious Education Teachers
by
Tasnim Dharamsi
M.Ed. (Education), Simon Fraser University, 1998
B.Ed., University of British Columbia, 1989
Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the
Curriculum Theory & Implementation Program
Faculty of Education
Tasnim Dharamsi 2014
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Fall 2014
Approval
Name: Tasnim Dharamsi
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (Curriculum and Instruction)
Title of Thesis: Living within the Hermeneutic Circle: Interpreting the
Curricular Inquiry of Canadian Secondary Ismaili
Religious Education Teachers
Examining Committee:
Chair: Dr. Celeste Snowber
Associate Professor
Dr. Stephen Smith
Senior Supervisor
Associate Professor
Dr. Ann Chinnery
Supervisor
Associate Professor
Dr. Shiraz Thobani
Supervisor
Head, Department of Curriculum Studies
Institute of Ismaili Studies
Dr. Heesoon Bai
Internal/External Examiner
Professor
Dr. Azim Nanji
External Examiner
Special Advisor to the Provost
Aga Khan University
Date Defended/Approved: November 19, 2014
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Partial Copyright Licence
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Ethics Statement
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Abstract
Educational endeavours within traditional faith communities, and more specifically,
religious education programs for youth, present opportunities to inquire into the ways
these historically-grounded traditions can be understood as dynamic, diverse, and
enriching of present-day life. In this research study, I examine the curricular inquiry of
seven Ismaili Muslim secondary religious education teachers for the purpose of drawing
attention to the perceptual, interpretive and practical life-worlds of their teaching
practices. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological framework, the study articulates how
teachers interpret and enact a global curriculum initiative, namely the Institute of Ismaili
Studies Secondary Curriculum, within the context of teaching religious education classes
for Ismaili youth in Canada. Particular attention is given to the teachers’ understandings
of the curriculum text, their rendition of the curriculum text in light of the lived experience
of classroom teaching and, more broadly, how these understandings and interpretations
of the curriculum shape and are shaped by faith community sensibilities. In addition to
drawing upon a range of thinkers associated with hermeneutics and Islamic and Ismaili
studies, Dwayne Huebner’s curricular scholarship provides the theoretical framework
through which curriculum inquiry and the relation between immanence and
transcendence is explored to enable interpretive curricular spaces in classrooms and
teacher learning communities.
The claim I make in this study is that curriculum inquiry is an interpretive quest for both
teachers and students which requires relational, temporal and hermeneutic ways of
knowing. The interpretive quest involves cultivating relations with text, with disciplines,
and with individuals. Relational knowledge brings about the presence of the
transcendent in the immanence of daily life, thereby facilitating a unity of being for the
individual. The interpretive quest also calls for an understanding of the temporal aspects
of existence as they reveal themselves in traditions and disciplines. Through practicing
epistemological humility in pursuing a plurality of knowledge sources, new expressions
of the tradition and its enduring values can be created that resonate with modern times.
Hermeneutic ways of knowing are required to access the transcendent possibilities in
our encounters with others to enable a ‘going beyond’ who we currently are. This
release of potential allows individuals to envision possibilities for self-transformation and
community realization. Central to the interpretive quest is the attunement to beauty
brought about by a critical and creative engagement with tradition. This creative
engagement opens up an infinitude of possibilities for teachers and students to make
and recreate their manifold lifeworlds in the service of humankind.
These study findings suggest an educational applicability broader than religious
education. Curriculum inquiry, conceptualized as an interpretive quest, provides
transformative possibilities for curriculum, classrooms and community in a multiplicity of
educational settings.
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Keywords: curriculum inquiry; religious education; hermeneutic phenomenology;
living tradition; Shia Ismaili Muslim; teacher education
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Dedication
To my three gentlemen, Alkarim, Ahmed and
Azad, you reveal life’s beauty and infinitude to
me each day
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Acknowledgements
This study has been guided and inspired through the many individuals with whom
I have the privilege of working and living alongside. My supervisory committee has been
a true gift and each member has significantly elevated my ways of thinking and being. I
would like to acknowledge my senior supervisor, Dr. Stephen Smith, who has guided the
integration of tradition, curriculum, hermeneutics and community seamlessly and with
great care. Stephen, your approach to education and to life is manifest in unity of being.
Thank you for honoring my work. Dr. Ann Chinnery has been instrumental in supporting
the venture into uncovering insights of the moral quest in teacher education. Ann, thank
you for your luminosity and the epistemological humility you have nurtured. Dr. Shiraz
Thobani has deepened and complicated curricular concepts in ways that have been
intellectually robust and evoked sophistication of thought. Shiraz, thank you for the
gentle manner in which you have opened up the horizon of living tradition and in which
you have brought new meaning to community realization. Stephen, Ann, and Shiraz, I
am honored to have you as my mentors and as exemplars of educational leaders who
embody integrity. You have enabled a professional and personal flourishing through the
grace each of you has brought to this study. I would also like to thank Dr. Heesoon Bai
and Dr. Peter Grimmett for encouraging me to author my story within the ‘original story’
of the tradition.
My research partners, the seven teachers who gave so generously and
passionately to this process, have been inspirational as co-journeyers. Fayyaz Ali,
Fatima Kaba, Shirin Karim, Adil Mamodaly, Farah Manji, Rizwan Muhammedi, and Hafiz
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Printer , y ou have taken this work through many ‘valleys’ and our journey has been
replete with dedication, pedagogical thoughtfulness and vitality. Your love for children,
for community, for tradition, and for this discipline illuminates new ways of knowing and
calls forth an intellectual spirit that is at once humbling and promising. I have learnt
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Listed with permission, alphabetically by last name
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much from our interpretive quest in making and recreating our curricular worlds and look
forward to the possibilities that await us. Thank you for your critical and creative
engagement, for your trust and your honesty, for your belief in the significance of this
project, for the beauty you have brought to this work, and for your willingness to co-
journey with me in the hermeneutic circle.
This study has been profoundly integrated with my service to the institutions of
the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board for Canada and the Institute of Ismaili
Studies in London. I have had the good fortune of being supported and being
enlightened by my interactions with individuals who bring dispositions of optimism, rigor,
creativity and vision to our work. In this light, I would like to acknowledge: the Primary
Teacher Educators (PTEs) who began and continue this quest of curriculum inquiry with
me envisioning what community could be and the place of children in this renewal; the
Secondary (STEP) Teachers who are continually searching for ‘moreness’ and a ‘going
beyond’ what can be, and whose innovations are carving hopeful and enabling pathways
for religious education and for our youth; my academic colleagues at ITREB Canada, the
global ITREBs, and the IIS, whose depth of knowledge and sensitivity of practice is only
paralleled by their commitment to community well being; and the various leaders at
ITREB and the IIS, past and present, who have placed their trust in me to steward the
religious education initiative in Canada. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Dr.
Munir Vellani who has walked alongside me every step of this journey ensuring the
horizon was always in sight. Munir, thank you for the generosity of heart and mind you
continually offer and the ‘light’ you bring to our conversations. I would also like to thank
Karim Jiwani, Nurdin Dhanani and Dr. Farouk Mitha for being my dialogue partners on
the interpretive history of the tradition. And to Zahida Samji, thank you for being present
for all the significant moments of my journey. To all my leaders and dear colleagues
above, thank you for revealing the transcendent in the immanence of the everyday and
opening up possibilities for us to venture forth together in unified service.
My family continues to be the most incredible and uplifting blessing in my life. My
father, Dawood, and mother, Gulbanu, have enabled me to pursue my dreams of
community service and continually remind me of the ethical framework within which this
pursuit is placed. Your strength, your belief in me and your unconditional love have
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made this endeavour possible. You truly are the wind beneath my wings. My other
parents, Akber and Amina, you have stood beside Alkarim and myself through what has
been arduous, putting forth your silent but immense strength for which we are both ever
grateful. My sisters and brothers, Zainab, Raffique, Zahra, Amyn, Azmin, Hanif, Salima,
Altaf, thank you for your patience, your understanding, your support with my children and
our parents, and your encouragement through this process. I have always felt
surrounded by your wisdom and your protection. To my nephews and nieces, Alykhan,
Shafeen, Ali, Karim, Raiyana, Inaya, Rahim, Khalil, thank you for taking care of Ahmed
and Azad when I have been studying and giving them your warmth and your love.
To my sons, Ahmed and Azad, you continue to teach me much about life,
especially about the importance of considering alternate ways of being which include
taking time to play, to laugh, and yes, even to relax. I feel fortunate to have been
blessed with children who are also insightful and delightful friends to me. You have
grown up to be deeply ethical and intelligent individuals who care about humanity and I
am infinitely proud of you.
To the love of my life, Alkarim, I am continually amazed at how you hold so much
and make it seem effortless, and how you are always rooted in a place of blessing rather
than burden. From the first day of our marriage, as we travelled to Madagascar to serve
the community, you have been my partner and soul mate always looking to the
grandness of what is being offered, despite having to endure bumps along the way.
Thank you for everything you stand for and for making all my dreams, our dreams,
realities.
My eternal gratitude and submission to the grace and the light of the Divine . . .
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