Religious Education at Schools in Europe: Part 3: Northern Europe 9783737002738, 9783847102731, 9783847002734

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Wiener Forum für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft / Vienna Forum for Theology and the Study of Religions

Band 10, 3

Herausgegeben im Auftrag der Evangelisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien und der Katholisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien von Karl Baier und Christian Danz

Die Bände des Wiener Forums für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft sind peer-reviewed.

Martin Rothgangel / Geir Skeie / Martin Jäggle (eds.)

Religious Education at Schools in Europe Part 3: Northern Europe

in cooperation with Philipp Klutz and Mûnika Solym‚r

V& R unipress Vienna University Press

www.rel-edu.eu

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. ISBN 978-3-8471-0273-1 ISBN 978-3-8470-0273-4 (E-Book) Veröffentlichungen der Vienna University Press erscheinen im Verlag V& R unipress GmbH. Ó 2014, V& R unipress in Göttingen / www.vr-unipress.de Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Das Werk und seine Teile sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung in anderen als den gesetzlich zugelassenen Fällen bedarf der vorherigen schriftlichen Einwilligung des Verlages. Printed in Germany. Titelbild: Ó Erich Foltinowsky Druck und Bindung: a Hubert & Co, Göttingen Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier.

Contents

Martin Rothgangel, Robert Jackson, Martin Jäggle and Geir Skeie Preface: Religious Education at Schools in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geir Skeie Introduction: Religious education in Northern Europe

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. . . . . . . . . .

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Oddrun Marie Hovde Br”ten Are Oranges the only fruit? A discussion of Comparative Studies in Religious Education in relation to the plural nature of the field internationally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Mette Buchardt Religious Education at Schools in Denmark

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Olga Schihalejev Religious Education at Schools in Estonia

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Martin Ubani and Kirsi Tirri Religious Education at Schools in Finland

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Gunnar J. Gunnarsson Religious Education at Schools in Iceland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Laima Geikina Religious Education at Schools in Latvia

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Rita Giedre˙ Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ Religious Education at Schools in Lithuania

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

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Contents

Geir Skeie and Oddrun Marie Hovde Br”ten Religious Education at Schools in Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Christina Osbeck and Geir Skeie Religious Education at Schools in Sweden Contributors

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Preface: Religious Education at Schools in Europe

At a time when educational issues are increasingly determining social and political discourse and major reforms of the education system are being discussed and implemented, and a time when migration has become a significant phenomenon, contributing to changes in the religious landscape of the European continent, it is highly appropriate to focus our attention on the concrete situation regarding religious education (RE) in Europe. Of course, the subject area is conceived and organised in different ways across the continent, including the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. With few exceptions, religious education has been established as a specific subject in publicly funded schools, while, in a few cases, studies of religion are included as a dimension of other parts of the curriculum. At the same time, it is a subject area that is undergoing considerable change. (In this series, authors use the term “religious education” in a variety of ways, partly according to the history of their own education systems). Beyond the all-important tasks of taking stock and making international comparisons, the aim in this series of books is to create a foundation for further action in the field of education, especially with regard to interfaith expertise. In stark contrast to a move in the direction of religion being a “private matter” and towards “religion-free schools”, supranational organisations are, for the first time in Europe, addressing issues relating to religion and education. While 9/11 may be seen as the triggering event here, there are wider reasons for such a development. When the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) deals with the issue of religion and belief in education within the scope of its programme “Tolerance and Non-Discrimination”, the topic has obviously become an important one for the future of Europe and for security and cooperation on the continent. In their Toledo Guiding Principles (OSCE 2007), the OSCE sees teaching about religions and beliefs as part of a high-quality education system that expands pupils’ horizons, makes the complexity of religions and world views comprehensible for pupils in an interdisciplinary way, and provides them with suitable information and skills to develop an impartial

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approach, as well as encouraging freedom of religion and belief, as reflected in the human rights codes. The Council of Europe in turn, in several of its documents, has focused on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue, paying particular attention to the issue of dealing with religious diversity in schools. It values religious diversity highly and demands that it be given appropriate space, rejecting any restriction of religion to people’s private lives as well as rejecting the notion of “religionfree” schools. The Council of Europe publication Religious Diversity and Intercultural Education: a Reference Book for Schools (Council of Europe 2007) provides a checklist that makes clear the extent to which the whole school is required to play a part, while the 2008 Recommendation from the Committee of Ministers, the Foreign Ministers of the 47 member states, is a major step in encouraging policy makers, schools and teacher trainers to prioritise the development of inclusive forms of education about religions and beliefs in their countries (Council of Europe 2008). It is expected that guidance on implementing the Recommendation, for policy makers, schools and teacher trainers in the member states, will be published in 2014 (discussed in Jackson 2014). The phenomenon of migration is triggering contentious discussions on suitable responses to the challenges it sometimes creates. Irrespective of the topicality of this issue, it is becoming increasingly clear that education and religion can play an important role in clarifying issues such as identity and belonging, ethnicity and culture. Such clarifications are important both for the future of migrants as well as for the attitude of the population of a country towards migration. Since religion is, for many people, a crucial element in how they interpret themselves and the world around them, its recognition and appropriate representation is critical for the recognition of the individual. The complex issue of religious education in public schools also concerns the school in its entirety as well as many of its subjects of instruction and projects. We will focus our attention on the organisational form of religious education, i. e. the subject of religion or its alternatives, in which the issue of religion(s) is an integral part. We acknowledge here that we are not dealing with the topic exhaustively, even though we are making an important contribution towards an understanding of the issues involved. The project “Religious Education at Schools in Europe” (REL-EDU), which is divided up into six volumes (Central Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Southern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe) (cf. www.rel-edu.eu), aims to research the situation with regard to religious education in Europe. The chapters in each regional volume outline, first of all, the organisational form of religious education in the particular countries covered. This is done on the basis of thirteen key issues, which were clarified with the authors from the various

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countries at two symposia held at the University of Vienna in 2011 and 2012, in order to achieve as much coherence as possible for the publications. The formulation of key issues allows specific points of comparison between different countries in Europe, thereby facilitating a comparative approach and further research into specific aspects of the comparison. The publication by Rothgangel and Schröder (2009) served as a kind of predecessor project, one which was also conducted based on key issues. In addition, earlier internationally oriented predecessor projects should be referred to. Since a comprehensive discussion of the corresponding literature is being undertaken in the methodological contribution by Friedrich Schweitzer (2013) in volume 1, at this point four published projects will be mentioned as examples. The following five-volume work from the mid-1970s was a pioneering publication on the subject of religious education: – Schultze, H. / Kirchhoff H. (1975 – 1977) (ed.), “Christian Education in Europe” (German title: Christliche Erziehung in Europa), Stuttgart, 5 volumes (England, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Poland). – The fact that research into the area of religious education has become more international in recent years and that comparative research on the topic is uncircumventable is shown by the following three publications: – Jackson, R. et al. (2007) (eds.), Religion and Education in Europe. Developments, Contexts and Debates, Münster ; – Kuyk, E. et al. (2007) (eds.), Religious Education in Europe. Situation and current trends in schools, Oslo; – Lähnemann, J. / Schreiner, P. (2009) (eds.), Interreligious and Values Education in Europe. Map and Handbook, Münster. Below, the thirteen key issues mentioned above are introduced briefly. The first three key issues examine the frameworks of society, law and politics. Here, historical explanations should be very useful in helping us understand the status quo.

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1.

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The socio-religious background of the country

This brief insight into the socio-religious situation deals, in particular, with important changes, such as those that follow in the wake of migration.

2.

Legal framework for religious education and the relationship between religious communities and the state

The relationship between churches, religious groups and the state is regulated differently in each country, with consequences for the different legal frameworks that exist for religious education.

3.

Developments in the country’s education policy

Across Europe, efforts at reform to the education system are being made, which also have direct and indirect effects on religious education. After outlining these framework conditions, in addition to the issues four to six key aspects of religious education come to the fore:

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

The place of religiously sponsored schools in the education landscape of each country reveals much about state and societal recognition of the importance of churches and religious groups in the education system, as well as about the commitment to education of the churches and religious groups.

5.

Conceptions and tasks of religious education

The conceptions and tasks of religious education expresses how it is typically positioned between the religious communities, the school and young people – as well as society as a whole. It is in the interrelationship between these different players that the challenge of religious education lies.

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6.

Practice / reality of religious education in different schools

Depending on the type of school in question, religious education can present different frameworks, challenges and difficulties. In issues seven to ten, important contextual phenomena in religious education at the level of the school are addressed, and a targeted concentration on ecumenical and interfaith cooperation and the education of religion teachers undertaken.

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

Consideration of subjects / learning areas offered “parallel” to religious education is important, as their availability or non-availability as well as their relationship to religious education (e. g. as an alternative subject or as an elective subject) has not only an indirect effect on the way in which religious education is provided, it also affects what kind of ethical and religious education those pupils who do not attend religion class receive.

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

The question of how to deal with diversity and which forms of cooperation the different religious players within society can come up with has become a critical challenge in European countries.

9.

Religion in school outside of religious education

Does religion have a role to play in school beyond that of a specific subject offered to pupils? The answer to this question reveals to what extent the whole climate of the school is religion-friendly.

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10.

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Training of teachers of religious education: institutes, structures, priorities issues

This point addresses an important structural determinant which, based on the empirically proven importance of the character of the religion teacher for the religious education of pupils, deserves special attention. Since the aim here is not merely to take stock of the situation but instead to make suggestions for the next steps required in the area of religious education, it was important to formulate concrete desiderata as well as challenges for each country and direct the reader towards further sources of information.

11.

Empirical Research concerning religious education

For a long time empirical research concerning religious education was neglected. In the last ten years, however, there have been more and more empirical studies. Of special interest are the relevant studies in the respective country and the different areas addressed in empirical research.

12.

Desiderata / challenges for religious education in a European context

Here, the results for each country from the analysis of the key issues mentioned above are examined with a view to finding out which topics or issues would be important for further work in the area of religious education in Europe.

13.

Further information (e. g., relevant literature on religious education, institutions, websites)

The selection of additional sources of information should facilitate further research in the field of religious education in the respective countries. Based on these key issues, the articles listed here lead to interesting results, the comparative analysis of which is reserved for a later publication.

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We would like to thank Ms. Claire Ulbrich, Mr. Friedrich Schumann, Dr. Mûnika Solym‚r and Dr. Thomas Weiß for preparing the script as well as Ms. Karin Sima, Ms. Katrin Gregshammer and Ms. Marietta Behnoush for taking care of the layout. Vienna, 12/2/2014

Martin Rothgangel / Robert Jackson / Martin Jäggle / Geir Skeie

References Council of Europe, eds. 2007. Religious Diversity and Intercultural Education: A Reference Book for Schools. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. Council of Europe. 2008. Recommendation CM / Rec(2008)12 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the dimension of religions and non-religious convictions within intercultural education. https://wcd.coe.int//ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=CM/Rec(2008)12& Language=lanEnglish& Ver=original& BackColorInternet=DBDCF2& BackColorIntranet= FDC864& BackColorLogged=FDC864 (accessed 12 September 2013). Jackson, R. 2014 (forthcoming). The Development and Dissemination of Council of Europe Policy on Education about Religions and Non-religious Convictions, Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion & Education. OSCE. 2007. The Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religion or Belief in Public Schools. Warsaw: Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Rothgangel, M. / Schröder, B., eds. 2009. Evangelischer Religionsunterricht in den Ländern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Empirische Daten – Kontexte – Entwicklungen. Leipzig: Evangel. Verl.-Anst. Schweitzer, F. 2013. Religionsunterricht in europäischen Schulen im Vergleich – Herausforderungen für international-vergleichende Forschung. In Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Europa. Teil 1: Mitteleuropa, eds. M. Jäggle, M. Rothgangel and T. Schlag. (Wiener Forum für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft Vol. 5.1), Göttingen: V& R unipress.

Geir Skeie

Introduction: Religious education in Northern Europe

In this book, different trajectories of religious education are traced in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway. As is known from other research, “religious education” is a problematic term, given the close interrelationship between religion in education and national histories of religion and state. “Religion in education” is not the same as “religious education”, even if the two overlap and are sometimes confused, but differentiating between the two terms may sharpen the search for dynamics of change, struggle and negotiation in the field of public and private education. The different national histories that are outlined in this volume also show that the role of religion in education is changing. This has happened both at the formal level, as with the changes in the Baltic countries after the dismantling of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, but also in relation to classroom practice, as the many reflections and references to research recorded in the following chapters testify. In other words, changes in religious education reflect other historical processes that are not in themselves necessarily educational in origin. Such processes may have to do with the struggle for and the achievement of national political independence that has happened in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. This shows just how intimately religion in education is related to extra-educational historical forces, and that what happens in religious education sometimes may be seen as a sign of other, deeper currents in society. At other times, religious education may become more of a casualty as it is drawn into debates orchestrated by actors who are not particularly interested in religion or education as such, but only in using them instrumentally for other purposes. During the course of history, religion has been a potentially strong mobilising force, and religious education has sometimes been part of this. Nordic countries have been shaped by the Lutheran state churches, which were important instruments in the hands of an absolutist king. The first school system was largely informed by a vision that held that teaching the people religion and (what we today call) citizenship were two parts of the same process. Confirmation in the Church marked the beginning of adult life, but also examination of public education.

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Today, completely new issues are on the agenda but, like the confessional conflicts and nation-building of former times, they are also part of international processes. Even in northern Europe, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, The European Union, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other supra-national bodies are shaping education and influencing religion in education, often indirectly. The Toledo guiding principles are just one example of this. Behind these organisational expressions, economic and socio-cultural processes are reshaping countries in northern Europe. Globalisation, migration, pluralisation and secularisation are amongst the processes that often are mentioned in debates about religion in education. While pre-modern and modern nation states struggled for the establishment or preservation of national culture and heritage, today this has to be balanced against the rights and aspirations of people with many different national, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Norway, Sweden and Finland have a Saami minority which was largely assimilated in terms of religion by absolutist states and suffered heavy oppression even as late as the last part of 20th century. These three countries together with the other northern European countries recorded in this volume have to come to terms with their historical minorities. In addition, the voluntary or forced migrants of recent years, often with religious or world-view backgrounds different to the majority, have to be taken into account By being part of such processes, religion is entering into a complex mix of identity search, identity struggle and identity politics, of which is difficult to predict any clear outcome. Part of this concerns the reactions within religious traditions to the changes they are faced with, be it fundamentalist versus liberal positions, or the search for new, trans-religious positions, where definite borderlines between distinct traditions are no longer accepted. In many of the countries recorded here, people also express support for traditional or “new” atheism, seeing religion as an anachronism, an obstacle to the life they want to lead. Teachers meet such contrasting positions and negotiations in their classrooms and struggle to address the diversity. Throughout this volume there is a basic respect for teachers who strive, to the best of their ability, to support their students’ learning. The chapters report a lack of status and resources in relation to religious education, as well as a frequent lack of subject area competence among teachers. University and teacher education does not focus particularly on religions education and this leaves researchers of religious education in a difficult position. There are, however, signs of hope in the competencies of the authors of this volume and their colleagues in northern Europe. The Nordic Conference for Religious Education research now covers all the countries included in this book. Furthermore, a new generation of researchers is carrying the

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research field forward in critical appreciation of international research and in critical respect for the field of practice in which religious education is created and recreated each new day.

Oddrun Marie Hovde Br”ten

Are Oranges the only fruit? A discussion of Comparative Studies in Religious Education in relation to the plural nature of the field internationally

Introduction In the emerging research field of Comparative Religious Education it has become clear that there are many types of Religious Education, and various kinds of categories are suggested to describe this (Schreiner 2007; Jackson 2007; Kuyk et al. 2007; Jackson et al. 2007; Ziebertz and Riegel 2009; Jäggle et al. 2012). The “types” might be sorted into categories according to whether there is “Learning about into and / or from” religion, whether an approach is confessional or nonconfessional, or whether it is integrative / separate, multifaith or dealing with one religion in the main. It might also be sorted according to geography, between south / north / east / west / central Europe where regional characteristics such as the type of majority religion (Orthodox, Catholic or Lutheran) or the impact of a communist past (Eastern Europe) are important factor for the nature of Religious Education. The position of Religious Education in the different nations’ educational systems varies strongly, as do legal requirements and shifting politics. Further, Religious Education is changing in many countries reflecting the rapid social changes in society such as secularization, religious pluralisation and globalization. It is therefore most suitable to describe Religious Education in terms of processes (see below). It is generally held as imperative for comparative studies that the entities compared are actually comparable. “Without something in common, however, comparison would not make much sense – just like common lore has it: apples are not oranges” (Schweitzer 2012).1 If one wants to learn about variations between different kinds of oranges, it does not make much sense to compare apples and oranges. One understanding is that the same phenomenon needs to be explored in 1 I am here quoting an English version which professor Schweitzer kindly has provided me with, but in the published article in German, the references to apples and oranges is not included, but the argument is the same (Schweitzer 2012, 17).

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different context; but this makes comparative work in religious education potentially problematic, because there are good reason to ask whether “the same” phenomena is being compared. One important difference is for instance between confessional and non-confessional Religious Education, and here one could argue that these are two fundamentally different phenomena. In international comparison however, it is not always straight forward to distinguish clearly between types, as the meaning of concepts such as confessional for example, could vary between contexts. International comparison may however contribute to more clarity regarding the meanings concepts that are commonly used may have. Both the names of Religious Education subjects and what is included and excluded as learning content or aims vary greatly between different countries. Examples of elements which may be included or excluded are ethics, secular lifeviews, philosophy, new religious movements and world religions. If it includes world religions it is not a given which religions this includes, as in Norway for instance Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism are included, whereas in England, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism tend to be the chosen six principal religions. In Turkey it is Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as these are the religions which are included in the Islamic concept of Din. Further it is not a given that “all” the world religions are to be taught in a specific context (Jackson forthcoming). Despite the religiously plural makeup of the population in most European countries today, most often there is concentration on teaching one religion in the main, even if it might be unclear whether this represents pupils’ religious inclinations. The purpose and content of Religious Education varies, as do the legal requirements which are sometimes completely opposite from what is the case in the neighboring country. The point here is that it is really an open question whether “oranges are the only fruit”. What this implies is that there are good reasons to ask whether comparative efforts make sense with regard to Religious Education. It becomes a vital issue to ask what we are comparing, and why (Br”ten 2013b, 32)? This also raises the question; what we mean by “comparative work”? In this chapter I will explore these questions through addressing the challenges to comparative studies in Religious Education posed by the different meaning and use of terminology. I will briefly discuss what implications the different names of Religious Education in native language may have, then address different meaning of the terms confessional / denominational comparatively, and discuss the relevance of ecumenical work in comparative religious education. Following this I will raise the question of what comparative studies in Religious Education are, and how they might be conceptualised, in view of my own suggested methodology in Towards a Methodology for Com-

Are Oranges the only fruit?

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parative Studies in Religious Education: A study of England and Norway (Br”ten 2013b). I will then suggest a way forwards for comparative studies despite the plural nature of our object of study. Schweitzer (2012) has been a special “dialogue partner” in the process of writing this chapter, especially through his contribution to the first volume of the series.

1.

Challenges to comparative studies in Religious Education posed by the different meaning and use of terminology

In a meeting in Vienna in November 2012, discussion between authors and editors of this book about the twelve categories which the contributions address revealed great variation in how they were understood. According to Wittgenstein (1953, 43) “the meaning of a word is its use in the language”.2 Wittgenstein challenges earlier dogmas such as the intent on pointing to something exterior, as something that could generally be located either in an objective space, or inside the mind as mental representation. Rather he arrived at the insight that “if we had to name anything which is the life of the sign, we should have to say that it was its use” (Wittgenstein 1958, 4). It is in the nature of this kind of international meeting, as well as in the writing process of a book series such as this, that in the chapters of the books the twelve categories would have been interpreted by native authors to suit the history and nature of Religious Education in each country (see below, see Br”ten 2013b). In comparative studies the issue of the meaning and use of terminology is of particular importance. Different actors use different terminology in Religious Education, and the same concepts will have different meanings, for example in relation to geographical context. The meaning of concepts will also vary within a country over time; there will also be diversity between nations, cultures, religions and languages. In an international comparative project this becomes very apparent. In such a task one deals with many different national contexts, and other kinds of context. Context for RE could mean many different things (Skeie et al. 2013), and the domains which are suggested in my model of comparative studies (see below), could actually be read as a map of some of those contexts (Br”ten 2013c). The national context includes the different languages, which sometimes may be more than one within a country, as for instance in Belgium. Within one country it might in addition be the case that the meaning of a central concept is disputed, has changed, or is changing. One example of changing meaning of 2 In the meeting in Vienna 29th – 30th of November 2012 one of the editors of this book series professor M. Rothgangel quoted Wittgenstein

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concepts can be found in England. In 1988 the name of the subject in schools was changed from Religious Instruction (RI) to Religious Education (RE), but both before this change and since then the meaning of the concept Religious Education has evolved (Jackson 2008; Copley 1997). What terminology is used and how it is used, shifts, and so does its meaning (Br”ten 2013a). Internationally the concept “Religious Education” is used if one is writing in English language even if the school subject in a particular countries country has a completely different name. So, what then does the concept Religious Education mean? When investigating meaning, the researcher must “look and see” the variety of uses to which the word is put. I think this could be a fruitful approach to comparative studies in Religious Education. In giving the meaning of a word, any explanatory generalization should be replaced by a description of use. There may be important differences between the words we would use in our own language, and those we use when writing in English language. By using the English language we may draw the English context into our text without noticing. As a Norwegian writing a comparison of English and Norwegian Religious Education in English language at an English University, I had to deal with this issue (Br”ten 2010). Some factors which were taken for granted in a Norwegian context needed to be explained in English for English readers. For instance, “the Norwegian unitary schools system” means there really is only one kind of school in Norway (Br”ten 2013b, 24 – 25). In the English context I found that the funding of schools was central to understand its “type”, and while this was taken for granted in the English context, it needed explaining for Norwegian readers (Br”ten 2013b, 123). Especially potent was the difference in meaning of the concept “inspection” because in Norway there are not inspections as in England (Br”ten 2013, 119). In an early version of the thesis I had really tried to explain this, but I still got the response from an English reader: “Why?” “To begin with a simple fact: two languages, by their very two-ness, are different languages. To explain in English how something is said in German is to speak German in English. The words, or signifiers, may be identical but they are not spoken in the same language. Here, it is English which speaks German. […] To use the same term in different languages is either to change its meaning or to equivocate (Murphy 2000, 183)”.

Entering into the sphere of language philosophy one may encounter the idea that the relationship between a term and a referent object is completely arbitrary, and that it cannot refer to anything outside the system of a given language. Regarding the relationship between the two languages, English and Norwegian, my experience has been that it is often impossible to translate a Norwegian concept without adding English preconceptions. At the same time many similar terms were used, for example both languages include the terms “world religions”

Are Oranges the only fruit?

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(“verdensreligioner”) or “confessional” (“konfesjonelt”). One way of trying to solve this was to keep the Norwegian concept and explain, in English, its meaning in its Norwegian context. This way the significance of different national contexts would become more evident to the reader (Br”ten 2013b, 39). Schweitzer points out language issues as a main challenge to comparative studies in Religious Education, asking if perhaps more linguistic skills are needed (Schweitzer 2012, 25). That might well be, as I think we are only at the beginning of the unveiling of what kind of challenge the language issue represents in comparative studies. However, already in the attempt to do comparative studies in religious education lies a fundamental experience which potentially points beyond the barriers of language. To explore differences in languages and concepts may therefore be seen as an opportunity to achieve valuable insights through comparative studies rather than seeing it as a challenge to such studies. My point here is that the experience of language challenges in comparative religious education could be used to explore what kind of undertaking a comparative project is. It underlines the importance of paying close attention to the meaning of concepts in different contexts / languages in comparative work, to be aware of differences and similarities which might not be immediately apparent (Br”ten 2013b, 22, 39; Schweitzer 2006). One possible way forward with this is to begin to explore central concepts comparatively. In the following I will therefore investigate how different understandings of key concepts may reveal essential differences between countries Religious Education.

2.

What is in the name?

The name of the subjects in our different countries is an important indicator of what Religious Education is. I cannot find any examples in the literature of discussions of the meaning of the names of Religious Education subjects in the native languages, but in some publications you can find information about the names. Some examples are: Denmark: “Kristendomskundskab”, meaning “Knowledge of Christianity”, Estonia: “Religiooniopetus”, meaning “religious instruction”, Iceland: “Christianity, other religions and moral education”, Norway : “Religion, livssyn og etikk”, meaning “Religion, Life views and ethics”, Sweden: “Religionskunnskap”, meaning “Knowledge of Religion” (Kuyk et al. 2007). The names say something about what is included and what is excluded, and reveals something about the boundaries of Religious Education. In most European countries, if not all, one religion would be focused upon in the main’, in effect one of the Christian denominations (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, England, Norway). It seems that the predominant religious denomination of a country has an effect on the system

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for and the content of Religious Education in state schools in that country. States where there is a strong differentiation between church and state, more often offer education into a variety of religions and sometimes lifeviews, while in others religion is still regarded as a belonging in a private sphere and regard religious education to be relevant only in private homes or religious schools, as in France. Sometimes there is a clear distinction between learning about religion, from religion or into religion, but often this distinction is not so clear. Although I think the name is an interesting indicator of content and boundaries, closer studies are needed to get a richer picture of the complexity of the relationship between the name and the content. We need to move beyond the name in each national context to know what it really implies. In the case of Norway the name has been a most controversial issue, as it has evolved in parallel with legal action against the State of Norway for being in violation with the Human Rights (Lied 2009). It was first called “Knowledge of Christianity with orientation about Religions and Lifeviews” (KRL), which was later, changed to the more inclusive “Knowledge of Christianity, Religions and Lifeviews” (KRL). After a verdict in the European court of Human Rights that it was in violation of Human Right, it was changed again, to the more neutral “Religions, Lifeviews and Ethics” (RLE). However, it seems conservative Christian groups have been discontent with this development, and in the time of writing, fall of 2013, the Christian Democrats has made an agreement with the Conservative Solberg government elect to change the name to “Christianity, Religions, Lifeviews and Ethics” (KRLE). It seems this is mainly a change in name; though a part of the agreement is that at least 55 % of learning material in the subject should be regarding Christian education. The two latter name changes have, as far as I can see, mainly had a symbolic significance, though in very different ways. Little has been changed regarding content. It might be that the Norwegian case is extreme, but it illustrates how the name of the subject in the native language may represent strong symbolisms regarding the nature of the subject. Sometimes Religious Education is organised with alternative subjects, either in parallel on an equal basis, as in Finland or Austria, and in some of these cases one could find that for example Islam is focused upon in the main (Finland, Austria, Russia) (Kuyk et al. 2007; Shakhnovich 2013). In these cases it might not be the Religious Education class which might be developed as the “safe space” for dialogue between students, but that does not mean that this cannot be achieved (Jackson forthcoming). With regard to parallel or alternative subjects I look forward to learning more about this in the present series of books; the series itself can be seen as a production of data for comparative religious education research. The numbers of different alternative or parallel subjects seem to be increasing, and perhaps this is an indicator of the debates about the nature of Religious Education which are currently going on in the European context

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(Jackson 2013 – article in Western Europe book; see also the discussion of integrating studies of religions and nonreligious worldviews in Jackson forthcoming). This includes the question of to what extent does Religious Education around Europe have a function as part of intercultural education. One fundamental issue regarding the nature of Religious Education in Europe is the relationship between confessional or non-confessional, or denominational or nondenominational Religious Education, but even this question might not be straight forward (see Br”ten 2013b, 22 – 23; Schweitzer 2006; Schreiner 2007).

3.

In a comparative perspective, what does confessional/denominational mean?

A thoroughly contextual comparative analysis should be open to the possibility that what would seem in the first instance like similarities might be differences, and what appears in the first instance to be differences can turn out to be more similar (Schweitzer 2006, 148). If two countries both have “non-confessional” Religious Education, this would be at face value similarity. The same is the case if two countries have confessional Religious Education, because the term “confessional” might have different meanings in different countries. However, important differences might surface if this is explored in more depth. Despite very different names of the subjects, a similarity between English and Norwegian Religious Education is that both have non-denominational and nonconfessional multifaith3 Religious Education in their state schools. The term non-confessional is taken to mean a form of Religious Education which is not religious instruction or nurture into a particular religious faith. However, comparison between England and Norway has revealed that this is not the same as saying that they are non-denominational (Br”ten 2013b, 22 – 23). In the Norwegian language the word “konfesjonelt” covers both “denominational” and “confessional”, but in England there is a significant difference in meaning between the two concepts. In England ever since the first Education Act in 1870 Religious Instruction / Religious Education was always non-denominational. However, until 1988 it had a confessional element. It was a form of nondenominational Christian instruction; a generic mainly Bible-based form of teaching derived from Protestant sources (Copley 1997). This could also be described as civil religion (Davie 2007). Different denominations such as Catholics and Methodists have had a strong presence in British society together with the established Anglican Church 3 For discussion of the term “multifaith”, see Br”ten 2013, 23.

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(Protestant). However, Roman Catholics have often sent their children to mainly state-funded Catholic Voluntary Aided Schools, so they have taken little part in policy making and syllabus construction for Religious Education in fully statefunded community schools (Jackson 2004). In Norway on the other hand, Christian denominations other than the Church of Norway (Lutheran) have been more marginal in society. Religious Education in state schools was until 1969 instruction / nurture into this church’s faith even if over time it evolved towards a more generic Christian approach (Haraldsø 1989). Alternatives to state schools, and consequently its RE, have been close to non-existing in Norway and this is still the case. From 1969 to 1997 RE in state schools was still named “Kristendomskunnskap”, meaning “knowledge of Christianity”, but this was now non-confessional even if it was denominational (Norwegian Lutheranism). As in the case of England, this could be seen as close to civil religion as well. In practice it was to a great extent perceived as still being instruction in the Norwegian State Church religion (Haakedal 1995, 9). This can be argued based not only on what we know about how the subject was practised, but also on the continued existence of the school law preamble (“form”lsparagrefen”). This preamble stated that the overall purpose of education as such in Norway was to aid parents in the Christian upbringing of their children.4 The point here is that this comparative discussion of the terms confessional and non-confessional and denominational and non-denominational in England and Norway, shows that confessional and denominational have in practice been two sides of the same coin in the Norwegian context and has come to mean the same in the language (“Konfesjon” = denomination, “bekjennende” = confessional), while in the English context there has been an important difference between the concepts of confessional and denominational. This is an example of concepts which at first glance may appear to be similar in two languages, where an actual contextually based comparison reveals important differences. Another term which could be equally interesting to explore comparatively is “secular”, as an extensive theoretical discussion about the concept exists in the literature, for example in Berger (1999) and Habermas (2006), Taylor (2007) (see also Br”ten 2013b, 47 – 52), and also raise a number of questions regarding variation of meaning in use in different countries. There is, for example Russia (Shakhnovich 2013), where secular tends to have a specific Russian meaning connoting “secularism”, yet, as in the case of Australia the term secular is understood in an Australian way, in which secularism is not a very prominent trait in the culture (Byrne 2013). An important insight from this is the need for thorough analysis of the different national contexts in international comparative work. It is necessary to be aware of the way meaning of concepts varies between 4 The preamble was changed in 2008.

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nations and languages. Thus the point from Wittgenstein above about studying the meaning of concepts in their use becomes particularly relevant to comparative work in Religious Education.

4.

Is ecumenical work relevant for RE? A mini comparison of Germany and Norway

Ecumenical work is another concept which, when explored comparatively in relation to Religious Education, will reveal fundamental differences between countries. It is perhaps not without significance for the future development of Religious Education in Europe that Religious Education at Schools in Europe (Jäggle et al. 2012) is a joint research project between the Protestant and the Catholic religious pedagogical departments at the University of Vienna. In parts of Europe Ecumenical work is important for developments in Religious Education, but in other parts it is marginal. Recent research in England indicates that ecumenical work in the past might have been more important for developments in Religious Education than has so far been commonly held (Doney 2013). In Germany, ecumenical work is a very relevant issue, as Religious Education is often either formally Catholic or Protestant, whereas in Norway this is not important, as Religious Education is currently educational and appears in state schools with no particular religious affiliation. In Norway ecumenical work is largely seen as unrelated to the field of Religious Education, but together with religious dialogue it is often seen as relevant as subject content, something to learn about. This difference is related to different histories of religion and different histories of religious education in those two countries. Some immediate socio-cultural and structural differences between Germany and Norway explaining this difference are, firstly that Catholicism and other Christian traditions are marginal in Norway, but represent approximately half the population in Germany. Secondly the fact that there is largely only one type of school in Norway, which all children attend and where they have the same kind of Religious Education, whereas there are different kinds of schools in Germany, including religiously based schools sorted for example by Christian denomination. A third significant difference is that the school system and Religious Education in Germany is decentralised (Knauth 2007), whereas Religious Education in Norway is part of one of the most centralised and unified national educational systems in Europe (Skeie 2007). Besides reflecting different socio-cultural situations, this also goes back to diametrically opposed legal requirements for Religious Education in Germany and Norway (institutional level of curriculum, see below). According to Roth-

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gangel and Ziebertz (2012, 3 – 4), it is a legal requirement in Germany that Religious Education should be taught in accordance with the religious group in question. Parents and legal guardians have the right to decide whether or not their child attends religion class. The state is responsible for providing for the religious instruction, but the religious groups themselves are responsible for the content of lessons. It must be taught from a denominational standpoint, and not from a neutral or purely academic point of view. It is an aim for Religious Education to have as much religious homogeneity as possible, for instance through ensuring that teachers, subject content and pupils in a given schools Religious Education, are catholic. Schools can however choose to have an ecumenical type of Religious Education if the protestant and catholic churches agree on this, as in the case of Hamburg for example (Weisse 2008; Rothgangel and Schröder 2009). Of course then, within the German system, ecumenical work is highly relevant for developments in Religious Education. In Norway on the other hand, the legal requirements are that Religious Education should not be denominational or confessional, and that the aims of religious education are to educate about and possibly from religion, but the latter is disputed. Here it could rather be seen as an aim to have as much heterogeneity as possible. However, it is not neutral, because it is linked to a value code in the preamble to Norwegian educational law and this value code is in turn anchored in several religious and world view positions, most prominently the Christian and Humanist traditions.5 In this preamble the basic values for schooling in general are formulated and this extends also to Religious Education. It is stated that the Norwegian school is founded on fundamental values in “Christian and Humanistic heritage and tradition, such as respect for human dignity and the nature, intellectual freedom, love of one’s neighbour, forgiveness, equality and solidarity”. These values are stated as originating in “Christian and humanistic heritage and tradition”, but it is noted that these values might also be found in other religions. Further, in the Norwegian case, there is only limited right to opt out of Religious Education as its aims are educational. This issue has however been highly controversial and led to court cases and complaints in international Human Rights institutions and changes in law and national curriculum for RE (Lied 2009). Reasons for the difference between the German and the Norwegian situation can also to be found further back in history. The principle of Religious Education being confessional, free of choice and decentralised in Germany goes back to the experience of the Second World War, “that totalitarian systems aim to achieve enforced political conformity of school subjects relating to religion and world 5 Preamble / value code (“form”lsparagrafen”): http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19980717 –061– 001.html.

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views” (Rothgangel and Ziebertz 2012, 45).6 Schiffauer and his co-authors have suggested that the 2nd World War is such a strong element in the German national imaginary, that it makes it difficult for immigrants to be integrated into schools (Schiffauer et al. 2004). Perhaps this extends also to German Religious Education and the way it is organized? In Norway, the experience of the Second World War rather strengthened the need to unify as “Norwegians” against foreign occupants. The aim in the unified and centralised school system to teach Religious Education in heterogenic groups of pupils could be seen in light of this. It is supposed to be a subject which gives everyone growing up in Norway a common frame of reference. This need for unification is also connected to our history of nation building after our emancipation from Denmark (1814) and later Sweden (1905) and is also related to preserving or creating a Norwegian identity (Engen 2003). This is surely central of our Norwegian national imaginary (Br”ten 2013b; Schiffauer et al. 2004). Norwegian history of nation building helps to explain the strong centralization ideology. In a comparative perspective, one could argue that the nation building traits in Norwegian Religious Education represent what Germany is trying to avoid. This is especially so when Christianity as a religion is taught as a “cultural heritage” that all share, regardless of personal religious or non-religious lifeviews (Buchardt 2013). Norwegian society is historically religiously homogeneous. From the time of the Christianisation it was Catholic but from 1536 onwards king Fredrik II of Denmark Norway forcibly converted everyone – from priests to lay people – to Lutheran Protestantism. Today it is “other religions” rather than “other denominations” which are seen as a challenge to Religious Education, although it is an interesting question how different Christian denominations are dealt with in Norwegian Religious Education today. The fact is that ecumenical work is not very important for the developments of Religious Education in Norway ; this is so in the present and has been so in history. The reformation is a supranational process in the past, which affected Religious Education in European countries profoundly, and is still affecting Religious Education today. Its continuing affects need more investigation, but as a supranational process (see below) the Reformation is relevant for explaining similarities and differences between different nations Religious Education even today including their different reactions to and understanding of this process. The comparative exploration of the importance of ecumenical work for German and Norwegian Religious Education highlights important differences 6 Quotation is from an English version which was circulated among authors of the books chapters.

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between the national contexts. It provides some possible explanations for profound differences in the two countries’ legal requirements for religious Education today. It also helped me reflect on something that does not appear clearly from the Norwegian context without the comparative perspective. The diversification of the societies in terms of further religious plurality other than the different Christian denominations, including both group plurality and individual plurality, meets very different traditions in German and Norwegian Religious Education, and this gives different conditions for different possible models. Without contextual comparative analysis this difference may appear incomprehensible, since Germany and Norway are both two western European states in a modern-day globalized world. Both nation states are currently dealing with the same challenges in Religious Education, originating from the supranational processes of religious pluralisation. Such supranational processes are met differently in Germany and Norway because of our different national contexts, histories and national imaginaries (Br”ten 2013b; Schiffauer et al. 2004). We will move now from the issue of terminology and examples of comparing by focusing on concepts, to the larger question of what comparative religious education is.

5.

What are “comparative studies” in Religious Education?

Schweitzer in his article in the first volume of this series presents a useful overview of existing comparative studies. Based on this he presents a preliminary typology (Schweitzer 2012, 27 – 31). In this he distinguishes between: Country-by-Country comparisons, problem –centred comparative studies, integrated international empirical studies and comparative historical studies. He finds examples of all these kinds of studies except the latter, but there is at least two such studies currently going on.7 Osmer and Schweitzer (2003) is an example of a combination of two of these types in a project. It is a country by country comparison of protestant Religious Education in the US and Germany and a problem oriented study of how to deal with modernisation and globalisation in religious education in protestant churches. Schweitzer (2012) also sees the REDCo research as a combination of types, both centred on a problem, and as a study which integrates empirical studies. The problem REDCo was dealing with was whether Religious Education 7 Jonathan Doney, UK, is currently investigating the history of Religious Education in England through a historic perspective, e. g. Doney (2013) and Mette Buchardt, e. g. Buchardt (2013) Denmark is looking at developments in religious education in the Nordic countries in view of the developments of the welfare state models. Her perspectives are both in historical and comparative.

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in Europe is “a contribution to dialogue or a factor of conflict in transforming societies in Europe” (Schweizer 2012, 29; Weisse 2007, 10). In order to investigate this, the REDCo team used both quantitative and qualitative empirical methods. However, as the REDCo study includes eight countries which are compared it is also a country by country comparison (see for example Knauth et al. 2008; Valk et al. 2009). Further it does have a historical dimension, as in Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates (Jackson et al. 2007) there are articles on the history and contexts of all the eight countries. Schweitzer suggests my own study, Br”ten (2010, 2013b), belongs in the country-by-country category, but I would classify it as belonging to several of the other categories as well. This would quite likely be the case of other studies if they were given closer examination. For example Br”ten (2013b) also includes empirical work, and is, of course, problem centred. The “problem” that it is dealing with is how the same supranational impulses, for instance secularisation, pluralisation and globalisation, affects English and Norwegian Religious Education, and how we can explain variations and similarities between countries. As a study which explicitly explores methodology for comparative studies, it might even demand an additional category to those which Schweitzer suggests. As part of this work with the suggested methodology I formulate a specific view on what comparative studies in Religious Education is, which is not descriptive based on existing studies, but more normative (see below). That is not to say that I regard this as the only way of doing comparative work, but in my approach I have taken account of many of the common considerations in relation to comparative studies. In my approach to comparative studies in Religious Education I take the position that, in a world where many of the challenges to Religious Education in different countries are the same, comparative analysis should focus the study of the impact of supranational processes on national process (Br”ten 2013b, 44 – 47). Why do we want to do comparative work? One reason is to understand Religious Education in an international context, and through this get a deeper understanding of the national cases. Collections of information are interesting or relevant, because this is information we need for comparative analysis, and as such an important part of comparative studies. However, in my view comparative work needs to be analytic, and not purely descriptive. Comparative Religious Education needs to take thorough account of different national contexts, explaining why responses to those same supranational challenges vary between countries. The background for these stances is studies of comparative education8, comparative religious studies9 and some pioneering comparative 8 For instance Adams and Keeves (1994), Ragin (1987), Alexander (2000), Kallo and Rinne (2006), Dale (2006), Schiffauer et al. (2004).

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works in Religious Education, including the work of Osmer and Schweitzer (2003).10 In comparative religious studies there has been a distinction between typological and hermeneutical approaches, where the typologists only wanted to describe the variations between the religions and categorise, whereas the hermeneuts also wanted to make interpretations (Sharpe 1975, 220 – 250; Br”ten 2013b, 32). For the typologists the problem was how to compare without adding their own subjective interpretation, while for the hermeneuts the question was how interpretations could be made. This issue is relevant also for comparative studies in Religious Education. Regarding the volumes of this series, for example, which are presenting descriptively Religious Education in 47 countries following 12 agreed categories, it is necessary to reflect on the question whether this is possible. Is not any description of Religious Education at the same time an interpretation of it? What is represented through these twelve categories? Which angle do the authors choose? What is the impact of the subjective native author’s voice? How Religious Education is described through these twelve categories, how they are interpreted in these different national contexts, by these particular authors will most likely give rich opportunity for further comparative analysis. Some existing publications, such as Kuyk et al. (2007), and this present publication are of a typological kind, even if they contain some articles which are more analytical (Schreiner 2007; Schweitzer 2012; Jackson 2013). Other studies have more of an analytical approach, like the publications from the REDCo project and also Osmer and Schweitzer (2003). In my view comparative studies in Religious Education need to be interpretive and aspire to be analytical, to discuss and explain differences, i. e. variations across the national cases in view of the supranational processes which affect Religious Education in all European countries and beyond. Examples of such processes are secularisation, pluralisation and globalisation, but further back in history one could name the Reformation and the European Enlightenment as such processes.

6.

Towards a methodology for comparative studies in Religious Education?

As a consequence of Schweitzer’s descriptive approach, but perhaps also as a normative statement, he underlines the point that comparative studies “are not based on a single methodology, but increasingly makes use of all methodologies current in the respective fields – analytical, empirical, and historical, etc.” 9 For example Sharpe (1975), Paden (1994), Stausberg (2006). 10 Also including Haakedal (1986), Alberts (2006), Kuyk et al. (2007).

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(Schweitzer 2012, 16). In this perspective comparative studies serves as an umbrella term for different approaches, which suggests a tool box approach: to use whatever methodology fits the purpose of the project at hand. Basically I agree with this, see Br”ten (2013b, 40 – 42), but I will also argue that what I have developed is a methodology, as opposed to a method, and as such it could be suggested as a generic template which is useful in the field. The generic consideration of quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods to suit the purpose of answering specific research question is of the same concern to Comparative Religious Education as to other kinds of research. My study was a qualitative study that combined empirical and theoretical studies, but within the framework of the methodology, different research methods could be used and combined. In comparative studies using this methodology, different research methods in terms of methods used to collect, interpret and analyse data could be used, but as a methodology it consists of a certain approach to comparative studies in religious education. My methodology is a combination of known methods which are used in a comparative research design. This allows for the use of more methods than have been used in the original study, and for other combinations. However, in this design, I have taken thorough account of a number of concerns regarding comparative studies. It might be that others do not have to walk the same miles again. One could call it a design, an approach or a template, but I argue that it is also a methodology, as opposed to a method. Certain elements could be altered in it as long as the core is maintained. This core is the combination of three dimensions and four levels. Schweitzer (2012, 17 – 18) also underlines the importance of being highly sensitive to contextual issues (see also Schweitzer 2006). He too holds that caseto-case / country by country comparison for this reason cannot be considered the basic model, nor can it define the scope of comparative research. I agree with this as, in my suggested methodology, national specifics are, on the one hand, linked to levels of curriculum nationally and, on the other hand, to being analysed in view of supranational processes. In Schweitzer and Osmer’s developments of methodology the comparison where based on analysing the processes of modernization and globalisation in Germany and the USA and their effects on protestant Religious Education in those countries. This allowed for a more comprehensive type of analysis (Schweitzer 2012, 34), and this is the same kind of thinking which is also considered and incorporated in my approach in relation to analysing national context in view of supranational processes.

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A methodology of three dimensions and four levels

This methodology is basically a combination of two ideas, although a third set of ideas are also paramount as part of the analytical tools. The first idea is based on Dale (2006), that in studies in comparative education today, one should take account of supranational, national and subnational factors (Br”ten 2013b, 44ff). Supranational processes affect each nation’s educational systems, but are encountered nationally by national processes. But processes in a nation are not solely national; there are also subnational processes that need to be considered. Examples of such processes are differences between national regions with regard to approach to Religious Education, or variations in characteristics of the makeup of the population of pupils in schools. I also distinguish between formal and informal supranational, national and subnational processes affecting Religious Education. Formal processes are, for example, formal policymaking or juridical processes, while societal changes in the population due to immigration would be an example of an informal process. I pay special attention to three supranational processes, namely secularisation, pluralisation and globalisation. All of these might have both formal and informal sides to them (Br”ten 2013, 47ff), and may appear in different shapes in different national or sub-national contexts. In order to capture the national dimension, Goodlad’s theories of levels of curriculum are used (Goodlad and Su 1992). Goodlad’s ideas raise the question of what the curriculum is, and are suited to capture some of the complexity of the national dimension. For example in Norway, what is the Religious Education curriculum? Is it what pupils actually learn (the experiential level)? Is it what teachers teach (the instructional level), or think they ought to be teaching? What is the relationship between these two levels, between what pupils experience and learn and what teachers teach? Or, is the curriculum that which is actually formulated in formal written curricular texts or relevant legislation (the institutional level of curriculum)? Or, is the curriculum that which politicians, parents, interest groups and academics perceive it to be (the societal level)? To what degree does discussion on this societal level reflect what goes on in practice in schools? Based on this I formulate a three dimensional and four levels methodology for comparative studies in Religious Education. It can be illustrated by this model which visualises how the methodology brings together a set of levels and dimensions:

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This model illustrates comparative studies in Religious Educations based on these two sets of ideas, firstly that three dimensions must be considered, a supranational, national and subnational. This is based on a perspective that comparative education is about the study of the impact of supranational processes on national processes. Secondly, it illustrates how four levels of curriculum should be considered to capture the complexity of the national dimension. This is represented in the model above as A: Societal level, B: institutional level, C: instructional level and D: experiential level. A third set of ideas are analytical concepts from Schiffauer et al. (2004), namely civil enculturation, civil culture and social / national imaginaries (Br”ten 2013b, 42 – 44, 115 – 118).11 These concepts help in grasping the historical and sociological depth of national traditions, and to connect qualitative empirical data to an image of this national tradition, called national imaginaries. In the course of the study I also came to consider whether such social imaginaries might even be supranational. The model preserves a sense of sequence through a clockwise labelling (A-D), but it can at the same time be seen to counteract the idea of linearity or hierarchy between the levels. Sometimes there will be interaction between the societal and the instructional level, for example, bypassing the institutional level. The twoway arrows indicate the possibilities of such bypasses. Another example could be a case where students are influenced by debates at the societal level, and thus get

11 Others with similar concepts are Alexander (2000), Taylor (2004) which all refers to Anderson (1983) and his concept of imagined communities.

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information from that, rather than through the formal curriculum, or what their teachers teach. I later found that this model is ideal for generating new research questions, as these could be formulated in relation to the connections between the various domains or contexts which the model maps out. The model may also be read as a map of domains or contexts of relevance to Religious Education (Br”ten 2013c). Perhaps someone might wish to investigate what the subnational, national and supranational dimensions represents for the student (level D) for example, or how formal policymaking in the Council of Europe influences developments in policy and curricular documents and legislation in Norway compared to Sweden, for example. For investigations of questions generated from the model, choice of research methods could be different depending on the issue in focus. What I suggest with this methodology is that the different levels of curriculum nationally and the supranational, national and subnational dimensions should be considered. All of the levels (A-D) exist in one nation; the concepts of societal, institutional, instructional and experiential levels of curriculum are tools that can be used to capture and analyse complexities in one country’s Religious Education. For example the model could illuminate what the relationship is between what the law says Religious Education should be and actual activities in classrooms. In today’s world however, it is not the case that processes that affect what goes on in a Religious Education class only originate within one country. Some of the main processes which have changed and are presently changing Religious Education in many European countries are supranational by nature. This might both be formal process resulting from supranational policy making, in the EU, Council of Europe etc. (Jackson 2013), or informal processes, for example linked to globalisation. News from the global arena might be entered into discussion in schools, either informally if students raise questions about them, or formally if teachers choose to include it in their teaching. It is therefore necessary to consider the supranational dimension, and this is a reason to do more international and comparative work in Religious Education. With this methodology, the national traditions are conceptualised as processes, because of the changing nature of Religious Education today (as well as in history). Spurs to the on-going change come from both inside and outside the nations, and this is a reason why this model could be considered as a template or a broad general methodology for comparative studies in Religious Education. At the same I would like to emphasise that it should not be perceived as static, but rather it is hoped that its basic ideas are picked up and used by others, and that through this it can be developed further.

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The way forward for comparative research in religious education

A question I have explored in this chapter is whether the variety of types of Religious Education represents such profound differences, that it does not really make sense to do comparative analysis. Another is whether the problem of different meanings of terminology is an obstacle to comparative work. My discussion of what we mean by comparative studies in Religious Education is a response to these issues. I have argued for the usefulness of comparative studies even if fundamental questions regarding such research are still not answered fully. In my search for clues to how to conduct valid comparison, in comparative education, comparative religious studies and pioneering work in comparative work in Religious Education (Br”ten 2013b, 29); I found the following in the field of comparative religious studies: “Paden (1994: 1 – 12) points to two poles in the perspectives on comparison in religious studies while arguing for the possibility of a middle way. One pole would relate to the traditional preconceptions for doing comparison in religious studies, a focus on similarities: generally speaking that there is an essence to ‘religion’ as such and that all religions therefore essentially are the same type of phenomena and therefore comparable.12 The most radical critique of this led to almost abandoning comparisons as a strategy in religious studies and would be a focus on differences: generally speaking that religious traditions are completely unique phenomena which cannot be compared to each other.”13 (Br”ten 2013b, 32)

In Religious Education there is the same consideration, and there are many reasons to raise the question whether Religious Education in our different countries can be considered to be essentially the same phenomenon, or whether we should rather study them as discrete phenomena. However, in light of this critique, I would like to draw the attention to Paden who is interested in exploring the possibilities of conducting valid comparisons between religions. He wants to do this through taking account of the uniqueness of different contexts. He points to a middle way between essentialism and particularism, between claiming that religions are essentially the same and can therefore be studies comparatively as “the same” phenomena, and that they are unique incomparable phenomena which can only be studied as such. This middle way perspective I believe to be useful also in Religious Education research, and because of this there is an emphasis on taking the depth of the national dimension seriously in the methodology with its four levels. 12 This has a reference to essentialist theories of religion as such: sui generis. 13 This perspective has reference to a contextual postmodernist view.

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If in Religious Education we want to argue for more comparative studies, we should also value the in depth contextual and historical studies. Only then can we understand why we, in our globalized day and age, have so different approaches to Religious Education, despite dealing with many of the same challenges. The comparative perspective must be seen as complementary to focused studies of Religious Education in single countries. What comparative studies do is to yield perspectives on the national dimension which can only be gained through comparative studies, and thus widen and deepen our understanding of Religious Education as a supranational phenomenon. It is partly a question of deciding that Religious Education is comparable because comparative studies are relevant in our globalised world. A condition for comparison to be valid is however to pay as much attention to differences as to similarities. Where similarities are pointed out, one must not think of these as identical, but rather similar phenomena, as we have seen above with regard to the meaning of “confessional” religious education. If the plural nature of the phenomena studied (Religious Education in different countries) is to be maintained in comparative studies, differences should be as much focused as similarities. Consequently, any similarities which are found between Religious Education in the countries presented in this book must be understood in the light of different national contexts, including the school system and any traditional relationship between church and state. From this perspective comparative studies make sense even if “oranges are not the only kind of fruit”.

9.

Summary and Conclusion

In this article I have raised the question whether comparative studies in Religious Education make sense, seeing that Religious Education is so different in the various counters of Europe and beyond. I have put forward arguments that it does, and used the basic ideas of a suggested new methodology for comparative religious education in this task, emphasising how single countries are influenced by the same supranational processes. I have given examples of what comparative studies of terms such as ”denominational” and “confessional” reveals of similarities and differences in approaches to Religious Education in single countries, given that the terms may mean different things depending on geographical context. I have also conducted a limited comparative exploration of the difference in meaning of Ecumenical work for German and Norwegian Religious Education. The focus on this issue highlighted some important differences in the two countries approaches to Religious Education, and brought out suggested explanations from history as well as from legal requirements, for example, for their different approaches to Religious Education today.

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I have argued that comparative studies in Religious Education should be analytical and interpretive, looking to explain differences and similarities, rather than be purely descriptive. As part of this I have also argued that it should be about the impact of supranational processes on national and subnational processes while also taking the national context very seriously. In addition to this a number of common issues for comparative studies in Religious Education are taken into account in my proposed three dimensional and four levels methodology. I have pointed to the difference between research methods and a methodology or design, and made clear that within this methodology different research methods could be combined, so long as the combination of the three dimensions and the four levels is maintained. I have argued for the continued effort to develop comparative projects in Religious Education, despite doubts whether our object of study is one phenomenon or many, and suggested a middle way between particularistic and universalistic views, through emphasising the contextual grounding which the four levels in the comparative methodology represents. At the same time there should be a continued consideration of supranational processes and their impact on national and sub national contexts, which the three dimensions of the methodology represent. It has been suggested that “strong national boundaries still prevent research from becoming truly international” (Schweitzer 2012, 18) seeing that national contexts represents limitations which are obstacles to Religious Education to becoming more globally oriented. At the same time we live in a world where students in schools are in a sense already global citizen with travel experiences, migrant experiences and with access to information through the internet and other media about religion and religions as global phenomena. The REDCo research has shown that students in some different parts of Europe wanted learning in Religious Education to take place in a safe classroom environment with agreed procedures for expression and discussion. Students wish to avoid conflicts and some religiously committed students felt vulnerable. Further it showed that students wish for peaceful co-existence and believe this to be possible, but also believe that knowledge of each other’s religions, sharing common interests and doing things together was important for achieving this (Jackson 2011; Jackson 2013). Schiffauer et al. (2004, 329) reported that they encountered highly convergent phenomena concerning pupils’ visions of what a just society would look like from the view of minorities providing cultural experiences other than those of the majority population. Their shared demands were for a value-neutral recognition of their being different and for equal access to the arena of achievement-based competition. Based on this, the REDCo research and the empirical material in Br”ten (2013b) an idea of the existence of shared supranational

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imaginaries among young people emerges. Reflecting on globalisation as a supranational force affecting national and local contexts, this is also highly plausible. How important are these national boundaries and national religious traditions for students in an age of globalisation one may ask? Perhaps it is a global outlook which will develop our views about what present day youth need to learn of religion, ethics and related issues in school today. National identity and national context will continue to be important, but perhaps what is relevant for them to learn is less dependent on national boundaries than current practices might suggest? The Recommendation of the Council of Europe represents a development on the level of formal supranational educational policy making which can be seen as movements towards more international orientation in Religious Education in European countries.14 I believe that studying the national specific types of Religious Education comparatively, in combination with considering the influences of supranational processes such as globalisation, is imperative as part of developing Religious Education in each country and internationally, further into something which is existentially relevant for the students in the age of globalisation. At best it might continue to develop as a contributor to social coherence and peace today’s in the plural societies of Europe.

References Adams, D., and Keeves, J. P. 1994. “Comparative Methodology in Education”. In International Encyclopaedia of Education, eds. T.HusÀn and T. N. Postlethwait, 948 – 958. Oxford: Pergamon. Alberts, W. 2007. Integrative Religious Education in Europe: A study-of-Religions Approach. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. Alexander, R. 2000. Culture and Pedagogy : International Comparisons in primary Education. USA, UK, Australia: Blackwell Publishing. Anderson, B. 1991 [1983]. Imagined Communities. London, New York: Verso. Berger, P. 1999. The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Michigan: William B. Erdmans Publishing Company. Br”ten, O. M. H. 2009. Mounting an Assault on complexity : Comparative Research Design in Religious Education. In Religious Diversity and Education – Nordic Perspectives, ed. G. Skeie, 93 – 106. Münster : Waxman Verlag. Br”ten, O. M. H, 2010. A comparative study of religious education in state schools in England and Norway, PhD diss. University of Warwick. 14 The recommendations of the Council of Europe is limited to the study of religions and nonreligious convictions as a dimension of intercultural education and does not concern confessional teachings of religion (Jackson forthcoming).

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Br”ten, O. M. H. 2013a. Comparative Studies in Religious Education: The Issue of Methodology. In Religion in Education. Innovation in International Research, ed. J. Miller, K. O’Grady and U. McKenna, 182 – 196. New York: Routledge. Br”ten, O. M. H. 2013b. Towards a Methodology for Comparative Studies for Religious Education. A Study of England and Norway. Münster : Waxman. Br”ten, O. M. H. 2013c. The meaning of context when utilizing a comparative methodology. In Exploring Context in Religious Education Research: Empirical, Methodological and Theoretical perspectives., eds.) G. Skeie, J. Everington, K. H. ter Avest and S. Medema, 190 – 210. Münster : Waxman. Buchardt, M. 2013. The School Curriculum and the Transformation of the State / Church Relation in “the North” since the Early 20th Century. A Nordic Secular Lutheran Welfare State Model? Paper presented at Nordic Conference on Religious Education (NCRE), June 10 – 13, Reykjavik, Iceland. Byrne, C. 2013. Segregated RI in Australian state schools – where evangelism trumps education. Paper at RE21 – Religious Education in a Global-Local World. International Conference. Study of Religions Department, University College, Cork, Ireland. Copley, T. 1997. Teaching Religion: Fifty Years of Religious Education in England and Wales. Devon, UK: University of Exeter Press. Dale, R. 2006. Policy Relationships between Supranational and National Scales: imposition / resistance or Parallel Universes? In Supranational Regimes and National Education Policies, eds. J. Kallo and R. Rinne, 27 – 52. Turku: Finnish Educational research Association. Davie, G. 2007. The Sociology of Religion. London: Sage. Doney, J. 2013. Transcending national boundaries: Ecumenical developments and changes in Religious Education during the 1960s and 1970s. Paper presented at Nordic Conference on Religious Education (NCRE), June 10 – 13, Reykjavik, Iceland. Engen, T. O. 2003. Enhetsskole og flerkulturell nasjonsbygging. In Leve skolen: skolen i et kulturkritisk perspektiv, eds. P. Østrud and J. Johansen, 231 – 250. Vallset: Opplandske bokforlag. Goodlad J. I., and Z. Su 1992. Organization of the Curriculum. In Handbook of Research on Curriculum: A Project of the American Educational Research Association, ed. P. Jackson, 327 – 244. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Haakedal, E. 1995. ”Religionspedagogikkens tverrfaglighet: tilbakeblikk, status og muligheter”. In Religiøse og pedagogiske idealer, eds. H. Leganger-Krogstad and E. Haakedal. Oslo: Norges forskningsr”d, KULTs skriftserie nr. 42, 8 – 52. Haakedal, E. 1986. Religionspedagogiske tendenser med hensyn til utviklingen av kristendoms-, religions- og livssynsundervisning i noen vesteuropeiske skolesystem under 1960- og 1970-”rene, Unpublished Report (Oslo, Det Teologiske Menighetsfakultet). Habermas, J. 2006. “Religion in the Public Sphere”, in European Journal of Philosophy 14, no. 1: 1 – 25. Haraldsø, B. ed. 1989. Kirke – skole – stat. 1739 – 1989, Oslo: IKO-forlag. Jackson, R. 2007. “European Institutions and the Contribution of Studies of Religious Diversity to Education for Democratic Citizenship”. In Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates, eds. R. Jackson et al., 27 – 56. Münster : Waxman Verlag.

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Jackson, R. 2011. Religion, education, dialogue and conflict: editorial introduction. British Journal of Religious Education 33, no. 2: 105 – 109. Jackson, R. 2004. Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality : Issues in Diversity and Pedagogy. London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Jackson, R. 2008. Teaching about Religion in the Public Sphere: European Policy Initiatives and the Interpretive Approach. NUMEN 55, 151 – 182. Jackson, R. 2013. The European Dimension: Perspectives from Religious Education from European Institutions, Professional Organization and Research Network, in Religious Education in Schools in Europe, Vol. 2: Western Europe. Vienna: Vienna University Press. (In press) Jackson, R. Forthcoming “Signposts”: Teaching about Religions and Non-religious Worldviews: Towards Policy and Practice for teaching about “Religions” and “Beliefs” in European Intercultural Education (working title). Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publications. Jackson, R., S. Miedema, W. Weisse, and J-P. Willaime, eds. 2007. Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates. Münster : Waxman. Jäggle, M., M. Rothgangel, and T. Schlag, eds. 2013. Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Europa, Teil 1: Mitteleuropa. Vienna: Vienna University Press. Kallo, J., and R. Rinne, eds. 2006. Supranational Regimes and National Education Policies. Turku: Finnish Educational research Association. Knauth, T. 2007. “Religious Education in Germany : Contribution to Dialogue or Source of Conflict?” In Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates, eds. Robert Jackson et al., 243 – 265. Münster : Waxman Verlag. Knauth, T., D.-P., Jozsa, G. Bertram-Troost, and J. Ipgrave, eds. 2008. Encountering Religious Pluralism in School and Society : A Qualitative Study of Teenage Perspectives in Europe. Münster, New York, München, Berlin: Waxman Verlag. Kuyk, E., R. Jensen, D. Lankshear, E. Löh Manna, and P. Schreiner, eds. 2007. Religious Education in Europe: Situations and current Trends in Schools. Oslo: IKO Publishing House. Lied, S. 2009. The Norwegian Christianity, Religion and Philosophy subject KRL in Strasbourg. In British Journal of Religious Education 31, no. 3: 263 – 275. Murphy, T. 2000. Speaking Different Languages: Religion and the Study of Religion. In Secular theories on Religion, eds. T. Jensen and M. Rothstein, 183 – 192. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. Osmer R. R., and F. Schweitzer, 2003. Religious Education between Modernization and Globalisation. Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Paden, W. E. 1994. Religious Worlds: The Comparative Study of Religion. 2nd ed. Boston Massachusetts: Beacon Press. Ragin, C. 1987. Comparative Method: Moving beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. London: University of California Press, Ltd. Rothgangel, M., and Schröder, B., eds. 2009. Evangelischer Religionsunterricht in den Ländern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Empirischen Daten – Kontexte – Entwicklungen. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. Rothgangel, M., and H-G. Zibertz 2012. Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Deutschland. In Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Europa. Teil 1: Mitteleuropa, eds. M. Jäggle, M. Rothgangel and T. Schlag, 41 – 68. Vienna: Vienna University Press.

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Schreiner, P. 2007. “Religious Education in the European Context”. In Religious Education in Europe: Situations and current Trends in Schools, eds. E. Kuyk, R. Jensen, D. Lankshear, E. Löh Manna and P. Schreiner, 9 – 16. Oslo: IKO – Publishing House. Schweitzer, F. 2004. Comparative Research in Religious Education: International-Interdenominational-Interreligious. In Towards a European Perspective on Religious Education, eds. R. Larsson and C. Gustavson, 191 – 200. Stockholm: Artos & Norma. Schweitzer, F. 2006. Let the captives speak for themselves! More dialogue between Religious Education in England and Germany. British Journal of Religious Education 28, no. 2: 141 – 151. Schweitzer, F. 2012. Religionsunterricht in europäischen Schulen im Vergleich – Herausforderungen für international-vergleichende Forschung. In Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Europa. Teil 1: Mitteleuropa, eds. M. Jäggle, M. Rothgangel and T. Schlag, 13 – 40. Vienna: Vienna University Press. Schiffauer, W., G. Baumann., R. Kastoriano, and S. Vertovec, eds. 2004. Civil Enculturation: Nation State, School and Ethnic Difference in The Netherlands, Britain, Germany and France. Oxford: Berghahn Books. Shakhnovich, M. 2013. Religion in Contemporary Russia. Paper at RE21 – Religious Education in a Global-Local World: International Conference. Study of Religions Department, University College, Cork, Ireland, Sharpe, E. J. 1975. Comparative Religion: A history. London, Duckworth. Skeie, G. 2007. Religion and Education in Norway. In Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates, eds. R. Jackson, S. Miedema, W. Weisse and J-P. Willaime, 221 – 242. Münster : Waxmann. Skeie, G., J. Everington, K. H. ter Avest, and S. Miedema., eds. 2013. Exploring Context in Religious Education Research: Empirical, Methodological and Theoretical perspectives. Münster : Waxman. Stausberg, M. 2006. “Sammenligning” in Metoder i religionsvitenskap, eds. S. E. Kraft and R. J. Natvig, 29 – 50. Oslo: Pax Forlag. Taylor, C. 2007. A Secular Age. Cambridge Massachusetts and London, England: Belknap Press of Harvard University press. Taylor, C. 2004. Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham and London: Duke University press. Valk, P., Bertram-Troost, G., Friederici, M., and C. BÀraud. 2009. Teenagers’ Perspectives on the Role of Religion in their Lives, Schools and Societies: A Quantitative Study. Münster : Waxman Verlag. Weisse, W. 2007. The European Research Project on Religion and Education “REDCo”: An introduction. In Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates, eds. R. Jackson, S. Miedema, W. Weisse and J-P. Willaime, 9 – 25. Münster : Waxmann. Weisse, W., ed. 2008. Dialogicher Religionsuntericht in Hamburg. Positionen, Analysen und Perspektiven im Kontext Europas. Religionen im Dialog. Münster : Waxmann. Wittgenstein, L. 1953. Philosophical Investigations, G.E.M. Anscombe and R. Rhees (eds.), G.E.M. Anscombe (trans.), Oxford: Blackwell. Wittgenstein, L. 1958 [1933]. Preliminary studies for the “Philosophical investigations”, generally known as the Blue and Brown books, Oxford: Blackwell. Ziebertz, H-G., and Riegel, U., eds. 2009. How Teachers in Europe Teach Religion: An International Empirical Study in 16 Countries. Berlin: Lit Verlag.

Mette Buchardt

Religious Education at Schools in Denmark

Religious Education in schools in Denmark has been a returning theme in public debate since the end of the 19th century up until today. Although being a predominantly Evangelical-Lutheran country, religious education on the mandatory primary and lower secondary school level is not confession-based in a strict sense, but still it is possible to be exempted from the subject for e. g. religious reasons. Unlike, for instance, the voluntary school types on higher secondary level, the relations to the Evangelical Lutheran Church is still present in the legal basis of the primary and lower secondary school, but in a complex and much debated way. Another important factor for understanding the role of religion in schools is the welfare state model which politically and economically has characterised Denmark during the 20th century, where the Social Democratic party has been a dominant political force. The welfare state has been the central frame for developing an educational system free of charge in order to distribute social goods to the whole population and with explicit obligations to raise school pupils into values such as equity and democracy. School is thus expected to create social and societal cohesion, something which also frames and challenges the teaching of religion, also in light of a growing public focus on religious and cultural diversity, especially with regard to the Muslim parts of the population. The author of this chapter is Associate Professor at the Department of Learning and Philosophy at Aalborg University, Denmark. The meaning and impact of culture and religion on education has been a central theme in her historical and sociological educational research; for instance, the knowledge production concerning religion and culture in classrooms and its connection with political discourse and conflicts about “Muslims” and “Danes” in Danish society during the 1990s and 2000s (e. g. Buchardt 2008).

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Socio-religious background

Like other Nordic countries Denmark has often been characterised as being relatively homogenous, an assumption which today finds support in the fact that despite formal freedom of religious affiliation since 1848, 79.1 percent of a total population of 5.6 million are today members of the so-called Evangelical Lutheran People’s Church – Folkekirken.1 Nevertheless, discussions and struggles about diversity, including religious diversity, have had a huge impact on Danish society contemporarily as well as historically. Among the examples of such discussions – including the pledge for legislative reform dealing with diversity and difference – is the reform of the foundation of parish structure and the opening of the possibility to form free schools in the late 19th century. Here the hegemony of the Folkekirke faced challenges from on the one hand, the labour movement and on the other hand, awakening movements such as the pietistic so-called Inner Mission movement and Grundtvigianism, the latter closely connected to the peasants movement and propagating a type of Christianity where the people (folk), the pagan past and the nation played a central role. This led to, for instance, the possibility of creating free religious communities within the church and the right to run free schools (friskoler) supported by the state and under state control (Korsgaard 2004; Korsgaard and Wiborg 2006; Lindhardt 1978; Buchardt 2013b). Today, the presence of labour migrants and refugees spurs ongoing discussions with a religious subtext and has increasingly done so since the 1980s. Especially the question of migrants and descendants of migrants with a relation to Islam has been a central topic and struggle, and the educational system has been a pivotal arena for this. 7.9 percent of the population in Denmark are migrants, and an estimated 4.2 percent of the total population belongs to the Islamic faith, of whom the majority are migrants or so-called second or third generation migrants.2 Even though this could be viewed as relatively small numbers compared to for instance a European context, the question of “migrants” and “Muslims” is nevertheless a key issue in public and political debate in Denmark (Hussein et al. 1997; Nielsen 2011; Buchardt 2011e). Other religious groups outside the Folkekirke have a tendency to disappear in e. g. the media attention directed towards Muslims. Nevertheless other Christian 1 Numbers as of January 1, 2013: http://miliki.dk/kirke/kirkestatistik. 2 The number of Muslims are based on estimations made by Center for Samtidsreligion, Aarhus University http://samtidsreligion.au.dk/religion-i-danmark/. The number of migrants in Denmark is from Danmarks Statistik/Statistics Denmark, http://www.dst.dk/da/informationsservice/oss/religion.aspx – http://www.dst.dk/pukora/epub/upload/16601/indv.pdf. Here a person is considered to be a migrant if she/he does not have at least one parent which is born in Denmark and holds Danish citizenship.

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confessions than the Evangelical Lutheran e. g. the Catholic and the Baptist Churches, have been part of the religious landscape in Denmark, since especially the grating of religious freedom. Numbers from the Centre for Contemporary Religion, Aarhus University show that in 2012 the Roman Catholic Church formed the biggest with 40,507 members, a number that has increased during the past couple of years, where for instance the Baptist Church and Pentecostals have around 5,000 members each. Among the three Jewish faith communities in Denmark Mosaisk Trossamfund (the Jewish Community, directly translated: the Mosaic faith community) is the oldest and with its estimated 2300 members also the biggest. Also faith communities of Buddhists (estimated 7,642 members cross communities in 2011) and of e. g. groups of Hindus, Bahais and Sikhs are present as are most newer religious movements but all in a quite small scale.3 Also with regards to another aspect of globalisation, namely internationalisation on an institutional level, Denmark and its educational system are facing challenges due to increasing international comparison and standardisation of education, which in the past decade has resulted in, for instance, the introduction of national tests (Eckhardt Larsen et al. 2007; Ydesen 2013; Plum 2012). In light of this it might make sense to see the contemporary challenges of religious difference as part of a larger picture where the core challenge is how to sustain the Danish welfare system – the Danish model for distribution of material resources – as well as the more nebulous idea of national identity in the face of increasing globalisation (Petersen 2011; Kettunen and Petersen 2011; Kettunen 2011). A central political force in developing Denmark as a modern welfare state based on parliamentary democracy has throughout the 20th century been the Social Democrat party. As it is the case in the neighbouring countries of Norway and Sweden, the development of the educational system is highly indebted to the Social Democrat state crafters, often in close alliance with the liberal party (Venstre) and the Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre), and in general there has been a tradition for broad political alliance and support behind the educational reforms. A central aim has been to create a coherent and comprehensive system that allows access to higher education from all parts of the school system, something which should also be seen as a part of constructing a social contract between state, market and citizens in the development of a welfare state model according to which equal access to education has been an important part of the 3 In Denmark religious affiliation is not registered in official statistics due the freedom of religious belief. An exception is the Evangelical Lutheran Church – the Folkekirke – due to the fact that it is a so-called state-supported church, collecting so-called Church taxes through the general tax bill of its members. The numbers and estimations from Centre for Contemporary Religion/Center for Samtidsrreligion are therefore based on information provided by the faith communities, http://samtidsreligion.au.dk/religion-i-danmark/2013/.

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distribution of wealth (Kettunen 2011; Telhaug et al. 2006; Buchardt, Markkola and Valtonen 2013). Today, education in Denmark is – broadly speaking – based on a common school for primary and lower secondary level called Folkeskolen (People’s school), on which this chapter will concentrate, consisting of a one year so-called pre-school class (“børnehaveklasse”, or Form 0, mandatory since 2009) followed by 9 to 10 years of schooling. Ten years of primary and lower secondary education is mandatory, though it does not necessarily have to take place in the state school, but can be fulfilled in either free schools or private schools, or at home, as long as it complies with the goals formulated in the state school curriculum. The next level in the educational system consists of on the one hand, technical training programmes leading directly to the labour market and on the other hand, a high school education, where one type is the classic gymnasium (stx) or the two-year so-called HF (Higher Preperatory Examination), both aimed at higher education. Other high school types are geared towards for instance business (hhx) or technical education (htx). All types are, as the Folkeskole, free of charge, just as the students are provided with an allowance from the state. Though the chapter will concentrate on religion in relation to the primary and lower secondary education, because this is the 10 years of mandatory education. Also the high school types will be included to give a contrasting example in order to highlight the complexity and permutations in the landscape of Religious Education and the handling of religion in schools in Denmark.

2.

Legal Frameworks of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

Religion is included as an independent subject in the curriculum of the primary and lower secondary school and on high school level.4 As for the latter, the subject is named “Religion” (Religion Studies or Religious Studies), and many teachers today have a university degree in Comparative Religion, something which is mirrored in the state curriculum for the subject, especially since the 4 “Religion” is a mandatory subject in the stx – the so-called level C, meaning basic level. In addition, it forms part of the so-called Culture and Society Subject group (Kultur- og samfundsfagsgruppen) which comprises History Education, Civics and Religion in the two-year HF (Højere Forberedelseseksamen/Higher Preperatory Examination): http://uvm.dk/Ud dannelser-og-dagtilbud/Gymnasiale-uddannelser/Studieretninger-og-fag/Fag-paa-hf/Kul tur-og-samfundsfaggruppen-hf. Finally, the subject exists as a voluntary subject on a higher level, which, in principle, it would be possible to offer to the students in all high school types, but which in practice builds on the knowledge corresponding to the mandatory subject in the stx.

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1985 syllabus for the classical gymnasium (today called the stx, abbreviation of “studentereksamen” – meaning student examination, traditionally geared towards university admission). Another landmark in the development of the subject on this educational level has been the removal of the right to exemption from the subject in 1994. The subject has since then been what the high school researcher Peter Hobel calls “one among the other secularised subjects” (Hobel 2002, 21). An important feature has also been that the subject became an examination subject in 1984, something which consolidated its institutional status as an academic subject. The main areas mentioned in the ministerial regulations for the subject are “the world religions”, where Christianity is defined as mandatory, and Islam is mentioned explicitly as content. Furthermore, it is stated that the subject matter is based on an “academic/scientific (‘videnskabelig’) and non-confessional background”. A Danish and European perspective is explicitly mentioned, but also that it is a “global subject”.5 On primary and lower secondary level, it becomes more complicated in terms of the relation between academic knowledge and religious and/or moral upbringing in the legal basis of the subject. The school subject on this level is called Kristendomskundskab, officially translated as Christian Studies,6 but the wording “Kundskab”, similar to “kunskap” in the Swedish school subject, could also be directly translated as “knowledge about…”, though the meaning of the word is closer to the German “-kunde” which is especially used to describe school subjects.7 This linguistic feature suggests the complicated character of the subject, which is also reflected in the legal framework of Kristendomskundskab and the ways in which it has spurred discussion: Is and should the subject matter be oriented towards so-called objective and academic knowledge about religion or should it be, or is it in effect, teaching the Christian faith? In contrast to the high school subject, the right to be exempted from the Folkeskole subject remains in place, which has also been part of the debate.8 Kristendomskundskab is taught in all forms except during the year where the confirmation ritual and the preparation for this take place in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. There is no state regulation of how many lessons each school subject should be taught, since the concrete schedule of the school is organised 5 Bekendtgørelse nr. 776 af 26/06/2013, published 28 – 06 – 2013, Ministery of Education, appendix 47: Religion, level C, June 201. (The ministrial order for the stx, level C), https:// www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=152507#Bil47). 6 http://eng.uvm.dk/Education/Primary-and-Lower-Secondary-Education/The-Folkeskole/ Subjects-and-Curriculum. 7 E.g. Lebensgestaltung-Ethik-Religionskunde in the German state Brandenburg, http:// www.mbjs.brandenburg.de/sixcms/detail.php/120349. 8 Act on the Folkeskole of 1993 (The Danish Primary and Lower Secondary School) (Copenhagen, Danish Ministry of Education) 1994, §6, stk. 2. See e. g. Kjær (1999) and Jensen (1999).

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locally with municipal approval, but in the ministerial supervising guidelines, the subject is assigned 30 hours per year, except for the 1st and 6th forms where 60 hours of instruction are suggested.9 As in the Nordic neighbouring countries, world religions form part of curriculum, but Evangelical Lutheran Christianity has kept the most prominent place, namely as the so-called “main area of knowledge”, something which is explicated in the Act on the Folkeskole, where since 2004 so-called “foreign religions and other life views (livsanskuelser)” are mentioned as mandatory as well, but only in the senior classes (meaning from the 7th form).10 The regulations and objectives for the subject, issued by the Ministry of Education, in some sense paint a broader picture. In the so-called “Common objectives”, the main purpose of the subject is defined as follows: “the pupils [should] achieve the knowledge (kundskab) in order to understand the significance of the religious dimension to the life-view (livsopfattelsen) of the individual human being and its relations to others”. Though “Christianity as it emerges in a historical context as well as at present” is defined as the central area of knowledge, “non-Christian religions and life-views (livsanskuelser)” are also mentioned along with “biblical stories”. In the final part of the statement of purpose all these elements are connected in the following paragraph: “Through encounters with different kinds of life questions and answers from Christianity as well as from other religions and life-views (livsopfattelser), the instruction should provide a basis for developing personal opinions and co-responsibility in a democratic society.”11

The more complex picture is mirrored in the final objectives after the 9th form where the four main areas of knowledge and skills are “philosophy of life and ethics”; “biblical stories”; “Christianity and its various expressions in a historical context and at present” and “non-Christian religions and other life views (livsopfattelser)”. To further complicate the identity of the subject, as it is articulated from state and ministry, the area of “philosophy of life and ethics” is in the ministerial supervision guide pictured as the inner core of the subject matter 9 “The minimum number of lectures for the school year 2010/2011 onwards”, the Ministry of Education,http://uvm.dk/I-fokus/~/media/UVM/Filer/I%20fokus/Tema/Timetal/100908_ minimumstimetal_vejledende.ashx. 10 Act on the Folkeskole of 1993 (The Danish Primary and Lower Secondary School) (Copenhagen, Danish Ministry of Education) 1994, §6, stk. 1., Fælles m”l. Faghæfte 4: Kristendomskundskab, Copenhagen: Ministry of Education 2004 [Common objectives 2004] 11 Fælles m”l 2009 [Common objectives 2009], Ministry of Education 2009, 3. “At eleverne opn”r kundskaber til at forst” den religiøse dimensions betydning for livsopfattelsen hos det enkelte menneske og dets forhold til andre”; “Gennem mødet med de forskellige former for livsspørgsm”l og svar, som findes i kristendommen samt i andre religioner og livsopfattelser, skal undervisningen give eleverne grundlag for personlig stillingtagen og medansvar i et demokratisk samfund”

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to which the other three main objectives should refer and relate. Here it is also mentioned that despite the fact that according to the Act on the Folkeskole only Christianity is mandatory at all levels, the teacher can choose to implement “non-Christian religions and other life views” as early as from the 1st form, based on professional and pedagogical grounds.12 The relation between the subject in the Folkeskole and the Evangelical Lutheran Church is in other words still present in the legal basis of the school subject. The denomination is described in the law as “the central area of knowledge”, and “Christianity” is mentioned as the central area of knowledge in the main objective of the subject, though in the latter less narrowly than in the Act on Folkeskole (§ 6) since it is here not limited to the Evangelical Lutheran confession. The relationship between the Folkeskole and the Folkekirke is also apparent in the fact that instruction is absent in the year of Evangelical Lutheran confirmation instruction and that the right to exemption from the subject remains, while it has been removed from the high school subject. On the one hand, such elements are upholding the boundaries to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but on the other hand, the subject matter is simultaneously described as a broader subject dealing with the “religious dimension”, and e. g. other religions than Christianity form part of the state-issued objectives. Though it could be argued that the right to exemption from the subject is a consequence of the confessional ties, it could also be argued that the exemption paragraph in part retains and consolidates those ties. Nevertheless, the increasing religious diversity in Denmark – and perhaps not least the growing recognition of this diversity as well as the recognition of the European and global context of the country’s politics, culture and economy – can also be traced in the legal basis and ministerial guidelines for the subject matter. Especially the role played by Islam in the written curriculum has risen in prominence, which is also the case for the high school subject. Despite the fact that mainly experts with a relationship to the Evangelical Lutheran Church – together with pedagogical and academic experts – have been represented on the supervising boards of the ministry and minister, and that also the representation of theologians still outnumbers the Comparative Religion experts on such boards – the presence of other religious communities certainly plays an increasing role in the state formulation of curricular content. It also plays a role in opening up the curriculum of the subject to further inspiration from Comparative Religion. To explain the dominance of experts with a relation to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in relation to legislation and reform work on a ministerial level, it

12 Ibid., 17.

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might be useful to consider the historical relationship between the state and the Evangelical Lutheran Church and how this relationship continues today. The Danish Constitution from 1848, which marked the transition from absolutism to an incipient development of democracy, also brought a change in the status of the Church from being the Church of the state and the king to being a so-called state-supported Church. Article 4 in the constitution states that the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the People’s Church of Denmark/the Danish People’s Church and is thus supported by the state. Though the new government of 2011 has made it a political issue to strive for independence of the Church of Denmark from the state, maybe even a separation from the state, no suggestions have yet been launched to initiate any reform of the complex relationship between the Church and the Folkeskole subject. Church officials and theologians are in a Danish state context not simply to be compared with officials from other so-called state “recognised” religious communities,13 but are also to be understood as state-certified academics and state officials. The parish church serves, for instance, as the registration place for newborns, regardless of whether or not the parents are members of the church. This has been criticised by, for instance, Comparative Religion scholars and school and teacher education professionals (Jensen 2000; Rothstein 1999 et al.). Others have underlined the importance of distinguishing between the freedom of belief and the equity of belief in relation to the historical relationship between Evangelical Lutheran Christianity and the state and culture of the Danish nation (Christoffersen and Bæk Simonsen 1999 et al.). The relationship between the state and the largest religious community in the nation is in other words complicated, something which is also mirrored in the legal framework of the school subject Kristendomskundskab and the way in which it is developed and maintained by the state, politically as well as administratively.

3.

Developments in the country’s education policies

An important factor in the development of Danish educational policies from the late 20th century has been different forms of pedagogical progressivism, especially from the 1970s onwards. Here so-called critical pedagogy, inspired by for instance the pedagogy and didactics of German pedagogues such as Wolfgang Klafki and Thomas Ziehe, became dominant among opinion-making teachers, and experiments with project-oriented and problem-based education became popular (Øland 2010; Østergaard Andersen 2012; Bjerg 2012; Buchardt 2012b et 13 In Denmark a religious community can apply for so-called state recognition. This state approval is a condition for the right to conduct marriages with legal effect.

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al.). In the Act on the Folkeskole from 1993, doing project assignments became mandatory for the 9th form, something which can be seen as a sign of the definitive institutionalisation of the pedagogic progressivist movement. The act also made so-called instructional differentiation an objective for teachers, meaning that it the teachers should strive for differentiating the instruction in such a way that all pupils could be reached (Act on the Folkeskole 1993, § 10). The 1993 act was passed under a Social Democracy-headed centre-left government, but when a liberal-conservative government took office in 2001, a new era was inaugurated. Since then, one of the most significant changes in educational politics in the past 20 years has been passed, namely the introduction of national tests and the preparation of annual plans for each individual pupil in the Folkeskole. It would, however, be simplistic to view this change as solely a question of party politics, since this reform was a political result of negotiations between the liberal-conservative government and the Social Democrats during 2005 – 2006, and since no attempt has been made to reverse the development since a new center-left government took office in 2011. One of the arguments in support of the new course has been that, for instance, testing should serve as a tool to promote equality in educational achievement (Gustafson 2012). As such it can be framed as being in line with Social Democratic politics during the 20th century. Nevertheless, it was a ground-breaking change in an educational system in which comparison of pupils had been seen as contradictory to the aim of equality as an educational value, a view especially promoted by Social Democratic reformers. The change, of course, should also be understood in the light of growing internationalisation of the educational system, including the growing influence from the PISA test and organisations such as the OECD. The same reform wave also led to the introduction of mandatory examination (graduation) after the 9th Folkeskole form which today includes the school subject Kristendomskundskab.

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

In Denmark, around 14 percent of the school pupils attend private schools, in numbers meaning that in 2008 approximately 91,000 children attended the 510 private schools.14 Though originally rooted in the Grundtvigian movement, the so-called free school scene today consists of a wide range of schools with different religious 14 http://eng.uvm.dk/Fact-Sheets/Primary-and-lower-secondary-education/Private-schools.

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and/or ideological flavours. Besides the classic private school, originally with a social basis in the urban upper and middle classes, and the progressive free schools, the so-called lilleskole (literally meaning small school) with roots in the progressive pedagogical movement, the landscape of free schools today is to a wide extent religiously flavoured. In addition to the so-called Grundtvig-Koldinspired schools (where Kold refers to the Grundtvigian pedagogue and school pioneer Christen Kold 1816 – 1870) and schools in the old pietistic tradition (e. g. the Inner Mission/Indre Mission), this landscape includes, for instance, schools in the Rudolph Steiner tradition, Islamic free schools, Catholic schools and schools run by Charismatic and newer Christian fundamentalist movements (Krabek 2006; Shakoor 2006). The private schools in Denmark are subsidised and controlled by the state, the latter through supervisors chosen by the parents, but certified by the state. The contents and organising of the instruction and syllabus are left to the school, as long as they are kept in line with the objectives issued by the Ministry of Education. Politically, this legal framework dates back to the democratic constitution from 1915 that made primary and lower secondary education compulsory, whereas it was not made compulsory to attend school, something which underlines the huge political impact of the Grundvigian movement in Denmark on the path towards a parliamentary democracy. Besides so-called folk high schools, the organising of free schools as a means of “popular enlightenment” had a huge impact on the organisation of the Danish educational system. However, historians of education Ove Korsgard and Susanne Wiborg state that the concrete influence on, for instance, the contents and methods of the Folkeskole to some extent has been overestimated (Korsgaard and Wiborg 2006). Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the Grundtvigian influence paved the way for a state-controlled and state-integrated plurality in terms of religious and denominational difference, and as such, has opened possibilities from the second half of the 20th century used especially by new immigrant groups from, for instance, Asia and Africa to create immigrant national (e. g. Pakistani) schools and schools based on religious identity, such as Islamic schools, though specific religious affiliation is not necessarily expected from pupils and parents. Thus, Christian migrants also attend Islamic schools, just as e. g. Muslims attend Catholic schools. The legal framework regulating the schools has led some scholars to suggest that the free schools, e. g. the Islamic ones, should also be understood as part of the educational system and as such not outside the state, and classroom research has pointed to the fact that in such schools the schooling into citizenship in the Danish society is a high priority and can be a highly dominant discourse (Haaber Ihle 2007; Padovan-Özdemir 2012). In the past decade, there have been incidences of moral panic in public debate about e. g. the contents of school books in Islamic as well as Evangelical schools, involving, for

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instance, evolutionist approaches, and also cases about e. g. the appearance of schools run by the Scientology movement which have been drawn political attention (e. g. Buchardt 2012a). As such the tradition, closely connected to the emergence of Denmark as a parliamentary democracy, of handling religious diversity is now challenged by the growing religious diversity as well as the reaction to this diversity in political and public debate.

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

A central conception that has been used in the legal framework and ministerial guidelines for the Folkeskole subject since 1995 is the term “the religious dimension” (“den religiøse dimension”), which – as mentioned in section 2 – appears in the main objectives for the subject. Here “understanding the significance of the religious dimension to the life- view (livsopfattelsen) of the individual human being and his or her relations to others” is mentioned as a central general aim. The conception can be found in the existentialist theology of Paul Tillich, and, for instance, Henrik Juul (2011) suggests that the way of transfer of the concept into a Danish context could be the work of the UK psychologist and Religious Education scholar and developer Ronald Goldman. Goldman was introduced in Denmark from especially the 1970s onwards by especially the Professor in Didactics of Religious Education and the History of Education, the Danish church historian K. E. Bugge who pioneered in, for instance, introducing the English RE development in a Danish context (e. g. Bugge 1970, 1991). Bugge, who was a key name in Religious Education research and didactics from the 1960s and until the years around his retirement in the late 1990s, held the only chair, a full professorship in Religious Education in Denmark, namely at the Royal Danish School of Education (Danmarks Lærerhøjskole). This institution no longer exists, but has served as an important basis for what is today the Department of Education at Aarhus University. Though some have argued that the relation between Tillich and the concept is not the main point, others have emphasised the relation between the conception and the curricular area Philosophy of Life, due to the fact that the ministerial supervising guidelines from 2004 state that “[t]he philosophy of life can serve to elaborate the religious dimension” (see also Juul 2011; Böwadt 2011). As such, one might perceive of the conception of “the religious dimension” as related more to learning from religion as life interpretation than to learning about religious practice. Nevertheless, the latter is also a possible interpretation, used in e. g. anthropologically inspired approaches (e. g. Buchardt 2011a, 193) and might be used by some teachers and teacher educators in this sense. Another central conception – and an approach which during the 20th century

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and up until today has served as a central take on the subject matter and the didactical traditions around it – is the so-called historical-critical approach. Since the late 19th century where reform-oriented university theologians unsuccessfully attempted to introduce the so-called biblical criticism (inspired by, for instance, the German Old Testament scholar Julius Wellhausen), the use of historical methods in the teaching of religion in schools has been a matter of recurrent debate (Nørr 1979; Buchardt 2013b). During the 1930s, a commission appointed by the Social Democratic Minister of Education suggested groundbreaking reform of the Folkeskole subject in the same direction, suggesting that the catechism approach directed towards religious and moral upbringing should be replaced by so-called objective teaching based on the scholarly results from especially biblical criticism, something which spawned major discussion at the time. Also here university theologians in favour of biblical criticism were among the central proponents (Bugge 1968, 1979; Reeh 2006; Buchardt 2013a). When what was at the time called historical-critical method finally entered the official school curriculum in Kristendomskundskab due to the Act on the Folkeskole in 1975 and in the ministerial guidelines that followed, it was part of a general academisation of the school subjects in the Folkeskole, where, for instance, also the school subject History took an academic and scientific turn (Bugge 1979, 1994; Nielsen 1995). Today, historical-critical method is no more a topic for much debate. On the one hand, this means that it has lost some of the status it was increasingly receiving from especially the 1960s onwards, but on the other hand, scholarly based knowledge about, for instance, Old Testament texts is an integrated part of most school book systems directed towards the subject, though in different ways (Buchardt 2011b). As such it might be fair to say that historical-critical approaches to e. g. biblical texts have become less visible due to their mainstreaming in the school subject and the didactical traditions surrounding it, and that such approaches serves as an important part of the school subject’s body of knowledge. Slightly more inflammable in the recent decades is the debate about what should be the central academic discipline (“basisfag”) behind Kristendomskundskab: Theology or Comparative Religion. Some scholars from Comparative Religion have criticised the subject for being preaching and for practising religious upbringing (forkyndelse), where others have criticised comparative religion approaches for being based on positivist assumptions (Jensen 2000; Rothstein 1999; Hauge 1994; Rothstein and Warmind 1994). Especially the curricular area of phlosophy of life has in the 2000s been subject to debate, where the theologian and philosopher of education Pia Rose Böwadt, based on her conceptual research, has claimed that this curricular area is a reshaped form of Christianity drawing on e. g. vitalism, a critique which received critical reactions itself from e. g. circles around the association of Folkeskole

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teachers in the subject (Religionslærerforeningen) (Rydahl 2005a, 2005b; Böwadt 2007, 179ff). The landscape of didactical traditions surrounding the school subject is diverse and can be sketched out in several ways. Buchardt et al. (2006/2011) divide the field into seven traditions or approaches, namely an existentialist approach often overlapping but also differing from the philosophy of life approach; a Comparative Religion-inspired approach where religious practice and comparison between religions play a key role; an approach inspired by anthropological methods where the pupils’ fieldwork is central; a narrative approach emphasising religion as stories where telling biblical stories is favoured over historical knowledge about the texts – partly as a reaction to the dominance of the historical-critical methods especially during the 1970s; and, finally, an approach where the point of departure is symbols, aesthetics and visual images, also called didactics of symbols (“symbol-didaktik”). Mortensen and Therkelsen (2012) develop the picture by revisiting and making visible the historical-critical approach (Müller 2012) and the biographical approach (Schousbo 2012). The latter is especially interesting due to the fact that an approach using concrete lived life stories as a point of departure for teaching religion in a Nordic context dates back to, for instance, RE reform ideas from liberal theologians and early Comparative Religion scholars in the beginning of the 20th century (Buchardt 2013b). It is most likely an approach which has been used frequently in school practice during the 20th century and up until today, but which for the last decades has not been subject to much analysis in subject-related didactical literature in a Danish context. Moreover, Mortensen and Therkelsen distinguish between a phenomenology of religion oriented comparative approach and a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. Inspirations from multicultural, antiracist and intercultural traditions from especially the Anglo-Saxon sphere have also had an impact on the development in didactics of religion in Denmark (e. g. Bugge 1991; Rendtorff 2006; Buchardt 2006, 2011d; Hansen 1999, 2007; Buchardt and Fabrin 2012). This is especially the case in relation to comparative, sociology of religion-inspired and anthropological types of education and instruction, but also e. g. narrative approaches have been used as a means in this context.

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Practice/reality of RE in different schools

Contrary to other Nordic countries, Denmark has not been part of the bigger European comparative education research projects regarding RE in schools conducted in the past decade, such as e. g. the REDCo project. Also in the national research scene, scholarly work on the subject has been limited, especially since the dissolution of the research environment on didactics of religion at the Danish Royal School of Education (later the Danish University of Education, now Department of Education, Aarhus University) during the 1990s. It goes without saying that this has had consequences for the extent of researchbased knowledge about practice and reality of religion in schools available. With regard to empirical research regarding the classroom level, especially the question of how pupils categorised as “Muslims” and the question of the teaching of Christianity versus Islam have been central topics. By means of educational anthropology, Laura Gilliam has explored the social practice, selfperception and teachers’ categorisations of Muslim pupils, pointing to, for instance, the ways in which the category of “the Muslim pupil” becomes identified with “trouble-making” in social practice in the school institution (Gilliam 2009). Gilliam, Sedgwick et al. has recently conducted a research project about Islam, Muslim families and Danish schools. The question of how school produces pupil identities, here in relation to knowledge production, is also the theme in Mette Buchardt’s curriculum-sociological classroom studies on how “Christianity” and “Islam” are transformed into identity-political categories in relation to the teaching of religion and as such turned into social categories, weakening their relation to religious practice and belief when becoming school knowledge (Buchardt 2008, 2010). That this is also the case in other subjects, such as History and Danish, is pointed out by Buchardt and Fabrin (2011, 2012). Studies of a broader nature, for instance of the relation between the subject and the general school curriculum, and of the impact of the teaching on pupils e. g. in a longitude perspective, still remain to be seen in a Danish context, although the teachers college professors Irene Larsen and Peter Green-Sørensen’s school study (2005) points in the latter direction. Also the classroom practice concerning philosophy of life would be a field of interest to future empirical research, considering the discussions that followed Pia Rose Böwadt’s dissertation, a need that also Böwadt has highlighted, since her work was a history of ideas that examined the text layers around the school subject, but did not deal with the practiced classroom curriculum (2007, e. g. 184. See also Böwadt 2009).

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Observations on alternative subjects/learning areas like ethics, philosophy, etc.

In the Folkeskole, it is not possible to choose alternative subjects such as ethics and philosophy, but several subjects and practised educational traditions overlap with Kristendomskundskab. An example of this is the pedagogical tradition for so-called “philosophy for children”, which to some degree overlaps with the objective of philosophy of life in the subject Kristendomskundskab. As in Kristendomskundskab, the dominant tradition has to a wide extent been the philosophy of life tradition, inspired by, for instance, the German tradition for philosophy of life (e. g. Schopenhauer, Lipps, Bollnow), Grundtvigianism and Danish philosophy of life (inspired by e. g. Ludvig Feilberg, K.E. Løgstrup et al.) (Böwadt 2007, 2009; Hinge 2011). Thus in a Danish context, philosophy practised in school mainly takes the form of so-called philosophical conversation (samtale) which is used as a teaching method across the subjects, and the classical academic tradition for philosophy seems to have played a minor role if any (Hinge 2011, 198). Among the educationists who have developed philosophical methods in education is the teacher Per Jespersen, inspired by among others the GrundtvigKold tradition. Inspiration from among others the US philosopher Matthew Lippmann has also had an impact. In the last decade, Helle Hinge and Henrik Juul, who both have a background in e. g. teacher education and who are both authors and developers of the didactics of Religious Education, have authored a textbook for primary and lower secondary school which points in a new direction by using philosophy in a more academic sense as well (Hinge and Juul 2005). That seems to bring the Folkeskole closer to the high school where students may choose Philosophy as a subject. Nor in this context, however, is it a replacement for the subject Religion which is compulsory. Another educational area worth mentioning is citizenship education. In the subject of the Folkeskole, this area is specifically addressed in Social Studies (Samfundsfag), but for the past decade a growing interest in citizenship education across subjects seems to have emerged, and citizenship education has in the same period likewise been part of a course in the teachers’ education, in which also Christianity and religion in general have played a key role (see section 10 below). The 2000s brought an increasing focus on so-called anti-radicalisation campaigns, more or less explicitly directed towards potential right and left radicalism and Islamic radicalism, something which should be seen in relation to on the one hand, the aftermath of the 9 – 11 bombings in New York, and on the other hand, related to the fact that “Muslims” had increasingly become a key political topic from the 1980s, something which became particularly sig-

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nificant during the 2000s (Buchardt 2011e; Nielsen 2011; Sheikh and Crone 2011).

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

Although most religious affiliations are present in the religious landscape in Denmark, it is especially Islam and Muslims versus Christianity, the latter often as connected to “Danish culture” which is in the fore in media attention and political debate. This tendency dates back to the mid-1980s, where a critical media agenda concerning this particular group of “refugees and immigrants” was intensified along with the media coverage of the Iranian revolution and the war in Lebanon (Dindler and Olsen 1988). This focus is mirrored in the school scene. During the late 1980s and up until the 1990s professional circles of researchers and teachers of Danish as a second language and bilingualism started to evoke a positive counter-discourse, advocating for multiculturalism and anti-racism in school, something which started influencing the didactics of religion from especially the 1990s, inspired by multicultural, antiracist and intercultural traditions for religious education from especially the Anglo-Saxon sphere (as mentioned above). Also in this context Islam and Muslims often became the main representation if not the only representation of religious diversity, when the dominating educational political tendency towards canon approaches and monoculturalism were challenged (Buchardt 2011e). The focus on Muslims in public and political debate as well as in school has only increased since 9 – 11 and the so-called “cartoon crisis” that with Denmark as its point of departure, hit the world in early 2006. Although the body of textbooks available for primary and lower secondary school as well as for the high school level contains a broader range of (mainly) “World religions”, the reforms of the legal basis have often put Islam in the front position, when the previously central position of Christianity in the curriculum was reformed, sometimes along with Judaism, and thus drawing on the idea of a special relation between “the people of the scripture”. The legal basis at present for e. g. the stx high school subject (the classical gymnasium) and in the teachers’ education subject Kristendomskundskab/livsoplysning/medborgerskab – KLM (Knowledge about Christianity/life enlightenment/Citizenship) (see section 10) is an example of this. But religious diversity has been a challenge within the state of Denmark for a long time, as e. g. the permission for running state-supported free schools in the end of the 19th century points to. Although it is of importance to explore and analyze critically how the negative as well as positive attention to Islam and

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“Muslimsness” versus “Danishness” is recontexualized and approached in schooling, such research (e. g. Jensen 1994; Gilliam 2009; Buchardt 2008, 2010) also runs the risk of reproducing the focus that is examined. Research focusing on, for instance, “the overlooked other” in the margin, such as the experience of Chinese, Vietnamese and Filipino migrants and their children in relation to school, could be tasks for future research. Also the development of didactical frameworks dealing with, for instance, the huge interest for popular occult and mystic phenomena – an interest pointed to by e. g. Peter Green Sørensen’s investigation of preferred topics in Kristendomskundskab among pupils as early as in 1991 (Rydahl and Troelsen 1996, 113) – could challenge the pattern.

9.

Religion in schools outside of RE

Besides the teaching of Kristendomskundskab, themes connected to religion form part of Folkeskole subjects such as History, Social Studies and Danish Education, and especially in connection with migration it seems to be of interest to teachers to include the question of religion (e. g. Buchardt and Fabrin 2012). Also in the mandatory project assignment in the 9th form, religion and questions related to religion may occur. In a broader sense, religion has played an increasingly prominent role, namely due to the growing focus on “Muslims” in Danish society (Buchardt 2008, 2010, 2011e; Andreassen 2005; Hussain et al. 2007). The debates on migration and diversity are mirrored in the increasing attention which has also been given to the tradition of Christmas celebration in the local Evangelical Lutheran parish church, and in general, cooperation with the local pastor is used although it is also often an object of debate. Educational events, such as a visit from a local pastor and model courses that the teachers can use themselves, are offered in different forms across the country by the educational service of the Folkekirke (Folkekirkens Skoletjeneste) – for example in the Diocese of Copenhagen also in cooperation with active Muslims, and also addressing and communicating positive images of religious diversity (Buchardt 2002. See also Madsen 1994).

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Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities issues

Teacher education is organised in a double-track system, meaning that the teachers in the Folkeskole and high schools, for instance the stx (the classical gymnasium, see section 2), are not educated in the same type of institutions. Primary and lower secondary school teachers receive a four-year education on BA level including internship in schools at so-called university colleges (UCs), based on e. g. the former teacher education institutions (in Danish “seminarium”), whereas for instance teachers in the classical gymnasium are usually university-educated in two main subjects on a MA level. In the case of the latter, pedagogical training and instruction take place after the MA degree in the form of a specially organised in-service training program (the so-called “pædagogikum”). With regard to the teachers in the high school subject Religion, this means that the majority of teachers are educated in Comparative Religion as one of the minimum two main subjects. This institutional organisation has also influenced the way in which Religious Education is taught and legally framed in the two types of school institutions. With regard to the four years of teacher education of the primary and lower secondary teachers, a new act was passed in 2013, taking effect in the summer of the same year. The teacher education includes the following four main elements: the so-called General/basic teacher’s qualification area (“lærerens grundfaglighed”), the choice of, in general, three so-called education/instruction-oriented subjects (“undervisningsfag”) directed towards instruction in specific subjects in the school, an internship (“praktik”) and a BA thesis.15 With regard to the subject General teacher qualification, it is dominated by pedagogical and didactic themes, but also, for instance, the handling of bilingual pupils is a sub-area of this very broad matter, and so is the sub-area “General Bildung/Formation: Knowledge of Christianity, life enlightenment and citizenship” (“Almen dannelse: Kristendomskundskab, livsoplysning og medborgerskab [KLM]”, called “Almen dannelse [KLM]”). The objectives of the sub-area “Almen dannelse (KLM)” are legislatively defined as an interpretation of the general objectives of the Folkeskole, the development of professional ethics and the handling of the “complex challenges faced by the teaching profession in a globalised society characterised by di-

15 Bekendtgørelse om uddannelsen til professionsbachelor som lærer i folkeskolen [Ministerial order on the Professional Bachelor education as teacher in the Folkeskole] https:// www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=145748#Bil1.

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versity of culture, values and religion”.16 In addition to the areas of knowledge such as educational history of ideas, human rights, citizenship and so-called life enlightenment and ethics, there are three areas with relation to religion, namely Christianity, Christianity in a contemporary context together with Islam, Judaism and “other life views” (Livsanskuelser) and finally “the relationship between religion, culture and politics in Evangelical Lutheran Christianity and other life-views, forms of secularisation and their consequences to everyday school life”.17 The sub-area of Almen dannelse (KLM) has its roots in a subject from the teacher education legislation effective as of August 2007, where an independent general subject, called Kristendomskundskab/livsoplysning/medborgerskab – KLM (Knowledge about Christianity/life enlightenment/Citizenship) – formed part of curriculum. This subject was aimed at providing general teacher qualification (rather than teaching qualifications aimed at concrete subjects in the school). In the past where this subject was effective, it gave rise to some public controversy, especially in teacher education circles. In 2009 a report that analysed a selection of student examination assignments in the subject from university colleges all over the country pointed to what the authors saw as problematic confusions concerning the relation between Christianity and democracy (Böwadt and Brandt 2009). Some authors suggested that such problems were rooted in the legal foundation and as such in the basic structures of the subject; some professionals from the board of the Association for Teachers College Professors in Religion (Seminarielærernes Religionslærerforening) argued for the huge benefits of the subject as practised in the teacher education (Sigurdsson 2009; Riis 2009 et al. For an overview of the debate: Larsen 2009).18 Also in the process of political negotiations leading up to the new reform being passed in 2013, the inclusion of KLM as “Almen dannelse” generated major discussions among politicians as well as professionals, but it is worth noticing that its final inclusion in the general teacher education curriculum enjoyed broad political support from the right opposition as well as the so-called Red-Green Alliance, the one party in Parliament left of the centre-left government, though perhaps due to slightly different agendas. As such it is on the one hand possible that 16 Ibid. “…komplekse udfordringer i lærerarbejdet i et globaliseret samfund præget af kulturel, værdimæssig og religiøs mangfoldighed”. 17 Ibid. “Forholdet mellem religion, kultur og politik i evangelisk-luthersk kristendom og andre livsanskuelser, typer af sekularisering og deres konsekvenser for skolens dagligdag”. 18 About the association for college professors in teacher education, Læreruddannelsernes Religionslærerforening http://www.emu.dk/sem/fag/kre/forening/. Also the high school teachers (http://www.emu.dk/gym/fag/re/foreningen/) and the primary and lower secondary school teachers have associations, which have traditionally been a central force in developing the instruction of religion in the educational system. The homepage of the latter, Religionslærerforeningen, was not accessable when writing this text.

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“Almen dannelse (KLM)” can be the object of the same type of criticism as the former KLM subject, but on the other hand it seems to enjoy support, be it as a cultural heritage-saving element or as a diversity-celebrating element, and as such as an object to monoculturalist as well as multiculturalist expectations. With regard to the so-called education / instruction-oriented subjects, subject-related didactics plays an increasing role in the legal frame as well as in practice. The subject which awards competence in the teaching of the Folkeskole subject Kristendomskundskab is called Kristendomskundskab / religion. Although it has been a goal in the several reforms of teacher education since the 1990s, this does not mean that teachers in the Folkeskole are necessarily teaching only the subjects that they have specialised in, and often small subjects such as Kristendomskundskab will usually have a high number of teachers who did not study the subject during teachers education. In the legal framing of the subject, it is defined as on the one hand the study of subject matter didactics, namely didactics of religion (religionsdidaktik), and on the other by a broad conception of religion, combined with philosophy and ethics, addressing Danish as well as European and global perspectives and focussed on “[c]ollective and individual conceptions of the world, humanity and society among human beings in both religious and non-religious contexts as well as their related actions”.19 This brings the way to view religion somewhat closer to the perception in the legal basis for the high school than the Folkeskole and also mirrors an increasing inspiration from Comparative Religion, especially the newer and more open conceptualisations at stake in this academic discipline. Moreover, this dual purpose points to the fact that the European and global context is influencing the development of Religious Education in Denmark more and more. The four main areas of competence follow in the same direction, namely didactics of religion, teaching in the topic (“emnet”) Christianity, teaching in the topic Islam and other religions and teaching in the topic of philosophy, including ethics and non-religious worldviews (“livanskuelser”). The direction towards professional practice is in other words not isolated to the competence area of didactics of religion, but frames the study of the religions and philosophy as well. The choice of marking Islam as a mandatory part of the curriculum (another parallel to the high school subject) reflects the fact that a growing number of the population is affiliated to Islam, and there is an increasing focus on this specific group. As such this particular selection of curricular knowledge can be said to mirror a general tendency in the political 19 Bekendtgørelse om uddannelsen til professionsbachelor som lærer i folkeskolen [Ministerial order on the Profession Bachelor education as teacher in the Folkeskole] https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=145748#Bil1. “[…] menneskers kollektive og individuelle verdens- menneske- og samfundsopfattelser i b”de religiøse og ikke-religiøse sammenhænge og de handlinger, der er forbundet hermed”.

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strategies that addresses handling of diversity, namely that such challenges are often concretised through a focus on Islam and Muslims, be it with a negative or a positive emphasis. But it is also important to notice the broad and pluralist conception of as well as forms of locality/globality of religion. Historically, the teacher education subject which gives formal competence to teach religion in primary and lower secondary level has often been a forerunner of the development of the school subject. Hence it might be fair to say that the latest issued curriculum in Kristendomskundskab/religion in the teacher education shows what is about to become the established “state of the art” in the development of didactics of religion and the education of religion in Denmark and as such points in the possible directions for future development.

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

Religious education research in Denmark is a small research field in Denmark and is mainly of qualitative and historiographical character. Quantitative studies using e. g. surveys, which are common in religious education research internationally have not been dominate in Denmark. Today, the research area does not have a specific chair at any Danish university, and only a handful of scholars which are doing comprehensive research on religion and religious education in schools hold permanent university chairs (namely at South Danish University (e. g. Peter Hobel, Tim Jensen), Aarhus University (e. g. Laura Gilliam, Marc Sedgwick) and Aalborg University (Mette Buchardt). With regards to empirical research on religion in schools or in school- and classroom practice especially the question of strategies towards Muslims in schools in general and in relation to the teaching in religion in particular has been in the fore (e. g. Buchardt 2008, 2010; Gilliam 2009) (see section 6). These studies are qualitative ethnographic and sociological studies. With regard to historical research in the school subject as well as on the impact of religion in general in the Danish history of education and schooling, a quite extensive research body is available. Drawing on, for instance the pioneering work of K. E. Bugge and Erik Nørr, Annette Faye Jacobsen has explored the debates in late 19th and early 20th century on teaching of religion from especially a teacher’s perspective (2011), and Niels Reeh and Mette Buchardt have done research on religion and Religious Education in school in respectively a political science-informed perspective and as part of historical welfare state research, the latter viewing the Danish case in a Nordic context (Reeh 2006, 2009a, 2009b; Buchardt 2011e, 2013b; Buchardt, Markkola and Valtonen 2013). Also Pia Rose Böwadt’s research within the disciplinary field of Philosophy of

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Education on philosophy of life and its pedagogical consequences (see section 6) has contributed to the historiography of religious education (2007, 2009). With Annette Faye Jacobsen as one of the authors, a new school history project is to be published in which religion will be a theme. That might very likely contribute significantly to the exploration of religion in schools as part of a general context of schooling in a historical perspective.20 Looking to the future, it is worth noticing that several PhD projects are in progress at the moment, for instance Keld Skovmand’s project about didactics of the teacher education, aiming at developing a so-called general didactics of religion, where the relation between so-called theoretical knowledge (from the academic disciplines Comparative Religion and Theology and the educational sciences), teacher education didactics and school practice is the focus (see also e. g. Skovmand 2011, 2012).21 Furthermore, it is important to mention that the university college scene, consisting of the former colleges for so-called mediumterm higher education (“mellemlange videreg”ende uddannelser” (MVU) directed towards the Professional Bachelor degree), including teacher education, seeks to develop research, especially research-based professional innovation. For instance the work of Pia Rose Böwadt and Ane Kirstine Brandt on e. g. citizenship education in relation to education in Christianity and religion in the teacher education (see section 10 about teacher education) is developed in this institutional context.

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

In a European and international perspective, one can on the one hand say that the Danish tradition of teaching and legislating on the teaching of religion in schools has drawn on European inspiration, where inspiration from the UK has been especially important in the most recent decades, e. g. the work of Michael Grimmith and Robert Jackson and the Warwick project (Rendtorff 1998; Buchardt 2006, 2011d; Hansen 1999, 2007; Dybdahl et al. 2011; Garsdal and Thorendahl 2012). On the other hand, the development in international and European bodies, such as the European Council, and internationally based attempts at policy development such as the Toledo guiding principles on teaching about religions and belief in public schools (2007) have not played a crucial role in Danish debate and development of the legislative framework which in this 20 Project description in English: http://edu.au.dk/fileadmin/www.dpu.dk/forskning/projekter/danskskolehistorie/20100512091403_schools-in-denmark—final-version.pdf. 21 http://pure.au.dk/portal/da/persons/keld-skovmand%28e349c33 f-4426 – 40a0-b04a60d6551664d4 %29/more.html.

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sense still seems to develop within a mainly national political space. It is most likely that the latter will be subject to change in the years to come. The way Danish educational politics in general are increasingly – and increasingly explicitly – following international trends and bodies can be said to point in this direction.

13.

Further information

13.1

The Danish educational system

The Ministry of Education: http://eng.uvm.dk/ Fact sheet about the Danish educational system produced by the Ministry of Education: http://eng.uvm.dk/Fact-Sheets/~/media/UVM/Filer/English/Fact%20 sheets/080101_fact_sheet_the_folkeskole.ashx

13.2

Introduction to the history of religion in schools and didactics of religion in Denmark

Buchardt, M., ed. 2011. Religionsdidaktik. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. Bugge, K. E. 1979. Vi har rel’gion. Et skolefags historie 1900 – 1975. Copenhagen: Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck. Bugge, K. E. 1994. Vi har stadig Rel’gion. Frederiksberg: Materialecentralen Religionspædagogisk center. Hobel, P., ed. 2002. Religion i gymnasiet. En fagdidaktik. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum. Mortensen, Carsten, and Lene Therkelsen, eds. 2012. Religionslærerens h”ndbog II. Faglige tilgange og konkrete undervisningsforløb. Frederiksberg: RPF-Religionspædagogisk Forlag.

13.3

Professional associations for teachers of religion

The association for primary and lower secondary school teachers of religion: Religionslærerforeningen – http://www.religionslaererforeningen.dk/ The association for higher secondary school teachers of religion: Religionslærerforeningen for Gymnasiet og HF – http://www.emu.dk/modul/religionsl%C3 %A6rerforeningen-gymnasiet-og-hf-intro#cookieaccepted The association for teacher education professors of religion (profession college level): Læreruddannelsens Religionslærerforening (LURF) – http:// www.lurf.dk/

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The religious landscape in Denmark

Faith communities in Denmark and number of members: Centre for Contemporary Religion: http://samtidsreligion.au.dk/en/ Report on the research project “Religion i Aarhus 2013. En kortlægning af religion og spiritualitet”, covering the religious landscape in ærhus, the next biggest city in Denmark: http://samtidsreligion.au.dk/religion-i-aarhus-2013/

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Danmark og Sverige, ed. P. B. Andersen et al., 303 – 320. Chaos, Dansk-Norsk Tidsskrift for Religionshistoriske Studier. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum. Sheikh, M. K., and M. Crone. 2012. Muslims as a Danish security issue. In Islam in Denmark. The challenge of diversity, ed. J. S. Nielsen, 173 – 195. New York: Lexington Books. Sigurdsson, L. 1999. KLM er en øjen”bner for de lærerstuderende. Kristeligt Dagblad, October 14. Skovmand, K. 2011. Kristenddomskundskab. Kategorier og kulturmøder i klasseværelse. In Klassseledelse og fag: at skabe klassekultur gennem fagdidaktiske valg, ed. M.-C. Secher Schmidt, 67 – 86. Frederikshavn: Dafolo. Skovmand, K. 2012. Brobygning som udfordring for religionslæreren. In Religionslærerens h”ndbog II. Faglige tilgange og konkrete undervisningsforløb, ed. C. B. Mortensen and L. Therkelsen, 29 – 41. Frederiksberg: RPF-Religionspædagogisk Forlag. Telhaug, A. O., O. A. Medi”s, and P. Aasen. 2006. The Nordic Model in Education: Education as part of the political system in the last 50 years. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 50: 245 – 283. Ydesen, C. 2011. The Rise of High-Stakes Testing in Denmark, (1920 – 1970). Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang Verlag. Ydesen, C. 2013. Educational testing as an accountability measure: drawing on twentiethcentury Danish history of education experiences. Paedagogica Historica 49, no. 5: 716 – 733. Østergaard Andersen, P. 2012. Pædagogik og pædagogiske teorier i Danmark fra 1960. In Klassisk og moderne pædagogisk teori, ed. P. Ø. Andersen, and T. Ellegaard, 58 – 87. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels Forlag. Øland, T. 2010. A state ethnography of progressivism: Danish school pedagogues and their efforts to emancipate the powers og the child, the people and the culture 1929 – 1960. Praktiske Grunde. Tidsskrift for kultur- og samfundsvidenskab, no. 1 – 2: 57 – 89. Central legislation for the Folkeskole-subject and the Danish Educational system: Act on the Folkeskole of 1975 (The Danish Primary and Lower Secondary School). Copenhagen: Ministry of Education, 1979. Act on the Folkeskole of 1993 (The Danish Primary and Lower Secondary School). Copenhagen: Ministry of Education, 1994. Dupont, K., and S. Holm-Larsen, eds. 2004. Folkeskoleloven 2004: Sammenstilling, bemærkninger og gennemførelsesbestemmelser m.v. [The Act on Folkeskolen 2004: Synopsis, remarks and rules for implementation]. Vejle: Kroghs Forlag. Holm Larsen, S. 2010. Folkeskoleloven 2010 – 2011. Sammenstilling, bemærkninger og gennemførelsesbestemmelser m.v., [The Act on Folkeskolen 2010 – 11: Synopsis, remarks and rules for implementation]. Frederikshavn: Dafolo. Faghæfte 3, Kristendomskundskab [Guide to school subjects 3. Kristendomskundskab]. Copenhagen: Ministry of Education, 1995. Fælles m”l. Faghæfte 4: Kristendomskundskab [Common objectives. Guide to school subjects 4. Kristendomskundskab]. Copenhagen: Ministry of Education, 2004. Fælles m”l 2009. Kristendomskundskab. Faghæfte 3 [Common objectives 2009. Kriste-

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domskundskab. Guide to school subjects 3.]. Copenhagen: Ministry of Education, 2009. Bekendtgørelse om uddannelsen til professionsbachelor som lærer i folkeskolen [Ministerial order on the Profession Bachelor education as teacher in the Folkeskole]. https:// www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=145748#Bil1.

Olga Schihalejev

Religious Education at Schools in Estonia

The author of this chapter is a senior lecturer (docent) in religious education in the Faculty of Theology at Tartu University, a researcher in the religious studies group in the Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory and an advisor in the National Values Program in the Centre for Ethics at Tartu University. Her main fields of interest are research on adolescents, their attitudes to religion and religious diversity, contextuality of young people’s attitudes in relation to religion; religious education didactics; teachers’ strategies and biography, and values education. Her current research “Contextual factors of young people’s attitudes and convictions in relation to religion and religious diversity” investigates how young people’s beliefs and commitments are expressed in different discourses of school, family, religious communities and the youth culture. She has worked as a teacher of religious education and has written several teaching-learning resources. She is actively involved in improving the national syllabus for religious education.

1.

Socio-religious background

1.1

General information

Estonia’s geopolitical position at the crossroads of East and West, with the history of Danish, German, Swedish and Russian dominions, has resulted in mixed political and cultural impacts. Christian influences from the Orthodox east and Catholic west may be detected in archaeological relics from the 10th century CE. Estonia was Christianized by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades in the 13th century. In the 16th century, Estonia became a Lutheran country. A significant increase of Orthodox Church membership took place during a crop failure of the 19th century with promises of land for converts. The impact of atheistic ideology during Soviet occupation must be also mentioned as a factor in shaping the Estonian religious situation today.

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There were 1,286,000 persons in Estonia at the beginning of 2013 (Statistics Estonia 2013c). The population has declined since 1991 due to emigration and negative natural increase (Statistics Estonia 2013a, PO021). The population decline affects also the decreasing number of school age children. This decline affects schools and the teacher-training sector in general, and some schools are being closed. According to data from 2013, Estonians make up 70 % of the total population. Russians are the second-largest group at 25 %. Other minority groups are much smaller: Ukrainians comprise 2 % of the population, Belarusians and Finns under 1 %. There are many smaller groups living in Estonia, covering 192 different nationalities (Statistics Estonia 2012a). On a regional basis the composition of nationalities varies remarkably. In some north-eastern towns of Estonia the proportion of the Russian speaking population is almost 80 %. In contrast, on the Estonian islands, Russian speakers comprise only 1 – 2 % of the population (Statistics Estonia 2012b, PCE04). The heterogeneous composition of the population has varied throughout the centuries. Russian communities, mainly consisting of traders and religious and political dissidents, have lived in Estonia for the last 1000 years. Many immigrants from the Russian empire made their home in Estonia from the 18th century, when the country fell under its rule. Prior to the Second World War, Russian communities in Estonia were small. After 1945, Soviet Russification policies dramatically altered the social and demographic landscape of Estonia. However, most immigrants settled in Estonia during the Soviet period: according to the population censuses of 1934 and 2000, the percentage of non-Estonians has grown from 12 % to 31 % (Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo 1935, 47 – 53 and Statistics Estonia 2002, PC222). The country has been heterogeneous religiously for a long time, with a sizeable Lutheran presence from 16th century and Orthodox populations from the middle of the 18th century. Also communities of Jews, Muslims and Old Believers have been present from the 17th-18th century onwards. Representatives of many other religions and denominations are established in Estonia from the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. In terms of national composition, Estonia’s religious landscape has changed radically during the last hundred years. According to the 1934 census, 78 % of Estonians were Lutherans, 19 % were Orthodox and 1 % had no religious affiliation (Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo 1935); however, today the country is highly secularized. One of the reasons for big changes was the extensive atheistic propaganda during 50 years of Soviet occupation (Remmel 2011). About 25 – 35 % of the population claims a religious affiliation according to various surveys conducted in Estonia (e. g. Halman et al. 2005; Liiman 2001). Not only each single denomination or religion, but all who adhere to any religion constitute a minority

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in Estonia. According to the Population Census in 2000, as well as in 2011, about 29 % of the population aged 15 and over defined their religious affiliation. If historically Estonia has been a Lutheran country, then for the first time in the 2011 census, the most influential religious group was the Orthodox. The number of Lutherans has dropped during the last ten years and formed for the first time since the 16th century the second largest religious group after the Orthodox. Next follow Baptists, Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses and Old Believers (see table 1). During the last 10 years the number of people who adhere to the Orthodox religion has grown most, but also different Christian free churches and the numbers of adherents to Estonian “Earth-belief” have increased, as well as the number of Buddhists and Muslims. Another important aspect is that the above mentioned numbers show stated religious affiliation, not actually belonging to religious communities or active participation in their activities; active participation is far lower, especially for Orthodox and Lutherans. Today the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church has the largest number of members, with 166 congregations and approximately 160 000 members. The Orthodox community is divided between the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (60 congregations) and the Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (with 32 congregations). Third in size is the Alliance of Estonian Evangelical Baptist Congregations which consists of 82 congregations (Estonian Ministry of the Interior 2013).

Table 1. Number of adherents. Census in Estonia, 2011. Source: stat.ee.

The religious composition of different ethnic groups of Estonia is very varied. Of those living in Estonia, Estonians are less religiously affiliated than other nationalities. 80.7 % of Estonians claim no religious affiliation. Religiously affiliated Estonians are predominantly Lutheran (13.9 %) or Orthodox (2.7 %). Several surveys show non-Estonians to be more religiously affiliated and fa-

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vourable to religion, particularly Christianity, than Estonians (e. g. Hansen 2002, 112). Also, according to the 2011 Census, 65.4 % of Poles are religiously affiliated (46.7 % are Catholics). 59.7 % of Armenians are affiliated (40.5 % are Orthodox and 14.7 % are Muslims). 50.5 % of the Russians are affiliated (47.5 % are Orthodox). 32.1 % of Tartars are Muslim and 9.2 % Orthodox (Statistics Estonia 2013b, PC0454). The low importance of religion and particularly Christianity for people in Estonia does not reveal itself only in terms of belonging and affiliation, but also in beliefs and values. According to a survey carried out in 2009, religion has a significant role in the life of 84 % of the adult population worldwide, whereas the value of this indicator for Estonia was only 16 % (Crabtree 2010). With regard to beliefs, Estonian people are similar to other Nordic countries. The Euro barometer survey of 2005 shows Estonia to be the most sceptical country in Europe with regard to belief in the existence of God. Less than one out of five declared that they believed in God (16 %). At the same time, more than half of Estonians (54 %) believed in “some sort of spirit or life force” (European Commission 2005). Also, other surveys show similar numbers. Even respondents who belong to Christian churches tend to believe “in some sort of life force”. But this does not indicate usually believing in Paganism but rather opposing atheism as well as an anthropomorphic concept of God. The study conducted by Estonian researchers shows that, among students, religion is valued as the least important priority, with a readiness for globalisation as the next lowest (Rüütel and Tiit 2005). In conclusion, as the tradition of belonging to a religious organisation and to family-related religious traditions have been broken for several decades, Estonian people are rather distant from traditional religion and do not feel a need to join a religious organisation formally. Religious convictions are considered private, and publicly are not discussed. Religion plays a more important role for other national groups in Estonia.

1.2

A comparison between the generations, young people and their religion

According to the Population and Housing Census of 2011, the proportion of people who defined their religious affiliation was lower among young people (14 % for 15 – 19 years old), in comparison with older age groups (e. g. 25 % for 30 – 44 years and 58 % for 80 years and older, see figure 1) (Statistics Estonia 2013b, PC0453). There are several more detailed research studies done on the religious outlook of the Estonian population. However, large scale research studies are not usually focused on young people. The most valuable data for this age group comes from

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Figure 1. Proportion of people with religious affiliation, by age (%). Census in Estonia, 2011. Source: stat.ee

REDCo research (about the project see chapter 11) conducted in 2008, focusing on 14 – 16 years students (Schihalejev 2010). According to the REDCo data, 15 % of the students aged 14 – 16 in Estonia defined their religious affiliation, with most of them being Christians (11 %). There were also some students representing other religions (4 %). Compared to young people in the other countries participating in the survey, Estonian-speaking respondents attached the least importance to religion and were far less religiously affiliated than young people from other countries. Over a half of the respondents in REDCO 2008 considered religion to be unimportant and only 5 % said that religion was very important for them (see figure 2).

Figure 2. Religious affiliation and importance of religion (%). Source: REDCo in Estonia, 2008.

Every fifth student believed in God, and every third stated that he or she did not believe in God or any higher spirit or life-force. There were significant differences in the responses based on language and religious affiliation. It is worth mentioning that less than half of the students who had defined their religious affiliation believed in God. There were more Russian-speaking respondents and students with a defined affiliation that believed in God, while

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Estonian-speaking respondents and those who had not defined their affiliation were more likely to take an atheist stand (see figure 3).

Figure 3. The closest position by language and religious affiliation (%). Source: REDCo in Estonia, 2008.

Most students did not practice religion actively, or at least not on a regular basis. Also as a rule, the students almost never discussed topics related to religion. The most common answer to the question about the frequency of talking about religion with different target groups was “never”. If religion was discussed, then most probably it happened at school (Schihalejev 2010, see figure 4). The main reason mentioned for not talking about religion was limited knowledge and, to a lesser extent, the fact that the topic was considered embarrassing.

Figure 4. Frequency of religious practice and talking about religion. Source: REDCo in Estonia, 2008.

Religious Education at Schools in Estonia

2.

Legal Frameworks of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

2.1

Relationship between religious communities and the state

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The Estonian Constitution (Riigi Teataja (RT) I, 27. 04. 2011, 2) provides protection to freedom of religion. Articles 40 – 42 set out that: “Everyone has freedom of conscience, religion and thought. Everyone may freely belong to churches and religious societies. There is no state church. Everyone has the freedom to exercise his or her religion, both alone and in community with others, in public or in private, unless this is detrimental to public order, health or morals. Everyone has the right to remain faithful to his or her opinions and beliefs. No one shall be compelled to change them. Beliefs shall not excuse a violation of the law. No one shall be held legally responsible because of his or her beliefs.”

The Estonian Constitution follows the principle of equality and neutrality without making any reference to secularism as a constitutional principle (Maruste 2004). The principle stipulated in Article 40 of the Estonian Constitution – “There is no state church” – is not interpreted as a strict separation of state and religious associations. The state and religious organisations can cooperate in fields of common interest, for example social care, restoration of church building with historical or cultural value etc. It is also possible for religious organisations to apply for state financing for projects that serve the interests of society as a whole (but not for projects serving only the needs and interests of a particular religious community). In 1993 the first Churches and Congregations Act (CCA) was adopted, and it was replaced by a new CCA in 2002 (RT I 2002, 24, 135). Despite the attempts of some larger churches to get privileged status, all religious associations were treated equally. CCA allows religious associations to organize themselves in accordance with their own teachings and structure. Religious associations are registered by the registration departments of county and city courts. The law does not prohibit activities of religious associations which are not registered. There is no difference in registration between new religious movements and historical majority churches. The CCA sets frameworks also for religious activities in medical, educational, social welfare, and custodial institutions as well as in military units. All persons in such institutions have the right to practise their religion unless it violates public order and morals or the rights of others, and there must be permission from the heads of the institutions mentioned.

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Legal basis for religious education

The essentials of compulsory education in Estonia are regulated nationally, but the schools have still some freedom in developing their own profiles and syllabi within a given framework. The Parliament (Riigikogu) approves the laws regulating education, through which the main directions of education policy and the principles of school organisation are defined. Basic education is the minimum compulsory general education. Compulsory school attendance begins when the child reaches the age of seven. Basic school is divided into three stages of study : stage I – grades 1 – 3 (7 – 10 year olds), stage II – grades 4 – 6 (10 – 13 year olds), and stage III – grades 7 – 9 (13 – 16 year olds). After graduating from basic school, students can attend an upper secondary school, a secondary vocational school, or enter a profession. Upper secondary school (Gymnasium) is not compulsory (Estonian Ministry of Education and research 2012). The organisation and general principles of the education system in Estonia are shaped by Education Act of Republic of Estonia. Article 2 (2) of the Education Act establishes respect to freedom of religion and belief as the basis of education. The Education Act until 2010 specified that teaching and learning in religious education must be non-confessional and voluntary (RT 1992, 12, 192 §4.4). More precise regulations for religious education were stated in the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act 1999 – 2010. Schools were obliged to organise religious education classes, if a minimum of 15 students in one school stage were interested in the subject. Parents had to give their consent for children younger than 15 to take religious education (RT I 1999, 24, 358). The enforcement of this legislation up to 2010 was complicated. There was no way to gauge interest in religious education. Schools were not required to introduce it. There were several other lapses in the legislative framework, which resulted from a lack of clear definition of the obligations of schools to find RE teachers, leaving the status of the “voluntary subject” open to interpretation (Valk 2007, 170). There was a case of religious education being prohibited as a mandatory subject at one of the best schools in Estonia by the Chancellor of Justice. In this school, religious education had been taught as an optional subject since 1994. Soon religious education was recognised by the faculty and students as a needed and informative subject. With the introduction of humanities classes, it was decided to make the subject of world religions obligatory for students of humanities for all three years of upper secondary school. Someone un-related to the school, wrote a letter complaining that religious education was being taught as a mandatory subject and so was in violation of the law. In response to the letter, at the beginning of 2006, the Chancellor of Justice prohibited the school from teaching religious education on an obligatory basis (Jþks 2006). In protest,

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students of the school gathered more than 2000 signatures in favour of continuing the compulsory religious education (Jürgenstein 2006). In spite of that the school was forced to interrupt the tradition, and religious education continued as a voluntary subject. Today neither the new Education Act (RT I, 02. 07. 2012, 11) nor the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (RT I, 10. 07. 2012, 20) give any regulations about religious education. Instead, the national curricula and Private Schools Act describe provision of religious education. In today’s Estonian legislation a distinction is made between the confessional subject “usuþpetus” which may be taught only in private schools (RT I, 01. 06. 2013, 7 §11.5), and the non-confessional subject “usundiþpetus”, about world religions, taught in municipal and state general education schools. Participation in the confessional subject, although taught in private schools, must be voluntary for pupils. Schools are free to create their own syllabi for the subject. Until 2010 schools had the freedom to develop their own syllabi for all electives, including religious education. Only compulsory subjects were prescribed by law. Religious education was not a compulsory subject, so there were only general guidelines, but no national syllabus until 2010. After 20 years of debates, religious education today is based on the principles of freedom of religion and thought and aiming at shaping skills and attitudes that form the basis for mutual understanding, respect, openness and cooperation in a pluralistic society. The syllabi for non-confessional religious education is described in the national curricula (RT I, 20. 09. 2011, 9 and RT I, 07. 05. 2013, 16). Religious education is one elective subject among others and treated equally with other electives. A school is responsible for how and if the subject is taught (for all, for nobody, as an elective). If the subject is taught at school, it must follow the aims and approaches as described in national syllabi, although a teacher may make adjustments in accordance with local needs. The study content covers different religions and religious movements, supports the students to understand how religion and worldview are expressed in culture, in the lives of individuals and in society, and discusses existential issues. The teaching of young people organised by the church may take place either in confessional schools or in religious communities after lessons, but not in municipal or state schools.

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Developments in the country’s education policies

The most important developments related to the education policy in recent years are: 1) the new Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act which establishes the separation of the basic school and upper secondary school level; 2) the new national curricula, which must be fully implemented in schools in the academic year 2013/2014. The new Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act introduces significant changes to the organization of education. The draft establishes the principle of separating the upper secondary school level and basic school level in municipal schools, introduces the general principles of national curricula, and specifies in some detail the organization of study for pupils with special education needs. The separation of basic and upper secondary schools sets a challenge for teacher educators to work out different study programmes for teachers of different school stages. With regard to religious education, the new Act does not contain restrictions to the subject. New laws today in Estonia give schools greater liberty and responsibility in the provision of religious education. The school may offer the subject in basic school, but does not have to do so, regardless of how many students express interest. In basic school, the school’s curriculum will determine whether, how and under what conditions the subject is taught – as an elective subject, an extra-curricular course or a regular subject – provided that compliance with the national subject syllabus is ensured. In upper secondary school, religious education must be taught if at least one student wishes to study it. As in basic school, the school can choose to make the subject obligatory, for example for classes specialising in the humanities. As in many other countries, education in Estonia is influenced by outcomesoriented education and ranking in different tests, for example PISA tests. In general, Estonia is proud that its education and school system, together with Finland, Sweden, Japan, Norway, Iceland and Hong Kong has been marked as successful, where student performance is above average. However, there were fewer high achievers in Estonia, and there is a high variation of student performance between schools (Kitsing 2011). Greater attention has been paid to egalitarian education and also to gifted and talented students in recent years. Pupils who feel that the standard curriculum is insufficient for their needs can choose from various enrichment courses organised by the Gifted and Talented Development Centre of the University of Tartu. The instructors of the courses are professors, researchers or students at Tartu University. After successful graduation from the course, pupils obtain a certificate from Tartu University. In 2013 a

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religious education course was also introduced. National Olympiads in different subjects are organised, and since 2008/2009 there has also been an Olympiad of religious education.

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

A large majority (88 %) of the general education schools are municipal schools, 5 % are state schools, and 6 % are private schools (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research 2012). Private, including religious, schools in Estonia have similar requirements to state schools. To ensure the equal right for a good education for every child, an educational institution must retain an education licence in order to have the right to provide instruction, and the school syllabus must follow national syllabi. An education licence for a specified term is issued and can be cancelled by a decree from the Minister of Education and Research. General education in state or municipal schools is free of charge for all children until graduation from the upper-secondary school (Gymnasium). Private schools usually charge additional fees from parents. In order to ensure equal access to free general education, financial support is allocated to municipal, state and private schools on an equal bases from the state budget to cover their expenditure (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research 2012). Consequent on the closure of many schools, due to declining numbers of students, denominational schools are a growing trend in Estonia. Recently the number of such schools has doubled. Five schools which opened at the beginning of the 1990s, a Jewish school, an Orthodox school, two schools with open Catholic ethos and one established by a free Christian church (Living Word) opened (EHIS database). Four more opened in 2012 and 2013 – three Lutheran and one Orthodox school (Kristlik Kasvatus 2012). There is usually competition for entry to religious schools, as more pupils apply than the number of places available. The quality of pupils’ performance is equal or better than in municipal schools. Although they are funded by religious bodies, religious schools in Estonia are not usually strictly confessional; rather they promote education based on Christian values. The students may have very different religious backgrounds. For example, of the pupils from Catholic schools who participated in REDCo study in 2012 only 15 % were Catholics, 15 % from other Christian churches and 14 % had mixed or some other religious adherents. There are the same requirements for teachers as in other schools. Many of the teachers in bigger religious schools are not members of the respective church, although they are supposed to share the ethos of the school.

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Conceptions and tasks of RE

The major developments in religious education took place in the 1920s, when inter-confessional religious education was introduced in the Estonian school system. The subject made a clear distinction between catechesis in churches and religious education in schools, which included learning about world religions. Reformed religious education in the 1920s was viewed as a responsibility of the school, and inappropriateness of indoctrination was stressed. There have also been many essential changes in the nature and goals of this subject during the last twenty years. In many ways the subject taught in the late 1990s belongs to a different category than the subject taught in the first decade of the new millennium. In the 1990s the subject started with an ecumenical Christian ethos, but the secular context of the country gave specific possibilities and restrictions for developing syllabi of religious education. Dr. Pille Valk described a model for a contextual approach to religious education and adjusted it to the Estonian situation. Valk emphasised that religious education must be targeted at the social and cultural environment in which the subject is conducted; it has to address people’s specific needs and expectations, deal with pupils’ questions and problems and take into consideration the particular society in which it is taught. The different aspects of this context are: 1) impact of religion on the cultural and historical development of the society ; 2) role and influence of different denominations and religions represented in society ; and of legislation related to religious issues; 3) attitudes, expectations, fears, prejudices towards religious education; 4) the traditions, and positive and negative experiences of religious education in the country ; 5) the developments in and experiences of religious education in other countries; 6) religious education in relation to the national curriculum’s aims and frames (Valk 2003a). The new syllabi of 2010 was very influenced by Valk’s approach to religious education. The syllabi of religious education in 1991 – 1997 had a similar Christian focus to those used in the Republic of Estonia before World War II, but they disregarded the drastic changes in the religious views and attitudes of the local population. For example, the syllabus of 1997 still contained the following statement: “The goal of religious education is to teach students about the Christian religion and its cultural traditions and to create prerequisites for understanding and joining the Christian Church”. However, the syllabi im-

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plemented in 2010 emphasise that “The task of religious education is not to guide the students towards acceptance of any particular religion”. Also other aims have changed from Christian-centred to be more open to religious and non-religious convictions (see table 2). Advisory syllabus for religious education National syllabi for religious education 2010 1997 to provide knowledge about Christian to provide knowledge about different reliculture gions to create prerequisites for joining church to support development of students’ worldview and critical thinking to develop an ethical person to support students’ moral development to support understanding between confessions and to understand people with other religious views

to develop social awareness and responsibility, an open identity and readiness for dialogue across different religious and non-religious beliefs

Table 2. The aims of religious education.

This conceptual change is also reflected in the study content. Up to the syllabi of 1997, twelve courses of religious education, one for each school year, were described. There was a heavy focus on Christianity, its dogmatics, ethics and history. The curricula of 2010 propose a core course (35 hours) for each school stage in Basic school and two courses at upper secondary level. Additionally, a school may offer courses with more freedom for teachers/schools to choose the precise content, although the aims and approach must cohere with those in the national curricula. At primary school, studies start from more familiar material – children’s values, festivals from the folk calendar and selected stories from the world religions. In the second school stage the core course is ethics, while optional courses deal with the cultural impact of religions in Estonia. The third core course is about world religions and their cultural impact. The upper secondary school offers two courses: “Humanity and religion” deals with phenomenology and philosophical questions, “the religious landscape of Estonia” deals with contemporary religious changes in Estonia.

6.

Practice/reality of RE in different schools

The majority of students in Estonia acquire their knowledge, attitudes and views about religion in a similar way to French students: by studying religion in their history, civic education, and literature courses (Willaime 2007; Beraud et al. 2009). According to the data of the Estonian Education Information System (EHIS), there has been remarkable growth in the number of schools with religious education. In the academic year 2011/2012 there were fifty schools with

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religious education; in 2012/13 religious education was taught in seventy schools. These schools constitute about 13 % of all general education schools in Estonia.

6.1

Schools without religious education

The most heated public discussions about the necessity for religious education have taken place since the re-establishment of independence. Although there is some kind of general agreement on the need for learning about religion, there is no agreement on how it should be done (Valk 2000, 2003a). There have been several attempts to establish religious education as a compulsory subject in all schools, but opposition in media and internet forums has been very strong. Efforts to defend the need for religious education in schools have been met with opposition from influential groups such as the Estonian native faith group, famous writers, columnists and scientists. One of the reasons not to include religious education, at least as a mandatory subject, is that religion is dealt with in other subjects – literature, history, civic education and the arts. However, most teachers do not have sufficient knowledge to teach about religions. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Education and Research, 60 % of teachers are more than 45 years old (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research 2013), which means that most of teachers completed their basic teacher training under the Soviet regime with its atheistic education. Also, nowadays most teachers have not been trained to deal with religion in their classrooms; none of the teacher training programmes except those for RE teachers includes any compulsory courses on religious studies. Many headteachers have not taken any steps yet to introduce the subject and try to postpone introducing it for as long as possible; they tend to be insecure about the impact of religious education, and aware of the expectations of different interested parties. They often mention the the difficulty of finding good teachers. Although the number of teachers is sufficient in principle to cover current needs, many of them have found a full time job somewhere else, and they find it inconvenient or even incompatible with the main job to come to a school for just for one hour a week. Also, many schools are not aware of the new possibilities with regard to religious education, as there have been so many changes to national curricula and educational legislation.

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Schools with religious education

Until 2010, the provision of religious education was “mandatorily voluntary” (revisions of the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act from 1999 to 2010), which made it difficult to organise religious education. As a result, many schools tried to circumvent the legal restrictions by renaming the subject. Thus, the subject was taught under names such as “worldview studies”, “ethics”, “cultural history”, and so on. It is remarkable that in such cases schools did not have to follow the principle of voluntary learning and some of these courses were compulsory. Parents’ permission was not needed either. Thus, several schools worked in consistency with the new legislation, even before 2010. Some of the schools continue to use “fuzzy” names that disguise the actual subject content. Although there are religious education syllabi for five different courses, the real situation is different. In most cases, religious education is taught for a year in upper secondary level as an elective subject. Some schools have religious education in primary classes; there are only a few schools where religious education is taught at all levels of study. In some schools, especially at primary level, religious education may be the only elective; there is no alternative subject and it is taught after compulsory lessons. The students who have chosen religious education usually have an extra lesson at the end of the school day and sometimes must wait for it for an hour or two. In other schools (especially at upper secondary level) students can choose between different electives. Teaching religious education at primary level is a challenging task, as there are no teaching or learning resources available. The teachers use bits and pieces from very varied sources and write their own teaching-learning resources. As the number of schools with religious education in primary level is small, the publishers are not interested in writing textbooks for religious education. For the secondary level several books have been published (e. g. Jürgenstein and Schihalejev 2011; Halme et al. 2010). This situation makes religious education at upper secondary level more reliable and of consistent quality, while in basic school the subject is very dependent on the level and understandings of RE teachers. According to the new legislation, schools must provide religious education at least at upper secondary level as an elective. With the implementation of the new national curriculum, more and more school headteachers are planning to introduce religious education in their schools and are therefore looking for teachers with the relevant training from outside their own school, or are requesting their teachers to complete re-qualification courses to be able to teach the subject.

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Observations on alternative subjects/learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

As religious education is not a confessional subject in Estonia, there is no essential need for an alternative subject such as philosophy or ethics. According to EHIS Philosophy was taught in 49 schools, usually not as an alternative to religious education, but as a separate subject. There are 23 schools where students learn both philosophy and religious education and there are schools with only one of these subjects. Philosophy is taught only at upper secondary level; usually one course (35 hours) is dedicated to history of philosophical thought and philosophical thinking. Recently the University of Tartu has opened a requalification course to become a teacher of elective subjects – religious education and philosophy. Instead, religious education is an elective among many at upper secondary level. Thus, one can find many different subjects as alternatives to religious education. For example, subjects such as careers education, information technology, foreign languages or business studies are sometimes offered at the same time as religious education.

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

As Estonia has been home for several Christian denominations, religious education has been an arena of ecumenical cooperation since the 1920s and has continued to be so over the last 20 years. And inter-confessional model had been proposed by Prof. Peeter Pþld as early as 1917. During the following years the new syllabi for religious education were worked out (Usuþpetuse þpekava algkoolile 1923 and Usuþpetuse þpekava keskkoolidele 1925). The biggest changes concerned the pedagogical (instead of religious) and ecumenical approach and the aims of religious education. These changes did not exclude co-operation between the school and churches. Many pastors continued to work as RE teachers (especially at upper secondary level) and were involved in preparing syllabi and textbooks for religious education. In 1989, the largest churches in Estonia joined in order to establish the Estonian Council of Churches (ECC). The aim of the ECC is development of cooperation and joint projects between the different denominations, and dialogue with the state. ECC is involved in different fields: ecumenism, media, education, sociology of religion, chaplaincy, values and ethics, youth work and international relations (http://www.ekn.ee). ECC has signed a protocol of joint interests

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with the Estonian Government, including religious education (The Estonian Council of Churches and the Government of the Republic of Estonia 2002). When Dr. Pille Valk developed a contextual approach to religious education and a draft syllabus in 1996 – 2003, she tried to include different parties in dialogue. Different religious bodies had an advisory role, but the decisions were made on pedagogical principles by pedagogical authorities. One of these partners was the ECC round table on religious education and another was the Roundtable of Religious Associations formed by representatives of non-Christian religions. The Roundtable of Religious Associations has criticized the draft syllabus of 2003 as biased towards Christianity and has argued for its prohibition (e. g. Usuliste Ühenduste Ümarlaud 2003). These discussions have helped to shape religious education to be not only inter-confessional but also an interreligious subject.

9.

Religion in schools outside of RE

Religious upbringing, or even taking into account religious beliefs of students, is not seen as a task for the school in Estonia. However, there are some very different interpretations in different schools. There are schools which may have a school ceremony in a church at the beginning of the school year, at Christmas or other occasions, or a pastor might be invited to school to speak at school assembly. However, mostly, schools are not seen as sites for religious activities; any religious life in schools is interpreted as a violation of human rights. Usually festivals are celebrated in schools without any reference to their religious background. The general attitude is mirrored in the views of pupils who participated in the REDCo study. Only two ways for religion to appear in school were accepted by the majority of pupils – allowing the wearing of discreet religious symbols, and being absent on religious holidays. More ritualistic and school-oriented demands, such as making available a special room for prayer and voluntary religious services, were strongly rejected. Surprisingly, also a special menu, catering for the needs of some religious students, was not seen as acceptable by many respondents. (See figure 5)

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Figure 5. Attitudes to taking into account religious beliefs of students. Source: REDCo in Estonia, 2008.

10.

Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities issues

When schools became open to religious education at the beginning of 1990s, the shared understanding about its aims and contents were not clarified. Some people without pedagogical experience and professional skills made no clear distinction between the mission of a church and religious education in school. At the same time different high schools prepared RE teachers to eliminate such failures. Today, although not always followed, the requirements are settled; the teachers must have both theological and pedagogical training and they have to follow national syllabi for religious education. The professional standard for teachers (approved by the Professional Council for Education in 2010) and Teacher training requirements (RT I, 22. 03. 2011, 15) serve as the basis for updating the initial teacher training curricula. Initial teacher education is provided by universities and professional higher education institutions. Subject teachers are trained in three-year Bachelor’s study which is followed by the two-year Master’s study (300 ECT). Teacher training includes five components: general education studies, study related to specific subject(s), professional study (including education science, psychology, didactics and practical training, with an amount of at least 60 ECT), at least 10 weeks of school practice and writing a research paper on pedagogy. Thus, RE teachers must have

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both theological and pedagogical training. The initial training of teachers is funded through the state-commissioned education programme. Teachers must undergo at least 160 hours of continuing education every five years; this is financed from the state budget fund. Many teachers gain the qualification to teach an additional subject through the frameworks of in-service training (what is much more than minimum hours). Most RE teachers have had their professional training in the last 20 years. The first RE teachers were trained in Finland in the early 1990s. Later, study programmes for RE teachers were introduced in the re-opened Faculty of Theology in Tartu University, the Theological Institute of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary, the Higher Theological Seminary of the Union of Evangelical Christian and Baptist Churches of Estonia, and Tartu Theological Academy. After the accreditation of higher education, several study programmes were closed. Today RE teachers’ qualifications may be acquired only in two places: the University of Tartu and the Theological Institute in Tallinn. In both institutions RE teachers can receive qualifications to teach at all school stages. The Faculty of Theology is one of the Faculties that were established on the opening of the University of Tartu in 1632. The Faculty was closed by the Soviet authorities in 1940 and was re-opened in 1991. According to the Constitution of the Faculty of Theology, the Faculty is an academic structure unit of the University of Tartu, the remit of which includes the organization of studies, research and development work in the field of theology and religious studies, as well as the rendering of public services based on these. The Faculty is interdenominational and subordinated to no church or confession, while co-operating with them (Statue of Theological Faculty 2012). The Faculty provides education at the bachelor’s, masters’ and doctoral levels. The students of the Faculty can receive the RE teacher qualification after passing the respective study modules at masters level. Also, teachers already teaching other subjects may get an additional qualification in religious education after completing a two year distance learning re-qualification course (60 ECT). The Theological Institute of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is the oldest private higher education institution in Estonia. It was founded in Tallinn in 1946 after the Soviet authorities closed the Faculty of Theology of the University of Tartu. The Institute continued to educate future clergy for the EELC and is still doing so. However, the Institute is open for everyone having interest in humanistic education in the field of theology or education. Today the Institute provides study programmes in theology and in-service training both for pastors and volunteers in church ministry. The Institute also organizes initial and inservice training for teachers of religious education (http://ui.eelk.ee/english.php).

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There are more than 250 qualified teachers of religious education in Estonia, of whom approximately 40 teach religious education in schools. A full time teacher of religious education is exceptional in the Estonian education system. Some teachers work only 1 – 3 hours per week in a school, while others teach also some other subjects such as philosophy or history (Paesüld, 2005).The teachers of religious education are paid from the state or municipal budget, as with all other teachers. Churches or religious communities cannot appoint the teachers, neither have they any other responsibilities or rights in relation to religious education.

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

In the 1990s empirical research was initiated by Pille Valk. She started with historical research (Valk 1997) but soon added empirical quantitative research among teachers and headteachers, and also research on young people (Valk 1999, 2000, 2003b, 2006). This helped her to work out a draft syllabus for religious education suitable for contemporary Estonian society (Valk 2003a). Empirical research on religious education is done mostly the University of Tartu. Many MA papers in the teacher education deal with practical issues concerning religious education. Here only papers written during last 5 years are mentioned. In the framework of a research project on the contextuality of religious beliefs, several MA papers have been written or are in process, based on empirical qualitative research about young Jehovah’s Witnesses (Leiaru-Kuldsaar 2012), Pentecostal youth (Lee 2012), and study of young Baptists and Earth Believers (in progress). There are also studies concerning RE syllabi (Tiirmaa 2012; Luik 2011) and textbooks (Larson 2013; Härm 2010; Laks 2010). There is also classroom research on project- and problem-based learning in religious education lessons (Sooniste 2012), interaction in pre-school kindergartens (Lill 2010), and values education in school in relation to different subjects (Küttis 2010; Saart 2013). The most comprehensive research on different aspects of religious education was done in the framework of REDCo. REDCo stands for the research project “Religion in Education – A contribution to Dialogue or a factor of Conflict in transforming societies of European Countries” which was funded by the European Commission within the Framework Six (FP6) programme, 2006 – 2009. Nine institutions from eight European countries participated in it: University of Hamburg (Germany) as a project leader, University of Münster (Germany), University of Warwick (England), University of Tartu (Estonia), Êcole Pratique

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des Hautes Etudes (France), Free University, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), University of Stavanger (Norway), Russian Christian Academy for Humanities in St. Petersburg (Russia), and University of Granada (Spain). The research was conducted in Estonia by Pille Valk and Olga Schihalejev. Most of the findings on REDCo in Estonia is published in the book “From indifference to dialogue?” (Schihalejev 2010).The project used a wide range of methods and studied both pupils (aged 14 – 16) and their teachers. In addition to theoretical study, empirical research was conducted: the qualitative study among young people (Schihalejev 2008a, 2008b; Kozyrev and Schihalejev 2008), quantitative study on young people’s views about religious diversity, religion in their lives and social relations (Schihalejev 2013, 2012, 2009b, 2009d; Neill and Schihalejev 2011), classroom interaction research on the possibilities and hindrances for dialogue in religious education (Schihalejev 2009c, 2009 f), and qualitative research about teachers’ responses to diversity in the classroom (Schihalejev 2009a, 2009e).

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

12.1

Practical desiderata

There are several practical challenges and desirable developments for religious education in Estonia in the near future. One issue concerns religious education and tolerance, and providing “safe space” for religious education for all students to study and discuss ideas together. If this issue is to be tackled effectively, religious education needs to be a subject for all students. Currently, religious education is taught in 70 schools out of 554, mostly as an elective subject. Considering the fact that expressing religion or an interest in religion may be a factor in bullying or mockery (see figure 6), this situation presents a serious challenge for schools. How can religious education be organised so that religious students participating in it are not held in contempt by their fellow students? It is unlikely that religious education as a voluntary subject will make the general population of Estonia significantly more aware of or tolerant towards religion. Clearly, the students who are more sceptical or even hostile towards religions and religious people would most likely be the ones who will not choose to study religious education. As a result, ignorance of religious issues will persist and inhibit young people’s familiarity with the cultural heritage and their coping in the increasingly diversified religious environment in Estonia, elsewhere in Europe and the world – in addition to its impact on culture, religion also influences economics, politics and relationships between people. No religious education, or religious education of only 35 hours, is insufficient to

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Figure 6. Religious tolerance at school. Source: REDCo in Estonia, 2008.

reach the aims set by European agreements and recommendations, such as the Council of Europe Recommendation on this subject (Council of Europe 2008). At the school level new legislation gives possibilities for religious education what are yet not realised. The basic schools, as providers of the compulsory education, should use the possibilities of the new legislation and include religious education more into their school curriculum for all pupils, for at least three years of study (as described in national curriculum for basic schools). All upper secondary schools should include the subject as an elective subject available to all students and as a mandatory subject for the pupils who specialise in humanities and social sciences. However, the school should not take the freedom to introduce religious education as a compulsory subject lightly. It is essential to have not only interest of the pupils but also the support of parents, school administration and teachers of other subjects as well. The key factors are having a competent teacher, involving all relevant parties, and dealing openly with the fears and prejudice regarding religious education as a school subject. In addition, already qualified teachers (who often do not work in schools) might offer religious education courses by distance-learning for interested students from schools with no religious education. At the level of teacher education, further steps must be taken to make the studies more flexible and more easily available for teachers already working at schools. Many qualified RE teachers who are trained to teach in all school stages do not work at school for various practical reasons. A more sustainable model would be to offer flexible modular courses for teachers already working in school to gain additional competence in teaching religious education at the corresponding school stage: for class teachers modules to teach in primary schools, for the subject teachers of basic schools modules to teach in middle levels, for upper secondary teachers of social sciences modules for teaching at the upper secondary level. This is not an easy task as, due to atheistic past, the level of religious literacy

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is very low and retraining courses must give very basic as well as more advanced knowledge about religion and how to teach it in a non-religious manner. More in-service training for teachers of different subjects for dealing with religion in other subjects should be offered. In 2012 the Theological Institute and University of Tartu organised 80 hours in-service training for teachers of different subjects. It was attended by more than 60 teachers. The 80 hours course is not sufficient to teach religious education but it helps teachers to teach better about religion through the subjects they already teach. As a last but not least challenge, there is a need for more textbooks and other teaching-learning resources, especially at basic school level. The representation of religions not only from the dogmatic-historical and generic level, but also from the insiders’ everyday experiential perspective of a lived religion, is urgently needed. The availability of good quality teaching and learning resources is one of the prerequisites for making the subject less teacher-dependent, lessening the workload of RE teachers and raising their confidence to teach religious education. In addition, for the same reason, sample syllabi for more years of study are needed for the schools teaching religious education for more than one year per school stage.

12.2

Challenges for research

There is further need for empirical studies about how different contextual factors (home, peers, school, religious community) contribute to religious development of young people. Another big and demanding task is to include practising teachers in action research to study effective use and methodologies for facilitation of respect and reflexivity, showing better representation of the inner diversity of religions, better understanding of insiders’ perspectives and how to create safe space to discuss religious beliefs, practices and values in classroom settings.

13.

Further information

The book From Indifference to Dialogue? by Olga Schihalejev is the most comprehensive book available in English about religious education and research done in the framework of REDCo in Estonia. There are several publications concerning the implementation of the new curricula:

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Jürgenstein, T., and O. Schihalejev, eds. 2012. Gümnaasiumi valdkonnaraamat USUN˜ PETUS. [Religious education. Manual for teachers of upper secondary school] DIO Tallinn: Riiklik Eksami- ja Kvalifikatsioonikeskus. Jürgenstein, T., and O. Schihalejev. 2011. Usundimaailma suured küsimused. Gümnaasiumi usundiþpetuse þpik. [Big questions of religions. The textbook for upper secondary school] Tallinn: Koolibri. Schihalejev, O., ed. 2010. Pþhikooli valikaine usundiþpetus. [Religious Education in Basic school] Tallinn: Riiklik Eksami- ja Kvalifikatsioonikeskus. Valk, P., ed. 2008. Töid religioonipedagoogikast I. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus. Valk, P., ed. 2007. Religiooniþpetuse þpetamisest. Tallinn: Argo Kirjastus. (2007).

The journal Kristlik Kasvatus [Christian Education] is published three times a year. Despite its name, it publishes articles about religious education and learning about different religions in addition to articles about Christian education and nurture. There is a webpage about religious education in Estonia: http://usundiopetus.weebly.com/eng.html with further links to relevant pages. The writing of this chapter was supported by the European Union Regional Development Fund and the Estonian Science Foundation (ETF 9108)

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Riigi Teataja [State Gazette] I 2002, 24, 135. Kirikute ja koguduste seadus [Churches and Congregations Act]. Riigi Teataja [State Gazette] I 1999, 24, 358. Pþhikooli- ja gümnaasiumiseaduse muutmise ja täiendamise seadus [Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Amendments Act]. Riigi Teataja [State Gazette] 1992, 12, 192. Eesti Vabariigi haridusseadus [Education Act of Republic of Estonia] Riigi Teataja [State Gazette], 1940/102, Art. 1011. Riigi Teataja [State Gazette] 155/156, 1922 Avalikkude Keskkoolide Seadus [The Law of Public Secondary Schools]. Riigi Teataja [State Gazette] 75/76, 1920 Avalikkude Algkoolide Seadus [The Law of Public Primary Schools]. Rüütel, I., and E.-M. Tiit. 2005. Eesti kooliþpilaste väärtushinnanguist ja huvialadest [Estonian students’ values and hobbies]. Akadeemia, 11: 2401 – 2442. Saart, K. 2013. Väärtuskasvatus koolis ja selle vþimalused ainetunnis bioloogia tunni näitel [Values education at school and its opportunities in the class on the example of biology lessons]. Unpublished MA paper. University of Tartu, Faculty of Theology. Schihalejev, O. 2013. Religious education influencing students’ attitudes: a threat to freedom? Religion and Education, 40: 20 – 34. Schihalejev, O. 2012. Religious education – is it something to be afraid of ? In Regional Development in Estonia 2012, ed. Narusk, E., 135 – 150. Tallinn: Statistikaamet. http:// www.stat.ee/publication-download-pdf ?publication_id=29863. Schihalejev, O. 2010. From Indifference to Dialogue? Münster : Waxmann. Schihalejev, O. 2009a. Challenges in creating respect for diversity – Estonian Teachers and religious Diversity. In Teachers Responding to Religious Diversity in Europe Researching Biography and Pedagogy, ed. van der Want, A., C. Bakker, I. ter Avest, and J. Everington, 41 – 54. Münster : Waxmann. Schihalejev, O. 2009b. Comments on Russia from an Estonian Perspective. In Teenagers’ Perspectives on the Role of Religion in their Lives, Schools and Societies: A European Quantitative Study, ed. Valk, P., G. Bertram-Troost, M. Friederici, and C. Beraud, 350 – 353. Münster : Waxmann. Schihalejev, O. 2009c. Dialogue in religious education lessons – possibilities and hindrances in the Estonian context. British Journal of Religious Education, 31: 277 – 288. Schihalejev, O. 2009d. Options beside “and no Religion too”. Perspectives of Estonian Youth. In Teenagers’ Perspectives on the Role of Religion in their Lives, Schools and Societies: A European Quantitative Study, ed. Valk, P., G. Bertram-Troost, M. Friederici, and C. Beraud, 79 – 120. Münster : Waxmann. Schihalejev, O. 2009e. Portraits of Estonian Respondents. In Teachers Responding to Religious Diversity in Europe Researching Biography and Pedagogy, ed. van der Want, A., C. Bakker, I. ter Avest, and J. Everington, 149 – 160. Münster : Waxmann. Schihalejev, O. 2009 f. Prospects for and obstacles to dialogue in religious education in Estonia. In Dialogue and Conflict on Religion Studies of Classroom Interaction in European Countries, ed. ter Avest, I., D.-P. Jozsa, T. Knauth, J. Rosûn, and G. Skeie, 62 – 85. Münster : Waxmann. Schihalejev, O. 2008a. Kohtumine endast erinevaga – þpilaste arusaam [Encounter with the difference – the views of students]. In Töid religioonipedagoogikast I, ed. Valk, P., 123 – 156. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.

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Schihalejev, O. 2008b. Meeting Diversity. Students’ Perspectives in Estonia. In Encountering Religious Pluralism in School and Society. A Qualitative Study of Teenage Perspectives in Europe, ed. T. Knauth, D.-P. Jozsa, G. Bertram-Troost, and J. Ipgrave, 247 – 278. Münster : Waxmann. Sooniste, A. 2012. Projekt- ja probleemþpe usundiþpetuse tundides [Project- and problem-based learning in the lessons of religious education]. Unpublished MA paper. University of Tartu, Faculty of Theology. Statistics Estonia, 2013a. Population indicators and composition, PO021. Statistics Estonia. http://www.stat.ee/sdb-update?db_update_id=12454. Statistics Estonia, 2013b. Religious affiliation, PC0454. Statistics Estonia. http:// www.stat.ee/sdb-update?db_update_id=14122. Statistics Estonia, 2013c. The decrease in population number was influenced by emigration. Statistics Estonia. http://www.stat.ee/65236. Statistics Estonia, 2012a. PHC 2011: people of 192 ethnic nationalities live in Estonia. Statistics Estonia. http://www.stat.ee/64310?parent_id=39113. Statistics Estonia, 2012b. Population by ethnic nationality, PCE04. Statistics Estonia. http://www.stat.ee/sdb-update?db_update_id=13545. Statistics Estonia, 2002. Ethnic nationality, PC222. Statistics Estonia. http://pub.stat.ee/ px-web.2001/I_Databas/Population_Census/databasetree.asp. Statue of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Tartu, adopted by the Council of the University of Tartu in June 14, 2012. University of Tartu, Faculty of Theology. http:// www.us.ut.ee/et/1166854. Tiirmaa, M. 2012. Koolid ja usuvabadus – religiooniþpetust reguleeriva seadusandluse areng Eestis 1991 – 2012 [Schools and religious freedom – the development of legaslition about religious education in Estonia 1991 – 2012]. Unpublished BA paper. Tartu: University of Tartu, Faculty of Theology. Usuliste Ühenduste Ümarlaud. 2003. Pressiteade [Press release of the Roundtable of Religious Associations]. Maavallakoda. http://maavald.ee/koda.html?rubriik=36& id=141&op =lugu. Usuþpetuse þpekava algkoolile [Syllabus for Religious Education in Basic School]. 1923. Tallinn: Ministry of Education. Usuþpetuse þpekava keskkoolidele [Syllabus for Religious Education in Upper secondary School]. 1925. Tallinn: Ministry of Education. Valikained ja –kursused pþhikoolile ja gümnaasiumile. 1997. Tallinn: Eesti Vabariigi Haridusministeerium AS Pakett, 21 – 35. Valk, P. 2006. Churches and European integration: A challenge for religious education in the post-Soviet context. Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte, 9, no 1: 166 – 186. Valk, P. 2003a. Eesti kooli religiooniþpetuse kontseptsioon [The concept of religious education for Estonian schools]. Tartu: Tartu University Press. Valk, P. 2003b. Religious education through the eyes of pupils, teachers and head-masters. In Die Bedeutung der Religion für Gesell-schaften in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Forschungen zur Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte, 36: 239 – 252, ed. Mietrich, M., and T. Kulmar. Münster : Ugarit Verlag. Valk, P. 2000. From the Soviet atheism to the national identity : a specific background for the religious education in Estonia. Panorama: International Journal of Comparative Religious Education and Values, 12 no 1: 78 – 93.

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Valk, P. 1999. About Some Attitudes Towards the Church and Religion in Nowadays Estonia. In Religionen in einer sich ändernden Welt. Forschungen zur Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte, 33: 147 – 156. Münster : Ugarit Verlag. Valk, P. 1997. Ühest heledast laigust Eesti kooli ajaloos: Usuþpetus Eesti koolides aastatel 1918 – 1940 [About an Unrevealed Spot in the History of Estonian Education: Religious Education in Estonian Schools in 1918 – 1940]. Tallinn: Logos. Valk, P, and T. Lehtsaar, 2003. Developments of Practical Theology in Today’s Estonia. International Journal of Practical Theology, 7 no 1: 101 – 130. Willaime, J. P. 2007. Different models for religion and education in Europe. In Religion and Education in Europe, ed. Jackson, R., S. Miedema, W. Weisse, J.-P. Willaime, 57 – 66. Münster : Waxmann.

Martin Ubani and Kirsi Tirri

Religious Education at Schools in Finland

1.

The socio-religious background

As in the other Nordic countries, Lutheranism is the main Christian denomination in Finland. During 1990’s RE in Finland started increasingly to acknowledge the changes in the Finnish religious landscape towards pluralism and heterogeneity (Tirri 1996). Different reports have shown that the role of institutional religion has been on the decline in the Nordic countries (Davie 2000). Currently about 76 percent of the Finnish population belongs to the Lutheran Church. In Helsinki in 2012 about 60 percent of the population belonged to the Lutheran Church. The largest Christian minority is the Finnish Greek Orthodox Church with about 60,000 members. Their membership is increasing mainly because of immigration from Russia. Other major denominations are Pentecostalism (40,000 followers). The estimates of numbers of Muslims in Finland varies but is quite likely to become the second largest religious group in Finland with over 60,000 followers. The number of Muslims is increasing the fastest among religious traditions in Finland. There are about 1,500 Jews in Finland. The exact number of Muslims, Pentecostalists and other non-conforming Christians is difficult to define because many of them are unregistered with any of the religious institutions in the Census: over 20 percent of the adults are not affiliated or their tradition is listed as unknown (Statistics of Finland 2012). Regardless of the decline in the Lutheran membership generally, parents in Finland seem to affiliate their children to the Church and RERE. Studies show that Finnish parents generally want their children to have some religious nurture, both in the Lutheran Church (Helander 2006) and at schools (Räsänen 2006, 199). Parents are entitled to choose between different forms of RE, but the majority of Finnish children still attend Lutheran RE. For instance, in grades 1 to 6 about 92 % of Finnish children attend Lutheran RE classes in their basic education (Board of Education 2013). The second largest group is, the secular option, Ethics, with 4 percent. Islam (1.6 percent) and Orthodox RE (1.4 percent) were about the same size. About a half percent attend other religions lessons and

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0.7 % did not attend either RE or Ethics. These latter students include for instance Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Church organises confirmation school for young people aged 14 – 15 years where 90 percent of the youth attend (Helve 1993, 205). In addition recently the Church has increased its activities for school children, including leisure clubs, camps and activities for off-school hours. If the part-time day care provided by the Church is also taken into account, since the late 1990s about 61 % of children aged 5 – 9 have attended some activity provided by the Lutheran Church. However, between the ages of 10 – 14 the number of children attending Church related activities has decreased to 44 percent when confirmation school is excluded. (Helander 2006.) Studies show that Finnish students like RE at schools (Tirri 1996); however students become more critical and dissatisfied during pre-adolescence (see Tamminen 1991; Niemi 1987). Studies seem to imply that Finnish pre-adolescents have a general knowledge of their religion or denomination and its key concepts. In 2001, the Finnish National Board of Education funded a survey evaluating learning and experiences on RE, Ethics and Social education (Rusama 2002) among the 14 – 15 year old students (N = 4,022). The structured portion of the study showed that over 90 % of the pre-adolescents in Lutheran RE (n = 3,007) knew Christian key concepts and the Creed. In addition, over 80 % of the pupils identified the writers of the Gospels and important people of the Bible (Rusama 2002.) On the other hand according to the national survey these pre-adolescents lacked knowledge of different Christian symbols and World religions, and had problems in identifying societal aspects of Church such as deacon and voluntary work (Rusama 2002).

2.

Legal framework of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

In Finland, the Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church have the legal position of being national churches, which affects their status in public education. As discussed later, this national church position affects the organization of the subject with regards to the number of students required and the principles for exercising parental choice in RE and assemblies. In principle, Finland employs a Scandinavian comprehensive public school system. Figure (1) presents the hierarchy of the Finnish educational policy concerning basic education (cf. Vitikka, Krokfors and Hurmerinta 2012; Ubani 2013a; Ubani 2013b). At the first level is the Basic Education Act enacted by Finnish Government. For instance, it gives the legislative grounds and guidelines for Finnish basic

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Figure 1. The hierarchy of Finnish educational policy concerning basic education.

education. The Basic Education Act regulates, among other things, the inclusion of RE and Ethics in basic education, and the number of students in a given religious tradition required for the respective intsruction to take place in a municipality. At the next level are the general national aims for basic education and, for instance, the time allocations for each subject. At the third level are the national curricula issued by the National Board of Education. The national core curriculum for basic education includes the syllabi for basic education both in general and subject terms (FNBE 2004). Currently, for RE, this is the Core Curriculum for Minority RE 2006, which is an extension of the national core curriculum, and supplements the curriculum for RE with additional minority religions. The national core curriculum for upper secondary education is comparable to the national core curriculum for basic education. For instance it includes description of the three compulsory RE courses along with two voluntary courses. Basic Education is compulsory in Finland, covering the ages of 7 – 16. RE is a compulsory subject, too. In Basic Education, a minimum of one hour of RE is given to the pupils each week. In some academic writing , the Finnish RE has

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been described as emphasising learning about and learning from religion but also to include some elements of learning religion (Kallioniemi 2004; Hull 2002). Since 2004, RE in Finland has been defined as being given according to “one’s own religion” instead of it being “confessional”. The Act for Freedom for Religion, enacted in 2003, was applied to the National Core Curriculum of Basic Education in 2004. The positive right to freedom of religion was enforced so that each pupil would attend RE according to his or her own religion (NCCBE 2004, 202). From an international viewpoint, the Finnish RE employs a “weak confessional model” (Räsänen et al., 2008). It is confessional in the sense that students attend different lessons according to their own religious affiliation and that the content especially in primary education reflects the religious tradition in question. The model is weak in the sense that it doesn not include devotional or faith formation aims (Luodeslampi 2007). At the moment, Finland has written curricula for Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic, Islamic, Adventist, Buddhism, God’s people (a Protestant group), Free Church, Krishna-Society (ISKCON), Anthroposophical Society and Baha’ism. Each of these is subject to the general aims of RE. For pupils who do not belong to any religious community, there is an alternative subject: Ethics. The content and outlook of Ethics is rooted in secular humanism, philosophy and human rights. According to the Basic Education Act 1998, RE within different religions or denominations will be provided if three conditions are met. First, the denomination or religion must be a registered community in Finland. Second, it must have a curriculum approved by the National Board of Education. And third, instruction is implemented if there is a minimum of three pupils in one municipality, who belong to that community and whose guardian requests form of RE (Räsänen and Ubani 2008). The only exceptions are Lutheran and Orthodox RE and Ethics that do not have to be formally requested. The other difference between Lutheran and Orthodox RE and other religions is that while students from other backgrounds can choose Lutheran or Orthodox RE instead of their own form of RE, the Lutheran and Orthodox students have to attend their own classes, and cannot opt for another religion or denomination. In Finland Wicca is the most established faith tradition without state RE. However, it is not considered a full religion in the sense that it lacks the level or organisation and membership required by the National Board of Education. Because of this ruling, the Wicca children are not given Wiccan RE in schools. In some cases the Hindu students attend ISKCON based lessons. Recently there have been increasing initiatives in the field where students of different faith backgrounds attend the same lessons. These initiatives have originated without the Board of Education, and the status of such education is under debate. This issue is problematic because the students are still supposed to study according to the curricula of the respective religion or Ethics, and because

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the RE system is tied to the positive and negative interpretations of freedom of religion. In Finland there is no authority that evaluates the suitability of the textbooks for schools. There is a variety of textbooks for RE by commercial publishers. These books are usually a product of a co-operation between RE specialists and teachers. Usually the textbooks are of a good level and up-to-date with materials for teachers, and also include study materials on the Internet.

3.

Developments in the country’s educational policies

Arguably the most important change in Finnish educational policy is the establisment of Finnish public uniform general education system for basic education in 1970s. Despite the fact that a few private schools have become more popular in 2000s, until today the framework for basic education has remained uncontested. In the first half of 1990s, increasing authority in decision-making was given from governmental bodies to local municipalities. In 2000s centralisation of decision-making increased but not back to practices prior to 1990s. The municipalities are still relatively autonomous as long as they stay within the national curriculum (cf. Vitikka, Krokfors and Hurmerinta 2012). The previous national core curriculum for basic education was issued in 2004, and the upper secondary education version was devised in 2003 by the Finnish national board of education. The new curricula for both levels are in effect until 2016. The process of planning takes four years and the curricular cycle has been about 10 years. Recently Kallioniemi and Ubani (2012) have discussed about the possible contribution of RE to the success of Finland in the PISA evaluations. The characteristics of Finnish RE include four descriptive qualities: integrative praxis, intimate interaction, critical thinking and holistic knowledge (Ubani 2013a; Kallioniemi and Ubani 2012). They have argued that the subject may contribute indirectly to the PISA results by balancing the Finnish curriculum in an integrative manner, giving good education and enhancing the creative problem-solving capability of the students. However, empirical evidence of the contribution of RE in PISA remains scarce.

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Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

In Finland the state school system is very strong. As a result in Finland there are neither many private schools in general nor religiously sponsored schools. There are almost 4,000 public basic schools. Nearly 20 Christian-based schools have been established in Finland (Kallioniemi and Siitonen 2003). The first wave of such schools had their background in Adventism and the oldest has been operating since 1920s. The second wave of Christian schools began in the mid 1980s and the schools were started generally through Evangelical and Non-conformist cooperation; there are about 15 such schools, with increasing initiatives to start new ones. In addition there is a Jewish school in Helsinki. These schools are in principle subject to the Finnish national core curriculum. The state funding covers between 90 – 95 percent of the running costs of the schools.

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

In Finland, after the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the selfunderstanding of RE has been noticeably affected by the holistic approach to humanity. The nature of RE in schools has been a constantly debated subject in Finland. Often the criticism has been ideological and based on the earlier conception of “learning (Lutheran) religion”. The legitimating of RE in schools and criticism of the Lutheran Church and religion have been discussed together. For instance, one contentious issue has been the legitimate role of Lutheran heritage in society and schools. Hence, the opponents of having RE in schools have argued that it is a responsibility of the Church and not of the state to provide RE. In addition, there has been pressure to reorganise the subject and to change its “weak” confessional status in favour of a common non-denominational RE that has become statutory in other Scandinavian countries (Puolimatka and Tirri 2000; Kallioniemi 2004, 146; Räsänen 2006). The current educational orientation of RE in the Finnish curriculum has been described to emphasize learning about and learning from religion but also to include some elements of learning religion (Kallioniemi 2004, 150). The confessional “learning religion emphasis” in Finland was dominant until the mid 80’s and influenced by Goldman’s (1964) work based on cognitive developmental theory (see Kallioniemi 2004). This approach was embodied in traditional confessional Finnish RE. However, this approach has been gradually resolved towards learning about and learning from religion (Ubani 2013a). “Learning about religion” refers primarily to learning content and under-

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standing interpretations and expressions of different religions from the “outside” such as in religious studies and anthropology (Hull 2002; Grimmitt 2000). “Learning from religion” refers to RE which includes relating one’s autobiography through personal and impersonal evaluations to religious beliefs, values and practices (Grimmitt 2000, 35). In contrast to the previous approaches, in this view the focus is not religion but the student. During the past decades the “learning from religion” emphasis has emerged as an independent viewpoint from the traditional “learning religion” approach in Finnish RE (Niemi 1991; Puolimatka and Tirri 2000). As a result the denominational elements have increasingly become a source for reflection on personal meaning (Kallioniemi and Ubani 2008). In fact, the emphasis on meaningfulness has been very strong in RE. This approach has drawn from existential philosophy and humanistic psychology (Niemi 1991, 37 – 38). It has been argued that the humanistic approach and the emphasis on holistic development support a dialogical and inclusive practice in Finnish RE (Ubani 2013a; Kallioniemi and Ubani 2012). Since the late 1980s the subject has recognised diverse ways of being aware of and conceptualising phenomena in life, also concerning content such as beliefs, convictions and faith, or emotions. The common conceptualisations have been used for understanding such phenomena, though not to explain them in a normative manner (Ubani 2013a).

6.

Practice / reality of RE in different schools

RE is a compulsory subject in basic education (grades 1 – 9) and in upper secondary education. In basic education students have 1 – 2 hours of RE each week (FNBE 2004). In principle the instruction is given by class teachers. In upper secondary education students have three compulsory courses that include one course focusing on issues related to World religions (FNBE 2004). In basic education class teachers give RE. In upper secondary education subject teachers give the instruction. In Finland there exists a variety of RE textbooks, which are published by commercial publishers. Since early 1990s there has been no doctrinal evaluation process of the books’ suitability for RE by the Churches, or any religious organisation. This is because school RE is not considered to belong to the sphere of interest of the Church but rather to that of the State. Nowadays the use of Internet as a resource and a platform for learning has also increased in RE (Kallioniemi and Ubani 2012). Recently the characteristics of Finnish RE have been discussed in relation to other basic education subjects that go beyond substance of instruction (Ubani 2013a; Kallioniemi and Ubani 2012). These characteristics were: integrative

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practice, intimate interaction, critical thinking and holistic knowing. First, RE is characterized by an integrative practice. Alongside the classical contents of RE such as church history, bible stories and religious festivals and ceremonies, instruction in RE covers, for instance, History, Arts, Music and Literature. In addition, human rights education, citizenship education and environmental education have been a part of RE curriculum. Similarly, instruction is methodically diverse. It uses methods from different subjects and other related fields. Second, RE is increasingly linked with intimate interaction. Especially in basic education, instruction that includes elements of contemplation, quietness, peace and wondering of nature has been rising. Furthermore, arguably because of the amount of RE subject has increased, the classes have become smaller allowing close interaction between teacher and pupils. Third, RE in Finland values critical thinking. Dialogical methods are used for supporting the development of personal argumentation on views on life, ethics and religion. In addition since 1980s, the denominational elements have been used as a source for personal reflection rather than truths to be adopted (Kallioniemi and Ubani 2008). The fourth characteristic is holistic knowing. RE is sensitive for different ways of knowing and conceptualisations of life. For instance, subject specific contents such as belief, conviction and faith are used for understanding behaviour ; the formulations are not used as normative explanations for them.

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

In Finland the parallel subjects of RE are psychology, philosophy, health education and history. Psychology, philosophy and health education are taught as separate subjects in upper secondary school only. All three subjects but especially the newer health education are becoming or have become more popular than RE. When compared to health education, the content of RE is vaster and it is not considered as easy a subject for matriculation as health education. Health education also includes contents related to human life, lifestyle and values that have been traditionally taught in RE. Psychology is also more popular than RE and overlaps with RE especially in the content related to morality and humanistic psychology in general. Similarly to RE, Philosophy is considered a relatively challenging subject but the problem is related to the strong theoretical emphasis in the subject. It shares with RE the content concerning ethics. Philosophy became a compulsory subject in 1994 and

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health education was formed in 2003. Regardless of the overlap in the content with RE, these subjects have not affected the content of RE in earlier curricula. History and RE have traditionally been subjects that have had distinctive interests in Finnish school education. However, in the last decade History has been attributed increasingly with elements concerning citizenship education in a multicultural society that have previously been in the sphere of RE.

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

The curriculum of RE been set by religion or denominational, so the religious communities have worked together with the National Board of Education on the content of their respective RE (Kallioniemi and Siitonen 2003). However, the National Board of Education has the final authority in devising the curricula. The Finnish Ecumenical council includes committee of education which is publicly active concerning RE, including RE for minority religions. The Finnish Ecumenical Council (formerly the Finnish Committee of the World Alliance Movement) was established in 1917. The aim of the FEC is to promote “Christian unity on the national as well as on the local level” though publications, programmes and assemblies (Finnish Ecumenical Council 2013). The council has eleven member churches: – Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland – Orthodox Church of Finland – Evangelical Free Church of Finland – Catholic Church in Finland – Swedish Speaking Baptist Union of Finland – Salvation Army in Finland – United Methodist Church in Finland (Swedish speaking) – United Methodist Church in Finland (Finnish speaking) – Mission Covenant Church (Swedish speaking) – Anglican Church in Finland – International Evangelical Church in Finland And five observer Churches: – The Seventh Day Adventist Church – The Finnish Speaking Baptist Union – The Society of Friends, The Quakers – Finnish Speaking Pentecostal Church in Finland – Swedish Speaking Pentecostal Mission in Finland

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In addition the committee includes several Christian-based partner organisations. The FEC has seven committees. As described earlier, one such is the Committee of Education. It has been active in their pursuit to support the RE of minorities since 1970s. It is supportive of the current RE model and have held yearly seminars that touch either ecumenical education in general or RE in schools. In addition it has issued several statements concerning these issues along with the emphasis of chidren’s rights for religion. Its role in the RE of schools has been, thus, indirect and political but it has no official power concerning RE. The FEC is connected also to an interfaith USKOT-forum. The USKOT-forum has a similar role with regards to RE as the FEC. USKOT-forum is an nongovernmental organisation that’s self-proclaimed purpose is to promote “societal harmony in the spirit of religious freedom by promoting inter-religious dialogue, equality, honorance and cooperation”. This is being done by spreading information and advocating cooperation between different parttaking parties. The parties in the USKOT-forum represent Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

9.

Religion in schools outside of RE

In Finnish school life, religion is not overtly visible. In general schools are regulated to be non-confessional (Basic Education Act 1998). Religious content can be present in school festivities, especially in Christmas. However, for past decades there has been a trend for more inclusive ways of celebrating school ceremonies in order to reflect multiculturalism, and the decreasing role of Evangelic Lutheran Church in Finnish society and lifestyle. Schools do not have any regulations against students wearing religious symbols or clothing. Morning assemblies have become less frequent in Finnish schools. There is no research about the amount but a fair estimate would be between once a month to once a year. The Lutheran or Orthodox Churches, or both hold these morning assemblies, depending on the local religious demography. During these devotions the students that do not belong to these traditions can opt out. The same practice holds generally for non-Christian students during Christmas or Easter services held by either of the Churches. At the beginning of the term, schools ask pupils’ guardians whether these students can take part in such occurrences. If the guardians do not give such permission, the school organises a separate program for these students.

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Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities issues

In the Finnish schools, classroom teachers and subject teachers teach RE. Classroom teachers complete a five-year M.Ed degree in education. The education includes the minimum of 2 credits in RE of some type. However many of the students opt for an additional 2-credit course in Ethics and then in Lutheran or Orthodox RE. Classroom teachers are qualified to teach all subjects at grades 1 – 6 in basic education, including RE. The age of their students ranges from 7 to 13 years. Research has shown that the student teachers consider RE as an important subject for pupils and society. However, they report having difficulties in teaching praxis, pupil motivation and the content knowledge of RE (Kallioniemi and Ubani 2012). Subject teachers, the RE teachers, are qualified to teach basic education in grades 7 – 9 and in upper secondary school (years I – III). The age of their students varies between 13 – 18 years. In recent years, the emphasis in Finnish education policy has been on strengthening the comprehensive nature of basic education (grades 1 – 9). As a result, more RE teachers who had previously been teaching at grades 7 – 9 in basic education have also given lessons to the lower age groups. In principle, the requirement for RE subject teachers in Lutheran and Orthodox RE is a Master’s degree in Theology and pedagogical teacher education. For instance the teachers of Lutheran RE major in Systematic Theology, Church History, Bible Studies, Practical Theology, or in Comparative Religion. In addition, approximately 20 percent of the Lutheran RE subject teachers study Comparative Religion in the Faculty of Arts. Generally, the teaching profession is appreciated and popular in Finland. For instance at the University of Helsinki only a quarter of the participants in the RE teacher education entrance examination are accepted into teacher education. Teacher education studies for subject teachers are worth 60 credits and lasts one year. Teacher education includes studies such as Educational Philosophy, the Psychology of Learning, Special Education, Didactics in RE and teaching practices. Teacher education emphasises themes such as teacher’s pedagogical thinking and professionalism (see Uljens 1997, 47 – 48). The guiding principle of Finnish teacher education is research-based teacher education. One of the purposes is to support the student teachers in gaining a profound knowledge of recent advances in educational research and in the internalising of a researchoriented attitude towards teaching. In concrete, the student teachers study issues regarding classroom practices and teachers’ professionalism. In addition their

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research project models the metacognitive processes in planning, carrying out and evaluating teaching (Niemi and Jakku-Sihvonen 2006). Currently, the key challenge in RE teacher education is the qualifications of minority RE teachers. Teacher education for these groups teachers began in 2007 at the University of Helsinki with financial aid from the Ministry of Education, but there are many problems that have not yet been solved. For instance, the minority RE teacher candidates may not speak Finnish fluently. They also may lack the required basic education and be unfamiliar with the fairly liberal educational thought concerning religions and teacher-student communication along with the emphasis of student-centred methods in Finnish schools (Kallioniemi and Ubani 2012).

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

11.1

Overview

Traditionally Finnish RE has relied much on the research in the psychology of religion, represented mostly by the work of Tamminen on the religious development of children and youth (Tamminen 1991). In the turn of millennia there was still some research activity in the field. Arguably, the most notable studies in religiosity were studies of the religiosity of Finnish adults (Räsänen 2002) based on Oser and Gmunder (1991) and quantitative studies of the religious judgment of 6th and 9th grade students (Räsänen 2006). However, in the early 2000s there was a shift in Finnish studies from students’ religiosity to spirituality. This change was similar to what has been witnessed globally. Spirituality became central to the research activities of Finnish researchers in RE. It emphasized a inclusive and universal interpretation of spirituality instead of religiosity (Tirri 2004; Ubani 2007; Tirri and Ubani 2013). This change coincided with trends in Finnish state RE in early 2000s, where the confessional nature of the subject was questioned and eventually narrowed (Ubani 2013a). This also coincided with the “new internationalization” of Finnish RE research. One concrete initiative where Finnish influence has been substantial has been the establishing and maintaining of a special interest group (SIG 19) in Religious and Spiritual Education within the Educational Association for Research on Learning and Instruction. In addition, Finnish researchers have been connected to other international initiatives or networks such as the International Seminar on RE and Values and The Nordic Conference of RE and organized respective conferences (ISREV 2012; NCRE 2005; Earli sig#19 2014). In addition to spirituality, there has been some other research concerning RE. However, the impact of such studies have has not been as strong as research on

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spirituality. These studies include research on RE teachers and teacher education that will be presented below because of the international nature of the research. Other notable areas of research activity have included for instance RE didactics of (Kallioniemi and Luodeslampi 2005). However, this kind of research has been scarce and generally domestic in nature.

11.2

Spirituality in education

The key themes in Finnish RE studies of spirituality have been spiritual intelligence (i. e., Gardner 1983) and spiritual sensitivity (i. e., Hay 1998). Professor Kirsi Tirri and her research projects have provided substantial research in this topic including conceptual studies, psychometric analysis and mixed methods empirical research. For instance, Tirri, Nokelainen and Ubani (2006) examined whether spiritual intelligence and spiritual sensitivity could be synonymous. In their study they noticed that academically gifted students rated their spiritual sensitivity higher than average ability students. In another study by Tirri and Ubani (2005) preadolescence girls rated their spiritual intelligence higher than boys of the same age. Tirri has studied the spiritual sensitivity of the academically gifted and identified the prevalence of the mystery-sensing dimension of spirituality (Tirri 2005) and search for meaning (Tirri and Ubani 2005). Ubani’s (2010) study of gifted sixth-grade boys echoed Tirri’s results concerning the dominance of mystery in the spirituality of the students. The sense of mystery was connected to their knowledge of and interest in science, too. The studies showed some gender differences (Ubani 2007b; Ubani 2013c). While the girls seemed to emphasise relationship in their personal search, the boys’ personal search seemed to be characterised by deduction, relating to principles and theories and by them taking a position of observing different phenomena in life from a distance (Tirri and Ubani 2005; Ubani 2010; Ubani 2013c). A cross-cultural study by Tirri showed gender and cultural differences in the spiritual and religious questions asked by preadolescents. In short, the girls asked more questions of a spiritual and religious nature than boys. A Christian influence could be seen in the data for Finland and the United States, where as data from Bahrain clearly reflected a Muslim influence in the nature of religious questions (Tirri et al. 2005). Another study with Finnish youth (n = 316) examined how perceptions about the future develop from preadolescence to adolescence. According to the study, the number of spiritual questions about the future increased while the number of moral questions decreased from preadolescence to adolescence. The girls asked more religious questions than the boys in all ages (Tirri and Nokelainen 2006).

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These studies have provided the basis for other studies, too, including studies on the spiritual intelligence of Finnish peacekeepers (Ryhänen 2006; Ryhänen, Nokelainen and Tirri 2006), motivation and spirituality (Hirsto and Tirri 2009), religion, spirituality and identity (Tirri 2006), spiritual sensitivity in the lives of schoolteachers (Hanhimäki 2011) and spirituality in the professional identity of students on church youth work leadership courses (Valtonen 2009). Research also highlights the role of spirituality as a contributor to positive youth development (Tirri and Quinn 2010). It can be seen as a whole-person approach in religious and spiritual education (Tirri 2012). Recent handbooks and special issues (Engebretson et al. 2010; de Souza et al. 2010; Van der Zee and Tirri 2009) in the field include several contributions that address the wholeperson approach to religious and spiritual education. This approach seems to be growing, which is understandable because it can combine many of the strengths from the other approaches presented earlier and can be implemented by an autonomous teacher with strong pedagogical content knowledge and competence in the art and science of teaching.

11.3

RE teacher education and professionalism

In the 2000s research on RE teacher education professionalism in Finland has been on increase (see Hella 2007). These studies have been both international and domestic. Recently, Finnish RE teachers (n = 163) were studied as part of Teaching RE in a Multicultural European Society-project (TRES) in 2006 – 2008. The project, which was led by Professor Hans-Georg Ziebertz, studied 3,400 RE teachers from 16 European countries. According to the study, Finnish RE teachers seem to be relatively content with the situation of RE in Finnish schools. The study showed also that nearly all of the Finnish teachers (99.6 percent) considered “teaching about religion” as the most important goal of RE. Twothirds (62.7 percent) of the participants agreed also on the importance of “teaching religion” approach in RE. They emphasize the significance of religion to Finnish culture and society in their professional orientation (Räsänen and Ubani 2009). Characteristically, the Finnish teachers seem to use diverse student-centred methods in their praxis (Räsänen, Ubani, Ziebertz and Riegel 2009; Räsänen & Ubani 2009.) Previous studies of Finnish RE student teachers have produced the following findings. In a qualitative study of 44 RE student teachers they named both taskcompetencies, especially mastery of subject matter, and person-competencies, especially empathy and interaction skills, as key constituents of RE teachers’ competence in the beginning of their pedagogical studies (Ubani 2012a). Another study showed statistically significant differences between the perceptions

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of beginning female and male students in three areas of competence. Female students emphasized knowledge of people, situational knowledge and contextual knowledge more than the male students did (Ubani 2009). Interestingly, when comparing the perceptions at the beginning and the end of teacher education, another study found the following trends among the RE teacher students (n = 86). First, when summarised, the student teachers views leaned toward an educational professional emphasis. Second, a pattern of decrease in the intrapersonal and psychological domains was noticeable. Third, the students placed less emphasis on life-long learning at the end of the pedagogical year than in the beginning with the exception of learning-in-action. Fourth, the RE student teachers perceived themselves as more competent at the end than at the beginning of their teacher education (Ubani 2012a; Ubani 2011). Recently, Tirri and Ubani (2012) studied student teachers’ reflection on the educational purposefulness of teaching from all subjects (n = 270). The qualitative study was conducted at the beginning of their one-year pedagogical programme. It included 47 RE student teachers. The student teachers of all subjects emphasized some general purposes in teaching. They viewed themselves as responsible professionals, their task was to teach the students the basic knowledge of their subject, and they viewed themselves responsible for the personal and ethical development of the students. The RE student teachers viewed religion as an especially delicate subject that required different kinds of personal reflection in comparison to most other subjects in schools. RE required the student teachers to be conscious of their own religious identities.

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

In Finland, two integral issues concerning RE and diversity have been brought up during the 2000s (Ubani 2013a). Among other things, these issues represented a concern for the lack of dialogue among students from different backgrounds, little emphasis on world religions and misrepresentation of a tolerant democratic society due to segregation (Kallioniemi and Siitonen 2003). First, in the early 2000s the legitimacy of the existence of RE and religion-related elements (i. e. festivals, hymns etc.) in Finnish State schools was widely debated and attempts were made to ban religion in state schools. The Finnish government eventually decided to hold a vote for compulsory RE that would be given according to one’s own religion. Second, in the early 2010s a proposal was made to reduce the number of RE lessons and add a new common ethics subject for grades 7 – 9 in basic education. One of the aims was to make space for dialogue among pupils on matters concerning values – traditionally values education has been part of RE in Finland. However, this bid was also rejected (Ubani 2013a).

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New empirical results concerning Finnish students’ interreligious sensitivity illustrate that in general, Finnish pupils hold values of acceptance towards those with different faiths (Holm, Nokelainen and Tirri 2014; Kuusisto, Kuusisto, Holm and Tirri 2014). The pupils consider that everyone should be able to practice their own religion, and they regard it as a positive matter that pupils in the school come from a variety of religious backgrounds. A part of the reason behind Finnish pupils’ openness and sensitivity towards other religions may relate to the national RE model, where the pupils are able to familiarize with a diversity of faith traditions. When it comes to gender variance in the pupils’ interreligious sensitivity, however, there is a notable difference between the generally somewhat more religio-centric males and their more religio-relativistic female peers. This finding is in line with previous research on the tendency of females to be more religious than the males are (Kuusisto et al. 2014). Our findings also indicate that girls and high-achieving students rate their interreligious sensitivity higher in many domains than boys and students with lower academic grades. These findings are in accord with previous empirical results related to secondary school students’ ethical and intercultural sensitivities. High achievers and girls were found to be more sensitive in all different sensitivity domains (Tirri and Nokelainen 2007; Holm, Nokelainen and Tirri 2009). Also, these findings raise the question of which approaches of spiritual and RE Finnish schools could utilize in order to better support males in particular in order to develop their interreligious sensitivity. While the diversity of RE in Finland reflects the governmental policy of accommodating different minorities into the Finnish society and “good citizenship”, the current solution is not without problems. Naturally, there are practical challenges how to accommodate all forms of RE into one school schedule. At a philosophical level it has been questioned if the segregation of students into different denominations or religions fits with the understanding of a democratic and plural society, where people with different confessions and backgrounds are supposed to integrate and work together (Kallioniemi and Siitonen 2003). Interestingly some private schools have already started to implement a common RE & Ethics subject in Helsinki. Currently also some municipalities investigate whether it is legal and possible to integrate students for some or all lessons. If the solution stays intact, in the long run the solution may prove beneficial for the development of the RE pedagogy. It can be assumed that it allows smaller learning groups, more intimacy and enhances in-depth encounter between the pupils and the teacher. However, it has not been discussed whether the space given at school for the width and depth in the expressions of religion(s) and the particular nature of religions (especially non-Western) fit together really well. Furthermore, the question of how to accommodate interfaith dialogue in the

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classroom and inclusive ethical discussions for all students is an issue that currently remains unsolved.

13.

Further information

13.1

Research related to spirituality

Tirri, K., P. Nokelainen, and M. Ubani. 2006. Conceptual definition and empirical validation of the spiritual sensitivity scale. Journal of Empirical Theology 19(1), 37 – 62. Tirri, K., P. Nokelainen, and M. Ubani. 2007. Do gifted students have spiritual intelligence? In Values and foundations in gifted education, ed. K. Tirri, 187 – 202. Bern: Peter Lang. Tirri, K., and B. Quinn. 2010. Exploring the role of religion and spirituality in the development of purpose: Case studies of purposeful youth. British Journal of Religious Education, 32(3), 189 – 200. Tirri, K., M. Tallent-Runnells, and P. Nokelainen. 2005. A cross-cultural study of preadolescents’ moral, religious, and spiritual questions. British Journal of Religious Education, 27(3), 207 – 214. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2005. How do gifted girls perceive the meaning of life? Gifted Education International, 19(3), 266 – 274. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2007. The differences in the intelligence profiles of Finnish 12 – 13year old academically gifted girls and boys. In Holistic education and giftedness. Series 111, ed. K. Tirri and M. Ubani, 31 – 44. Helsinki: Department of Practical Theology, University of Helsinki. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2013. Spirituality and education in Finland: meeting the sociodemographic changes with empirical research. In J. Watson, M. de Souza & A. Trousdale. Global perspectives on spirituality in education, 71 – 82. Routledge: London. Ubani, M. 2006. What makes life spiritual? In Religion, spirituality and Identity, ed. K. Tirri, 119 – 134. Bern: Peter Lang. Ubani, M. 2007. Gender, giftedness and spirituality. In Holistic education and giftedness. Series 111, ed. K. Tirri and M. Ubani, 73 – 90. Department of Practical Theology, University of Helsinki. Ubani, M. 2007. Young, gifted and spiritual – The case of Finnish sixth-grade pupils. Thesis. Research report 278. Department of Applied Sciences of Education. University of Helsinki. Ubani, M. 2010. Malehood, giftedness and spirituality. An empirical study of Finnish gifted boys. Religious Education Journal of Australia 25(1), 7 – 13. Ubani, M., and K. Tirri. 2006. How do Finnish pre-adolescents perceive religion and spirituality. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 11(3), 357 – 370. Ubani, M. 2013. Existentially sensitive education. In The Routledge international handbook on education, religion and values, ed. T. Lovat and J. Arthur, 42 – 54. Routledge: London.

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13.2

Research related to ethical, intercultural and inter-religious sensitivities of Finnish adolescents

Holm, K., P. Nokelainen, and K. Tirri. 2009. Relationship of gender and academic achievement to Finnish students’ intercultural sensitivity. High Ability Studies, 20(2), 187 – 200. Holm, K., P. Nokelainen, and K. Tirri. 2011. Intercultural and Interreligious Sensitivity Scales. In Measuring multiple intelligences and moral sensitivities in education, K. Tirri and P. Nokelainen, 101 – 122. Rotterdam / Taipei: Sense Publishers. Holm, K., P. Nokelainen, and K. Tirri. 2014. Finnish secondary school students’ interreligious sensitivity. British Journal of Religious Education (in press). Kuusisto, A., E. Kuusisto, K. Holm, and K. Tirri. 2014. Gender Variance in Interreligious Sensitivity among Finnish Pupils. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality (in press). Tirri, K., and P. Nokelainen. 2007. Comparison of Academically Average and Gifted Students’ Self-Rated Ethical Sensitivity. Educational Research and Evaluation, 13(6), 587 – 601. Tirri, K., and P. Nokelainen. 2011. Measuring multiple intelligences and moral sensitivities in education. Rotterdam / Taipei: SensePublishers.

13.3

Research related to teacher education and RE teachers

Räsänen, A., and M. Ubani. 2009. Finland: The Finnish RE teacher – a modern traditionalist. In How teachers in Europe teach religion. An international empirical study in 16 countries. International Practical Theology vol 12., ed. H.-G. Ziebertz and U. Riegel, 57 – 68. LIT: Berlin. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2013. Education of Finnish student teachers for purposeful teaching. Journal of education for teaching 39(19) 21 – 29. Ubani, M. 2012. What characterizes the competent RE teacher? A qualitative study on Finnish teacher students. British Journal for Religious Education. 34(1), 35 – 60. Ubani, M. 2011. Expertise over character. The perceptions of competent RE teacher among student teachers before and after training. The case of Finland. Religious Education Journal of Australia 26(1), 7 – 14. Ubani, M. 2012. Does it make any difference? The case of the quantitative changes in Finnish RE student teachers’ views of competence during their pedagogical program. Journal of Religious Education 60(2), 46 – 57.

13.4

Other key reading

Kallioniemi, A., and M. Matilainen. 2011. Headmasters’ Conceptions of the Finnish Religious Education-Solution from the Perspective of Human Rights. NordidacticaJournal of Humanities and Social Science Education, (2), 1 – 14.

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Matilainen, M., and A. Kallioniemi. 2012. Human Rights Education in Religious Education in Finnish Upper Secondary School. Religious Education Journal of Australia, 28(1), 16 – 22. Kallioniemi, A., and M. Ubani. 2012. Religious Education. In H. Niemi, A. Kallioniemi and A. Toom, The miracle of PISA. The principles and practices of teaching and learning in Finnish schools, 177 – 187. Rotterdam: Sense. Tirri, K. 2008. Spirituality as an expression of post-secular religiosity. In H. G. Ziebertz and U. Riegel, Europe as a post secular society (EPOS). Refl ections on religion and societal cohesion. Empirical studies and theoretical reflections, 155 – 166. Muenster : LIT. Tirri, K. 2009. Spirituality in education. In Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, Vol. 21: Postmodern spirituality, ed. T. Ahlbäck, 245 – 258. Abo, Finland: Donner institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History. Tirri, K. 2012. Religious and spiritual education as contributors to the development of the whole person. In New Perspectives on Religious and Spiritual Education. Research on Religious and Spiritual Education, vol. 4, ed. T. van der Zee and T. Lovat, 269 – 280. Mu¨ nster : Waxmann. Tirri, K., and P. Nokelainen. 2006. Gifted students and the future. KEDI Journal. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2013. Spirituality and education in Finland: meeting the sociodemographic changes with empirical research. In J. Watson, M. de Souza & A. Trousdale. Global perspectives on spirituality in education, 71 – 82. Routledge: London.

References Davie, G. 2000. Religion in modern Europe. A memory mutates. Oxford University Press. de Souza, M., L. Francis, J. O’Higgins-Norman, and D. Scott, ed. 2010. International handbook of education for spirituality, care and wellbeing. Dordrecht: Springer. Engebretson, K., M. de Souza, G. Durka, and L. Gearon, ed. 2010. International handbook of inter-religious education. New York: Springer. Finnish Ecumenical Council. 2013. http://www.ekumenia.fi/briefly_in_english Grimmitt, M. 2000. Contemporary pedagogies of religious education: what are they? In Pedagogies of religious education. Case studies in the research and development of good pedagogic practice in RE, ed. M. Grimmitt, 24 – 52. Essex: McCrimmons. Hanhimäki, E. 2011. Moral professionalism in interaction. Educators’ relational moral voices in urban schools. Münster : Waxmann. Finnish Government. Basic Education Act 1998. Helander, H. 2006. Finland: Individualistic religion within tradition. In Youth in Europe II, ed. H. G. Ziebertz and W. K. Kay. Münster : LIT. Helve, H. 1993. The world view of young people. A longitudinal study of Finnish youth living in a suburb of metropolitan Helsinki. Annales academiae scientiarum Fennicae. Ser. B/267. Helsinki: Federation of Finnish Scientific Societies. Hirsto, L., and K. Tirri. 2009. Motivational approaches to studying theology in relation to spirituality. Journal of Empirical Theology, 22(1), 88 – 102. Holm, K., P. Nokelainen, and K. Tirri. 2009. Relationship of gender and academic ach-

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ievement to Finnish students’ intercultural sensitivity. High Ability Studies, 20(2), 187 – 200. Holm, K., P. Nokelainen, and K. Tirri. 2014. Finnish secondary school students’ interreligious sensitivity. British Journal of Religious Education (in press). Hull, J. M. 2002. The contribution of religious education to religious freedom: A global perspective. In Religious education in schools: Ideas and experiences from around the world, 1 – 8. London: International Association for Religious Freedom. Kallioniemi, A. 2004. Research in religious education in Finland. In Towards a European perspective on religious education, ed. R. Larsson and C. Gustavsson, 145 – 156. Bibliotheca Theologiae Practicae 74. Skellefte”: Artos & Norma. Kallioniemi, A., and M. Siitonen. 2003. Religious education teachers’ conceptions of the solution for religious education — A Finnish case study. Journal of Religious Education, 51(4), 52 – 60. Kallioniemi, A., and J. Luodeslampi, ed. 2005. Uskonnonopetus uudella vuosituhannella [Religious education in the new Millenium]. Helsinki: Kirjapaja. Kallioniemi, A., and M. Ubani. 2008. Eksistenssianalyyttinen uskonnon didaktinen teoria. In Ihmistä kasvattamassa: Koulutus – Arvot – Uudet avaukset [Cultivating humanity : Education, values, new discoveries], ed. A. Kallioniemi, A. Toom, M. Ubani, H. Linnansaari and K. Kumpulainen, 311 – 330. Kasvatusalan julkaisuja 40. Turku: Suomen kasvatustieteellinen seura. Kallioniemi, A., M. Ubani. 2010. Uskonnon didaktiikan opetus luokanopettajankoulutuksessa [Didactics of RE in classroom teacher education]. In Akateeminen luokanopettajankoulutus. 30 vuotta teoriaa, käytäntöä ja maistereita, ed. A. Kallioniemi, A. Toom, M. Ubani and H. Linnansaar, 243 – 270. Suomen kasvatustieteellinen seura. Kasvatusalan tutkimuksia 52. Helsinki. Kallioniemi, A., and M. Ubani. 2012. Religious Education. In The miracle of PISA. The principles and practices of teaching and learning in Finnish schools, ed. H. Niemi, A. Kallioniemi and A. Toom, 177 – 187. Rotterdam: Sense Kumpulainen, T., ed. 2005. Koulutuksen määrälliset indikaattorit [Statistics of Education]. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. Kuusisto, A., E. Kuusisto, K. Holm, and K. Tirri. 2014. Gender Variance in Interreligious Sensitivity among Finnish Pupils. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality (in press). Luodeslampi, J. 2007. Religious education in Finland. In Religious Education in Europe. Situation and current trends in schools, ed. E. Kuyk, R. Jensen, D. Lankshear, E. Löh Manna and P. Schreiner, 65 – 70. Oslo: IKO. Finnish National Board of Education. 2004. National core curriculum for basic education 2004. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. Finnish National Board of Education. 2006. Core Curriculum for Minority Religious Education. Helsinki: National Board of Education. Niemi, H. 1987. The meaning of life among secondary school pupils. A theoretical framework and some initial results. Research bulletin 65. Department of Education, University of Helsinki. Niemi, H., and R. Jakku-Sihvonen. 2006. Research-Based Teacher Education. In ResearchBased Teacher Education in Finland. Reflections by Finnish Teacher Educators, ed. R.

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Jakku-Sihvonen and H. Niemi, 31 – 50. Research in Educational Sciences 25. Finnish Educationa Research Association. Oser, F. K., and P. Gmünder. 1991. Religious judgment: A developmental perspective. Religious Education Press. Puolimatka, T., and K. Tirri. 2000. Religious education in Finland: Promoting intelligent belief ? British Journal of Religious Education, 23(1), 38 – 44. Rusama, J. 2002. Uskonto, elämänkatsomustieto ja tapakasvatus. Oppimistulosten arviointi perusopetuksen päättövaiheessa 2001. Oppimistulosten arviointi 5 / 2002. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. Ryhänen, T. 2006. Spirituality of Finnish peacekeepers. University of Helsinki. University of Helsinki, Department of Practical Theology. Diss. Ryhänen, T., P. Nokelainen, and K. Tirri. 2006. The spiritual intelligence profile of Finnish peacekeepers. In Nordic perspectives on religion, spirituality and identity, ed. K. Tirri, 146 – 164. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. Räsänen, A. 2002. Aikuisen uskonnollisuus. Tutkimus Fritz Oserin uskonnollisen arvioinnin kehityksen teoriasta ja sen pätevyydestä aikuisilla suomalaisilla koehenkilöillä. [Religiousness of the Adult. A Research on Fritz Oser’s theory of religious judgment and validity among Finnish adult participants]. Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki. Diss. Räsänen, A. 2006. Teaching religion — A teacher’s multidimensional role. In Religion, spirituality and identity, ed. K. Tirri, 189 – 202. Bern: Peter Lang. Räsänen, A., M. Ubani, H.-G. Ziebertz, U. Riegel. 2009. Eurooppalainen uskonnonopettaja. [The European religious education teacher]. Teologinen aikakauskirja [Finnish Journal of Theology] 115(5), 436 – 449. Räsänen, A., and M. Ubani. 2009. Finland: The Finnish RE teacher – a modern traditionalist. In How teachers in Europe teach religion. An international empirical study in 16 countries. International Practical Theology vol. 12, ed. H.-G. Ziebertz and U. Riegel, 57 – 68. LIT: Berlin. Statistics of Finland 2012. https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/index_en.html Tamminen, K. (1991). Religious development in childhood and youth. Annales academiae scientarium Fenniae. Ser. B / 259. Helsinki: Federation of Finnish Scientific Societies. Tirri, K. 2009. Spirituality in education. In Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, Vol. 21: Postmodern spirituality, ed. T. Ahlbäck, 245 – 258. Finland: Donner institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History. Tirri, K. 2012.Religious and spiritual education as contributors to the development of the whole person. In New Perspectives on Religious and Spiritual Education, ed. T. Van der Zee and T. Lovat, 269- 280. Frankfurt: Waxmann. Tirri, K., and P. Nokelainen. 2006. Gifted students and the future. KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 3(2), 55 – 66. Tirri, K., and P. Nokelainen. 2011. Measuring multiple intelligences and moral sensitivities in education. Rotterdam: Sense. Tirri, K., P. Nokelainen, and M. Mahkonen. 2009. How morality and religiosity relate to intelligence. A case study of mathematically talented adolescence. Journal of Empirical Theology, 22(1), 70 – 87. Tirri, K., P. Nokelainen, and M. Ubani. 2006. Conceptual definition and empirical validation of a spiritual sensitivity scale. Journal of Empirical Theology, 19(1), 37 – 62.

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Tirri, K., P. Nokelainen, and M. Ubani. 2007. Do gifted students have spiritual intelligence? In Values and foundations in gifted education, ed. K. Tirri, 187 – 202. Bern: Peter Lang. Tirri, K., and B. Quinn. 2010. Exploring the role of religion and spirituality in the development of purpose: Case studies of purposeful youth. British Journal of Religious Education, 32(3), 189 – 200. Tirri, K., M. Tallent-Runnells, and P. Nokelainen. 2005. A cross-cultural study of preadolescents’ moral, religious, and spiritual questions. British Journal of Religious Education, 27(3), 207 – 214. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2005. How do gifted girls perceive the meaning of life? Gifted Education International, 19(3), 266 – 274. Tirri, K., and M. Ubani. 2007. The differences in the intelligence profiles of Finnish 12 – 13year old academically gifted girls and boys. In Holistic education and giftedness. Series 111, ed. K. Tirri and M. Ubani, 31 – 44. Helsinki: Department of Practical Theology, University of Helsinki. Tirri, K. 1996. Koulun uskonnonopetuksen kasvatukselliset mahdollisuudet. Teologinen Aikakauskirja, 101, 372 – 379. Ubani, M. 2009, April. Expertise Over Character? The Perceptions of the competent RE teacher among Finnish RE Teacher Students before and after training. Paper presented at the meeting of the Americal Educational Research Association, San Diego, USA. Ubani, M. 2011. Expertise over character. The perceptions of competent RE teacher among student teachers before and after training. The case of Finland. Religious Education Journal of Australia, 26(1), 7 – 14. Ubani, M. 2012a. What characterizes the competent RE teacher? A qualitative study on Finnish teacher students. British Journal for Religious Education, 34(1), 35 – 50. Ubani, M. 2013a. Peruskoulun uskonnonopetus. [Religious education in Basic Education]. Jyväskylä: PS-Kustannus. Ubani, M. 2013b. Threats and solutions. Religion and multiculturalism in educational policy. Intercultural education, 24(3), 195 – 210. Ubani, M. 2013c. Existentially sensitive education. In The Routledge international handbook on education, religion and values, ed. T. Lovat and J. Arthur, 42 – 54. Routledge: London. Uljens, M. 1997. School didactics and learning. East Sussex: Psychology press. Valtonen, M. 2009. Stories of students’ development into church professions. Church youth work leader students’ spirituality and professional identity. Helsinki: Publications of DIAK 23. Van der Zee, T., and K. Tirri, ed. 2009. Research on religious and spiritual education. Journal of Empirical Theology, 22(1), 1 – 6. Vitikka, E., L. Krokfors, and E. Hurmerinta. 2012. The Finnish National Core Curriculum: Structure and Development. In Miracle of education, ed. H. Niemi, A. Toom and A. Kallioniemi, 83 – 96. Rotterdam: Sense.

Gunnar J. Gunnarsson

Religious Education at Schools in Iceland

Religious education has been a formal part of education in Iceland for centuries, or from the time that the laws specified what children had to know for confirmation, until today, when religious studies are specified in The Compulsory School Act as one of the subjects to be taught in compulsory schools. Over a long period of time there have been significant changes in the content and emphases, and an examination of the curricula and study materials confirms this. In this chapter, an account will be given of the development of religious education in Iceland in recent years, laws and regulations will be examined, the role of religious education and emphases and what its status is in the schools of the country will be discussed. In addition, the education of teachers and research in this field will be mentioned. The author has, as a university lecturer, worked for a long time as a teacher in the field of teacher education in Iceland with religious education as a specialty, and in addition has engaged in research related to the subject.

1.

The socio-religious background

Statistical information Only 320,000 people live in Iceland. For a long time, the country was relatively homogeneous in religious matters, with about 90 % or more of the population belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran National Church until well into the 20th century. But towards the end of the century the picture began to change. More and more people with different cultural and religious backgrounds moved to the country, religious associations gradually increased in number and the proportion of those who belong to the National Church decreased. At the same time, the number of those registered outside of organised religious associations increased. If the statistics of the last decades are examined in this respect, it turns out that in 1985, 93 % belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran National Church and registered religious associations in the country were 13, most of them Christian.

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Ten years later, in 1995, things had not changed much, 91 % belonged to the National Church and the number of registered religious associations was 17. In 2005, there were 25 registered religious associations and the number of those who belonged to the National Church was 85 %. On January 1, 2013, on the other hand, there were 39 registered religious associations and the number of those who belonged to National Church had fallen to 76 %. In the same time period, that is, over the last nearly 30 years, the proportion of those registered outside religious associations has risen such that in 1985 it was 1.3 %, in 2005 it was 2.5 % and in 2013 the figure has risen to 5.2 %. The proportion of immigrants, i. e., inhabitants of the country with a citizenship other than Icelandic, has also increased in the same time period, from 1.5 % in 1985 to over 6 % in 2013 (Statistics Iceland 2013). The largest religious associations in the country today, besides the Evangelical Lutheran National Church, are three Lutheran Free Churches, with nearly 5 % of the population. There is little doctrinal difference between them and the National Church. Next there is the Roman Catholic Church, with 3.4 %. The Ýsatrffl Association is next in line, and is also the largest of the religious associations that are not Christian, with 0.7 %. The Pentecostal Church in Iceland has 0.6 %, and in addition to it there are several smaller religious associations registered with similar emphases or rooted in the so-called charismatic movement. In the country, there are three registered Buddhist religious associations, with a combined total of nearly 0.4 %, and two Muslim religious associations with just over 0.2 %. From this it can be seen that the proportion of persons belonging to the National Church and other Christian religious associations is overwhelming, but the number of persons belonging to non-Christian religious associations and those who register themselves outside of religious associations has increased steadily in the last 10 – 15 years. This trend shows increasing pluralism and religious diversity in the country in recent years which must be reflected in the emphases which are placed on the religious education at the schools. Studies of religious beliefs There are not many studies of religious beliefs of Icelanders, but there are two questionnaire surveys which were conducted during the period examined here, one in 1986 – 1987 and the other in 2004. In the first study, 731 Icelanders of a selection of 1000, aged 18 – 76, answered. They received a postal questionnaire covering different aspects of religious activity and attitude. The result shows, among other things, that the Icelandic population is more religious than other western and northern European countries. But although it was the Christian church-tradition that marked religious life in Iceland, diversity could be discerned when one looked more closely at Icelanders’ religious ideas and attitudes. The researchers considered that this

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diversity reflects a society strongly affected by individualism and pluralism (Björnsson and P¦tursson 1990, 225). They note that the largest group in the survey, i. e. around 40 % of their informants, stated that their faith was individual and personal and that closer analysis of their religious ideas and value judgments shows diversity but without rejection of the Christian faith. This means, rather, that they choose from Christianity what they need but ignore what does not suit them. Björnsson and P¦tursson consider that this reflects the pluralism and subjectivism of modern society where each individual feels free to accept or reject different religious ideas and views guided by his or her own reason. But alongside this group of informants another group, about one third, stated that they confessed the Christian faith, and it turned out to be more likely that they gave “Christian” answers to various questions about faith and religious life than the other group did. In the survey, only about 6 % opposed religion or said that it was of no significance. Around 10 % were unsure of their religious position (Björnsson and P¦tursson 1990, 226). From this it may be inferred that in 1986 / 1987, there was a mix of religious preceptions among Icelanders. A good part of the population confessed the Christian faith, while another part was more influenced by plurality in religious attitudes without denying Christendom. A small minority was unsure of their religious position or considered that religion was of no significance. Considering the results of the 2004 survey, in which 882 of a selection of 1500, aged 13 – 75 years, answered questions on religious attitude and activity, it turned out that the Icelandic population still saw itself as religious: just under 70 % of the informants said that they were believers while just under 20 % said they were non-believers and around 10 % were unsure of their religious positions. It is striking that of those who said they were believers, 76 % expressed Christian religious faith while only 22 % said that their belief was individual and personal. Only one informant said that he belonged to a non-Christian faith (Trfflarl†f šslendinga 2004). Here one notices a change compared with the 1986 – 1987 survey. It appears that the informants this time somehow had a clearer standpoint. Around half confessed the Christian faith compared to 32 % in 1986 – 1987 while almost 20 % were non-believers compared with 6 % in 1986 – 1987. While around 40 % said in 1986 – 1987 that their belief was individual and personal, only 15 % of the informants do so now. What has not changed is the 10 % or so who are still unsure of their religious positions. How this change should be interpreted is not simple. It is possible that increased plurality as a consequence of the arrival of more immigrants with other cultural and religious backgrounds has meant that many who some 25 years ago described their faith as individual and personal without denying Christianity, now tend to consider themselves more as Christian. It also seems that increased discussion of belief and non-belief has led to more considering themselves non-believers. But even

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though clearer lines are somehow visible, when one analyses the informants’ answers to other questions, e. g. on God and Jesus Christ, there turn out not to have been many changes and it is possible to see a certain plurality in Icelander’s religious ideas and attitudes. But here we need more research; this study is, in the meantime, almost ten years old. The results of the 2004 survey show that over 80 % took part in the church’s children’s and youth work while as against this just under 15 % took part in church work during the previous twelve months. And even though the large majority shows a positive attitude to church in both surveys, 43 % never attend the church’s religious services. Only 10 % go to church at least once a month but around 30 % attend services a few times a year. The positive attitude therefore does not show in active participation in church work. The 2004 survey also shows a positive attitude to the teaching of Christian knowledge in the compulsory school but at the same time almost two out of three are of the opinion that there is not enough teaching about religions other than Christianity. And over 80 % are in agreement with teaching and learning about religions in the upper secondary school. Beliefs of young people In the questionnaire survey from 2004, it can be seen that a lower proportion of the younger generation considers themselves believers (13 – 17 years 63 %, 18 – 24 years 53 %) than the older generation (45 – 54 years 76 %, 55 – 75, 82 %). Similar differences were observed when respondents were asked how often they pray to higher powers. The younger generation prays less often than the older one (Trfflarl†f šslendinga 2004). During 2011 – 2012, a study was conducted of the life-views and values of young people in a few upper secondary schools. Students at seven upper secondary schools in Iceland, 18 years and older, were asked to complete questionnaires containing statements that they were supposed to take a stand on, and 904 answered the questionnaires. Included were questions on issues related to belief, religions and diversity. The young people were also asked to place themselves with respect to a religious association or religions. It turned out that the majority, 65.8 %, identified the National Church, a Lutheran church or Christianity. 7.4 % mentioned other religions or religious associations. Then there were 26.4 % that said they were outside religious associations or atheistic. It is noteworthy that a much higher proportion of boys than girls who claim to be outside of religious associations or atheistic, or 34.8 % of boys versus 19.4 % of girls. The study shows that the majority of young people are of the opinion that human beings always need something to believe in and that it is important to be convinced of one’s life-views and beliefs and live according to them. But at the same time, the majority does not believe that religion is important in society, religious practice does not have great significance for them and religions have

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not had much influence on their views. Trust in science seems high for the majority of the group and the question of the origin of the world is primarily a scientific question in the opinion of the majority. The sacred writings of the religions do not have much value in the days of scientific knowledge, but on the other hand, the question of God’s existence is interesting in the eyes of many. The vast majority of young people are positive towards religious and cultural diversity. Nearly all consider it natural to take into account people’s different traditions according to culture and belief. The majority also considers it natural that all religions be allowed to flourish and build prayer houses, and does not agree that it is unfortunate for Icelandic society if non-Christian religions thrive. The view of the majority towards religious dress and religious symbolism is furthermore that people should be allowed to dress as they want to for religious reasons. A positive attitude towards diversity is also reflected in the fact that the vast majority of young people consider it edifying to have friends from different backgrounds and rewarding to associate with people with views that differ from their own. On the other hand, knowledge of religious beliefs or life-views of friends and others does not seem to matter much to the majority, and most feel that it is nobody else’s business what their beliefs or life-views are (Finnbogason, Gunnarsson, Jûnsdûttir and Ragnarsdûttir 2011; Gunnarsson 2012). These results show that religious diversity is part of the reality of young people in Iceland and that they are positive towards the diversity, while beliefs or religions do not seem to have much impact on their everyday life and shaping their beliefs.

2.

Legal Frameworks of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

The Icelandic constitution provides for religious freedom of citizens. At the same time, the Evangelical Lutheran National Church is in a unique position because it is the National Church of Iceland and the government should support and protect it (Stjûrnarskr‚ Ly´Åveldisins šslands 1944, 62 – 64). With the Act on the Status, Governance and Functioning of the National Church of 1997, emphasis is placed on the fact that it is an independent religious association based on an Evangelical Lutheran foundation and it enjoys autonomy with respect to the state within legal limits. Furthermore, it is stated that the government should support and protect it (Lög um stöÅu, stjûrn og starfshætti šslensku ÁjûÅkirkjunnar 1997, 1 – 2). This implies that since 1997 the National Church is relatively independent of the government, but enjoys the uniqueness provided for in the constitution. In recent years, the attitude of people towards separation of church and state has

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regularly been investigated and the majority has always been in favor of it. In the previously mentioned survey of the religious life of Icelanders, 57 % are very or rather in favor of separation (Trfflarl†f šslendinga 2004). On the other hand, in a referendum on emphases in the making of a new constitution in 2012, it was found that the majority wanted there to be a provision concerning a National Church in the constitution, although the question of what kind of provision it should be was not asked. Turning to the Icelandic school system, it became secularised in several steps during the twentieth century (Hugason 2001; P‚lsson 2008). In the first twenty years following the 1907 elementary school legislation (Lög um fræÅslu barna, no. 59/1907), one of the school’s roles regarding instruction in Christianity was to manage the teaching of the catechism and prepare young people for confirmation at age 14. This meant that the instruction was confessional. But through new legislation of 1926 (Lög um fræÅslu barna, no. 40/1926), schools should subsequently conduct Bible studies and the church itself would assume responsibility for teaching the catechism. This legislation thus may be said to involve a formal separation between church and school in Iceland. According to the act and the subsequent curriculum of 1929 (N‚mskr‚ fyrir barnafræÅsluna 1929), children were to read selected texts from the Bible or Bible stories with explanations, particularly on the life and teachings of Jesus, and should learn some hymns. The new elementary school legislation of 1946 (Lög um fræÅslu barna, no. 22/1946) and the new curriculum of 1960 (N‚mskr‚ fyrir nemendur ‚ fræÅsluskyldualdri 1960) involved only minor changes in content and teaching methods, but teaching hours for elementary school teaching of Christian knowledge were reduced. Strikingly, however, the 1960 curriculum stressed that the teacher should bear in mind that his or her teaching of Christian knowledge was to form a basis for pupils’ beliefs and morals throughout life, and that the teacher must note that pupils came from homes with differing views regarding Christianity. The teacher was therefore to take care not to offend pupils, and to teach them tolerance. Here one can see for the first time in the elementary school curriculum in Iceland that account was being taken of pupils’ differing religious backgrounds even though this so far concerned only different ways of understanding Christianity. In 1960 Iceland was religiously very homogeneous and the large majority of the population were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland. In 1974, new legislation for the compulsory school was passed (Lög um grunnskûla no. 63/1974) involving a number of changes. A proposal that the name of the subject religion should be changed to religious studies, however, did not gain support. Instead the name became “Christian knowledge, ethics and religious studies”. Under the new law and the subsequent curriculum (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla: Kristin fræÅi 1976), there was for the first time to be

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instruction about other religions than Christianity, and the first textbooks on world religions came into use in the early 1980s. The scope for the teaching of other religions than Christianity has successively increased. This is seen in the curricula from 1989 and 1999 (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla 1989; AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, kristin fræÅi, siÅfræÅi of trfflarbragÅafræÅi 1999), but the main stress in religious instruction was still on Christian knowledge. In May 2008, new legislation finally changed the name of the subject to “religious education” (Lög um grunnskûla no. 91/2008). In the following curriculum, a major change was made. Now the religious education became a part of the social studies curriculum together with history, geography, sociology and life skills education (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, greinasviÅ 2013). The legitimisation of religious education, its status and content has been based primarily on the specific influence of Christianity on Icelandic culture and society and on the fact that the majority of the population are members of Christian denominations, of which the Lutheran Church of Iceland is the largest. Many teachers have problems with the teaching because of both lack of knowledge of and interest in the subject, since it is common for all teachers to teach the subject irrespective of whether they are trained to do so. There has nevertheless been some discussion of the contents of religious instruction. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the status and content of religious instruction were fairly widely discussed. The issue then was whether school teaching should be viewed as part of the Church’s catechism teaching. Following the 1926 legislation, the content of the instruction in Christianity was discussed relatively little, while the teaching returned to the agenda at the end of the century (P‚lsson 2008; Hugason 2001). It is mostly those who describe themselves as atheists or who belong to SiÅmennt, The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, who have criticised the instruction. They consider that the Church has influenced the instruction too much and that there should be instruction not only regarding different religious but also regarding non-religious views of life. Therefore they should be in favour of the changes of RE in Iceland over the last few years (see chapter 3 and 4). At the same time, the National Church might worry about decreasing Christian knowledge among young people. In the uppersecondary school there is almost no religious education in Iceland and where there is, it is only as an elective subject.

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Developments in the country’s education policies

In Iceland there is no division between primary and lower secondary education and schooling is compulsory for children from the age of 6 to16. Primary and lower secondary schools are combined in one which is called the compulsory school (grunnskûli, literally : basic school, grades 1 – 10). The basic values of the Icelandic compulsory school are defined in the Compulsory Education Act, which was unchanged from 1974 to 1995. The legal text from that time states: “the role of school is to prepare pupils for life and work in a continuously developing democratic society. The educational methods shall, therefore, be guided by tolerance, Christian ethics and democratic co-operation.” (Lög um grunnskûla no. 63/1974; no. 66/1995). This remained unchanged in the legal text until the Compulsory Education Act of 2008. In the bill presented to the parliament in the early 1970s, only tolerance and democratic cooperation were mentioned, but the Church council which had criticized the bill for speaking of religious studies and not of Christian knowledge also proposed that the compulsory school, in co-operation with the home, should give pupils a Christian moral and social upbringing. To speak of Christian upbringing as part of the basic values of education was not supported, but one member of parliament proposed during the discussion that “Christian morals” should be inserted together with tolerance and democratic co-operation. The result was that “Christian morals” was introduced into the bill. On the basis of the Compulsory Education Act, the Ministry of Education and Culture issues regulations and the National Curriculum Guide. These provide the details of how the law is to be implemented and define more clearly the educational role of the compulsory school, and accordingly, the main objectives of instruction in individual subjects. The curricula of 1989 and 1999 gave more detailed explanations of the contents of basic educational values. They stressed that democratic collaboration implies the equal worth of all people, respect for others and joint responsibility. The most important values in Christian morals are defined as taking responsibility, caring and the desire for reconciliation. Tolerance involves everyone’s right to their own convictions or views and their freedom to express them honestly. Weight is also placed on the fact that the compulsory school together with the home should foster pupils’ moral awareness and responsible behaviour (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, almennur hluti 1999). This means that the educational objective was to promote a basis of values marked by, among other things, Christian morals. In a 2007 proposal for legislation on the compulsory school, the formula “Christian morals” disappeared and instead terms were inserted in the curriculum that explain what is meant by “Christian morals”. The bill then did state that “educational activity shall be marked by tolerance, equity, democratic co-

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operation, responsibility, care, the desire for reconciliation and respect for human worth” (Frumvarp til laga um grunnskûla 2007). The new bill may be seen as a sign of the times or as a consequence of the secularisation and plurality of society. However, during the discussion in the parliament “Christian heritage of Icelandic culture” was introduced into the bill (Lög um grunnskûla no. 91/ 2008). In 2011, the Ministry of Education and Culture issued a new National Curriculum Guide for the Preschool, the Compulsory school and the Upper secondary school. In all three curricula, there is a chapter on what is called the fundamental pillars of education. The chapters describe six fundamental pillars of education that are to be mirrored in school activities of the upper secondary school. The fundamental pillars are literacy in the widest sense, education towards sustainability, health and welfare, democracy and human rights, equality, and creativity, and they should be visible in learning and teaching, working methods, organisation and development plans of schools, and furthermore, in its relations with its local community. The six fundamental pillars reflect the education policies in Iceland. In the curricula, it is explained in this way : “Each of the fundamental pillars derives from laws on preschool, compulsory school and upper secondary school. There are also references to other laws which include legal provisions for education and teaching in the school system, such as in the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, no. 10/2008. In addition, government policy on various issues is taken into account, as, for example, published in the “Welfare for the Future” regarding important policy issues on sustainability. International conventions to which Iceland is a party are taken into consideration, for example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the policy of international institutions of which Iceland is a member. Here the UNESCO policy on general education and sustainable development is an apt example and also the Council of Europe policy on democracy and human rights. In formulating the policy that appears in the definition of the fundamental pillars, the idea of teacher professionalism is also taken into account as well as the developmental work that has been carried out in Icelandic preschools, compulsory schools and upper secondary schools” (The Icelandic National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools General Section 2011).

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Role of religiously sponsored schools including any changes and developments, legal relationships

Under Article 43 of the Compulsory School Act, the Minister of Education may approve compulsory schools operated by others than municipalities in the form of a private institution or limited company or other recognized legal form, provided that the municipality has approved the establishment of the school. Schools must operate in accordance with the Compulsory School Act and the teaching should be consistent with the National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools. According to a report of the Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland (2012), 1.7 % of all compulsory school students in Iceland were in independently operated schools in 2010. At that time there were eleven such schools operating in the country. These schools receive financial aid from local governments, and the contribution was 88 % of the operating costs of public compulsory schools in 2010 (HagfræÅistofnun H‚skûla šslands 2012). At present, there are only two schools in Iceland that are run by religious associations or connected to them. For many years the Catholic Church in Iceland operated a compulsory school, Landakotsskûli, which is one of the oldest schools in the country, founded in 1896. Since 2005 the school has been operated as a private institution with an independent board. Seventh-day Adventists also operate a compulsory school which is defined as a Christian private school. The school was originally founded in 1905 and has been operated with a few interruptions until today. When the school moved to new premises in 1990, it was also decided that students could complete the compulsory school exam at the school.

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

From the time that the 1974 Compulsory School Act came into force in Iceland until the legislation of 2008, an independent curriculum in Christian studies, morals and religious studies was issued (see AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla: Kristin fræÅi 1976; AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla 1989; AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, kristin fræÅi, siÅfræÅi og trfflarbragÅafræÅi 1999). Despite the fact that this is not confessional instruction, Christian studies occupied the place of honor in these curriculum guides, although instruction about other major religions of the world was also provided for. The Curriculum Guides thus took into account which religions have been predominant in shaping culture and society in Iceland and in that way put forth cultural and social arguments for this arrangement. In other words, it was considered normal to spend most of the time on instruction about the religion that is most prevalent in the society, i. e., Christianity. Despite

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this, it can be seen how the emphasis on instruction about other religions was increasing with each new Curriculum Guide and in the revised version of the National Curriculum Guide of 1999 that was approved in 2007, the emphasis on instruction about the major religions of the world was increased even more in the light of changing social conditions and growing multiculturalism. In the Curriculum Guides of 1999 and 2007, the role and objectives of religious education are described in detail. It is said that the main emphasis of the subject is threefold. First of all, there is instruction about the Christian faith and culture and the history of the Church. Secondly, there are moral topics. Thirdly, there is instruction about the major religions of the world. It is noted that instruction in Christian studies, morals and religious studies is intended to promote the education and development of students and enhance their understanding of Icelandic society and culture, past and present. Then various educational and developmental factors are identified, such as religious, moral, and social development so that students will be continually more capable of taking a responsible stance in religious, moral and social matters. It is pointed out that the history and culture of the nation will hardly be understood without knowledge of the Christian faith and morality and the history of the Christian church. The same applies to western history and culture. It is also stressed that other and different societies will not be understand either without knowledge of the prevailing religions and moral values. Instruction about other major religions of the world is meant to convey that knowledge, thereby increasing understanding of different cultural and religious traditions. Reliable knowledge of one’s own roots and understanding of different life-views should thus promote tolerance and openness. It is emphasised that an important aspect of the developmental process of each individual is shaping a healthy identity. It includes among other things a comprehensive life-view and understanding of oneself as an individual and as part of a larger whole. Therefore the school needs to give students an opportunity to deal with topics related to their search for answers to questions about the meaning of life and moral values, and disseminate knowledge in this regard. The nurturing role of the school is also discussed and it is pointed out that an important part of the nurturing formation is moral nurturing. Every society is built on certain basic values. The school is expected to communicate such values and in Icelandic society these values have Christian roots. At the same time that this is said it is emphasised that the school is an educational institution and not a missionary organisation and it is therefore primarily intended to disseminate knowledge and increase understanding of Christianity and other religions (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, kristinfræÅi, siÅfræÅi og trfflarbragÅafræÅi 1999, 2007). With the Curriculum Guide of 2013 drastic changes were made and curricula of individual subjects were merged into larger entities. Religious education thus

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became a part of so-called social studies. That entails, among other things, that the role of religious education is primarily described in the context of the subjects that are included there. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the curricula of the subject fields should take account of previously mentioned fundamentals of education. In the chapter on social studies they are described as subjects dealing with societies and culture in an informative and critical way. They have a basis in the obligation of each society to educate students about values such as equality, democracy, care and respect and the significance of these values for a happy life. In the general description of the objectives of social studies, emphasis is placed on the fact that they promote the students’ understanding of many of the ideas and ideals that underlie our attitude to the environment, resources, culture and history. They are expected to enable students to approach social and moral issues with the help of dialogue and let their position be shaped by logical arguments. Furthermore, students should learn fairness, value judgments and responsibility, which, among other things, involve the ability to put themselves in others’ shoes and the ability to anticipate the consequences of their actions on their own welfare, the environment and society as a whole. The main emphases are thus directed at various aspects of the subjects that make up the social studies field and are connected to the culture, history, society, environment and resources, as well as moral issues and values. Concerning the role of religious studies, it is said that they are intended to increase understanding of dominant religions and different religious traditions with tolerance and open-mindedness as guiding principles. This entails that emphasis is placed on both the dominant religions of the society and different religious traditions with a view to increasing tolerance and open-mindedness. Social studies learning outcomes then describe more fully what is being aimed at. They are classified into three main categories, namely the experiential world and ability of students to understand reality, the mental world and ability of students to understand themselves, and the social world and ability of students to form and develop their relationships with others. In the first category about the experiential world, faith and religion and their role in society are mentioned, among other things. Students should be able to consider the interaction of society, politics, nature, religion and life-views over time, in the context of the local community and globalization, they should be able to work on and analyse tasks which concern religion, life-views and morals and are connected to questions about the meaning and purpose of life, and they should be able to explain the diversity of religions and life-views and analyse their effects upon individuals, groups and communities. Emphasis is also placed on the ability of students to understand narratives, traditions, doctrines, festivals, customs and symbols of Christianity and other major religions of the world and their ability to analyse the impact of the Bible and the sacred writings of other major religions

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on culture and communities. Finally, the ability of students to be able to discuss and compare the different religious and life-views and understand what is common and what is unique is discussed. In the part about the goals which relate to the mental world and understanding of self, it is stated, among other things, that the student should be able to reflect upon and express who one is in their own eyes and the eyes of others, and explain how one’s identity is shaped by environment and residence, politics and social conditions, history and culture, religious and life views. Emphasis is also placed on the ability to argue for the value of positive life-views, virtues and values as an important part of a healthy sense of self. In the category of goals which relates to the social world, it is stated, among other things, that students should be able to explain with examples the diversity of human life and the different backgrounds of people, respect the freedom of people to have different beliefs, values, opinions and lifestyles, as well as evaluate opinions and information and respond to them in a non-prejudiced and equitable manner (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, greinasviÅ 2013). These are all lofty goals and it is clear that they will not be achieved by religious education alone, and so it is obvious that the curriculum is based on the interaction of the many subjects that form the social studies field. It also offers the possibility of integration of courses from different subjects, such as religion and life skills. When the new Curriculum Guide is compared to the older Curriculum Guides, one can say that the emphasis has shifted to some extent from a “substantial” understanding of religion, with emphasis on the substance and traditions of individual religions where Christianity is in the place of honor, to a “functional” understanding of religion, with increased emphasis on cultural and social context and the role of religions. Not in such a way that attention is no longer given to the substance of the religions or that the uniqueness of Christianity in Icelandic society is pushed off the table, but rather the emphasis is increased on the ability of students to be able to explain the diversity of religions and life-views and be able to analyse their impact on the lives of individuals, groups and societies. The goal is increased understanding of the diversity of human life and the different backgrounds of people and respect for the freedom of people to have different beliefs, values, opinions and lifestyles. Although these points may also be found in the older curriculum guides in religious education, the emphasis on them is greater in the new Curriculum Guide, in addition to which they are better connected to the subjects of life skills and ethics. The danger with the new Curriculum Guide is perhaps the fact that the content elements of the religions will be neglected to some extent and therefore the knowledge and understanding needed to achieve the high aspirations of the Curriculum Guide will be lacking. The results will, of course, primarily depend upon the individual schools and teachers, and how they handle the material.

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Practice/reality of RE in different schools

It is only in compulsory schools in Iceland that religious studies are a compulsory subject. In upper secondary schools, the subject is not compulsory and therefore there are only electives in this area in a few schools. The Curriculum Guides for the compulsory school give instructions about how many hours a week each subject should be taught. When we look at RE, we see some changes over the last 40 years. According to the 1976 and the 1989 Curriculum Guides, RE should be taught about one or two hours a week every year in the compulsory school. In the 1999 Curriculum Guide a change was made and the hours RE should be taught became part of the hours intended for Social Studies. Nevertheless the hours Social Studies should be taught were only three or four hours a week or about 10 % of the weekly classes. In the 2011 / 2013 Curriculum Guide, when RE became a part of the Social Studies Curriculum Guide together with life skills, the hours in Social Studies were increased to 11.46 % of weekly classes. However in the compulsory schools, the status of the subject varies. Although systematic research into it has not been conducted, there are various things which indicate that in some schools the subject is neglected and often set aside for other topics. It seems that many teachers hesitate to teach the subject, either because of their own ignorance or because they feel the subject is sensitive and difficult. In schools where there are teachers who have specialised in teaching in this field, however, the situation is usually better and the subject is well handled. Newer studies are lacking; the studies which give these indications are 15 – 20 years old. Educational materials for compulsory schools are published by the National Centre for Educational Materials, which is a centralised governmental publisher of educational materials. It entails a certain amount of standardisation of what is being taught, that is to say, if schools and teachers use those materials. In religious education, there are educational materials both in Christian studies, where Christianity and the content of the Bible are particularly dealt with, and educational materials in religious studies, which discuss the main elements of the major religions of the world (N‚msgagnastofnun 2013).

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

In compulsory schools in Iceland, the children of parents who do not want them to participate in religious studies have not been offered a choice between religious education and other subjects, such as philosophy, morals or the like.

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However, parents have been able to apply for exemption from participation if there are valid reasons. Experience has shown that it has primarily been Jehovah’s Witnesses who have taken advantage of this option. However, in the last decade of the twentieth century a new subject began to develop in the compulsory school in Iceland, i. e. so called life skills education. In the 1989 National Curriculum Guide for the compulsory school, there is a chapter on different topics the school should take care of but were not part of the traditional school subjects – e. g. human rights, equality, sex education, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, first aid and environmental questions. In the curricula, the pupils’ development and maturity were emphasised together with their feelings, values and social and moral development (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla 1989). In 1987, the Icelandic Association of Lions Clubs decided to translate the Lions-Quest teaching materials (Lions-Quest – n‚msefni † l†fsleikni). After being tested in 10 schools, it was published by N‚msgagnastofnun (National Centre for Educational Materials) for use in the compulsory school in1990 (AÅ n‚ tökum ‚ tilverunni: Sky´rsla um Lions-Quest verkefniÅ, samstarfsverkefni um ffltg‚fu kennsluefnis til notkunar † grunnskûlum 1990). In the coming years, the interest in life skills education in schools increased and more and more schools started using the Lions-Quest materials. In Paragraph 30 in the 1995 Compulsory School Act (Lög um grunnskûla 1995), there is a list of the subjects that should have their own curriculum guide, but life skills education is not on the list. But in Paragraph 29 it says, among other things, that the school shall promote the pupils sense of identity and their social awareness, and to support their physical and spiritual welfare, and responsible stand towards life and the environment. When the Ministry of Education started to prepare a new National Curriculum Guide after the 1995 Compulsory School Act it was decided to write a curriculum guide for life skills education even though the subject was not mentioned in Paragraph 30. It seems that the decision was taken on the basis of Paragraph 29 and the experiences one already had in teaching and learning life skills in the compulsory school. In 1999 a new National Curriculum Guide was passed for the compulsory and upper secondary schools in Iceland with a curriculum guide for life skills education. In the introduction to the curricula for the compulsory school the overall aim is described accordingly (English translation from 2004): “Life skills study is intended to strengthen a pupil’s overall development. This involves, for instance, having pupils make an effort to develop spiritual values, physical health and psychological strength. They strengthen their social skills, moral competence and respect for others and themselves. In addition, an effort is made to strengthen their courage, initiative, natural creativity and adaptability to meet the demands and challenges of everyday life” (National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory School, Life skills 1999/2004).

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In the curricula the subject is divided into two main parts. On the one hand, topics where the focus is on self-knowledge, maturity and individual development and, on the other hand, on topics where external aspects of daily life are at the forefront. The first part is called Self-knowledge, communication, creativity and lifestyle. This part is described as the core of the subject and it includes among other things the objectives of development and self-knowledge, as well as objectives which are to encourage initiative, independence, creative and critical thinking, adaptability and moral competence to take decisions in an everchanging reality (National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory School, Life skills 1999 / 2004). In an article from 2002, Yngvadûttir points out that the objectives for this part of the life skills education emphasises social and emotional learning. The aim is to join together feelings, understanding and behaviour in the instruction. The pupils are to learn to know their feelings and the interplay between feelings and behaviour, how they can influence their feelings and how to understand the feelings of others. This is also about the interaction with others, to be able to establish and maintain relationships with others (Yngvadûttir 2002). The other main part of the life skills education is topics covered by Society, Environment, Nature and Culture. According to the curriculum guide the schools have more latitude how they implement these topics and may add objectives to provide the flexibility to adapt the subject to their needs and circumstances: “Here the schools have the opportunity of introducing issues which reflect to a greater extent their special situation, emphases in their work, ideology, local conditions and issues which may arise at any time and affect pupils and teachers. These are topics which often arise from the pupils’ immediate environment and with which they have to wrestle in their daily lives. This also includes alcohol and drug abuse prevention, and guidance on choosing study or work following the completion of compulsory school. In addition, there are objectives which schools must work towards in accordance with law or because of domestic or international obligations” (National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory School, Life skills 1999/2004).

In 2008, a new legislation was passed both for the preschool, compulsory school and upper secondary school in Iceland (Lög um leikskûla 2008; Lög um grunnskûla 2008; Lög um framhaldsskûla 2008). In The Compulsory School Act we find in Paragraph 25 the subject “life skills education” on the list of subjects that should have their own curriculum guide. This paragraph is similar to Paragraph 30 in the 1995 Compulsory School Act (see above), but now the subject life skills is on the list. But when the Ministry of Education and Culture started preparing new National Curriculum Guide on the basis of the 2008 school legislation, it was decided that the life skills education should be a part of the

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curricula in Social Studies, as well as Religious Education (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, greinasviÅ 2013).

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

As has been stated, the proportion of the population of Iceland with another nationality other than Icelandic has increased in recent decades from 1.5 % in 1985 to over 6 % in 2013 (Statistics Iceland 2013). The discussion of responses to this in the schools in the country has also increased and changes have gradually been made to the law and the curriculum guides in the light of this development. In the Compulsory School Act no.66/1995, it is emphasised that all students should receive as equal opportunities as possible to study and that discrimination on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, place of residence, social class, religion, disability or other status should be prevented. This law was followed up by Regulation no. 391/1996 on teaching Icelandic to students whose native language is not Icelandic. It states that they are entitled to special instruction in Icelandic and also that students should receive instruction in their native language, where possible. This is then reiterated in the National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools of 1999, where, for the first time, there are provisions for special instruction in Icelandic for students with another native language. This is then still further followed up in the Curriculum Guide of 2007, where it is stated that through teaching of Icelandic as a second language it is intended that students will become competent to participate in Icelandic society as bilingual individuals with roots and insights into two or more cultures. In addition, emphasis is placed on the fact that schools should seek all possible ways to invite parents and guardians of foreign origin to participate in parental activities and thereby support their children’s education (AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, †slenska 2007). In the Compulsory School Act of 2008 and the new Curriculum Guide of 2013, emphasis continues to be placed on the importance of these factors. However, it seems to be the assessment of those who have studied the National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools from 2006 that it is much more based on native Icelanders, i. e., people who are born and brought up in Iceland, rather than immigrant Icelanders, i. e., people who have moved to Iceland (Kristj‚nsdûttir and Ragnarsdûttir 2010). In the above documents, religious diversity is not specifically dealt with other than to emphasise that discrimination based on religion should be prevented, and Curriculum Guides in religious education have also gradually placed increased emphasis on religious diversity and the importance of knowledge of different religions to prevent prejudice and conflict and promote good relationships between people from different religious backgrounds.

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In the beginning, there was a tendency to talk about adaptation of immigrants to Icelandic society, but now people usually talk about a mutual social adaptation process of students who come from abroad and the ones who are already in the country. Circumstances in schools in Iceland differ in terms of diversity. In some places, there are several children of immigrants in the student group, but in other places, they are few. Various schools have to some extent placed special emphasis on multicultural education and teacher knowledge and awareness about cultural diversity has increased, among other things due to offering courses and the possibility of specialisation in teacher training, but it is generally considered that there is still room for improvement. (Lassen, Jûnsdûttir, Blöndal et.al. 2007). The education of teachers who specialize in teaching social studies and religious education must increasingly take account of changing circumstances in Icelandic society.

9.

Religion in schools outside of RE

In recent years, there has been much debate in Iceland about religions and schooling and cooperation between schools and religious associations. In recent times, religious worship has generally not been customary in schools in Iceland, although in the past it was even customary to start the school day with a prayer. However, it has been common practice up until the present day that schools should visit a church during Advent. In such visits, Christmas hymns have been sung, the Christmas Gospel read, religious plays performed and prayers have even been said. Parents who do not adhere to the Christian faith, especially those who belong to SiÅmennt, The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, have criticised the fact that religious worship and preaching occur during such visits and rules have now been adopted in a few municipalities and by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture on cooperation of schools and religious associations. The rules of the Ministry emphasise that such cooperation should be on the basis of instruction and should not involve religious preaching or worship (Tillögur um meÅ hvaÅa hætti skuli staÅiÅ aÅ samskiptum skûla og trfflf¦laga ‚ öllum skûlastigum 2013).

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10.

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Training of teachers of RE: institutions, structures, priorities and issues

In Iceland, it is possible to pursue teacher training at two universities; on the one hand, the University of Iceland, School of Education, in Reykjavik, and the other hand, at the University of Akureyri. It is only at the University of Iceland that it is possible to specialise in religious education. In the general compulsory school teacher training, students can choose to specialise in certain fields. One of the fields is Social Studies teaching, and within that field students can choose courses in religious studies and religious education. There are, however, only 3 – 4 courses, approximately 10 ECTC each, or in total the equivalent of one academic semester. The courses offered cover the major religions of the world and teaching about them, the Bible and the use of Bible stories in teaching, the interaction of religion and culture and different emphases and approaches in religious education. Other students in compulsory school teacher training at the University of Iceland, however, take no courses in this area. The University of Akureyri offers one course on religions and religious education for students in compulsory school teacher training. In addition, it is possible to go the route of pursuing religious studies at the School of Humanities at the University of Iceland and then add pedagogy and educational theory to obtain a teaching license, which would then cover teaching in upper secondary schools and the upper classes of compulsory school. As noted earlier, there is little religious education in secondary schools in Iceland, only elective courses in a few schools, and therefore it has been rather rare for people to specialise in teaching these studies in secondary schools. It is clear that the education of Icelandic teachers in the field of religious studies and religious education is not extensive and only a few of the compulsory school teachers in Iceland have specialised in teaching in this field. With the growing multiculturalism and pluralism there is a significant need to strengthen teacher education in this area.

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

Studies on religious education are rather limited in Iceland. The ones, however, that have been conducted have particularly had two main directions; on the one hand, to attitudes of students in schools, and on the other hand, to the development of the subject. The studies that have focused on the attitudes of students in compulsory schools and upper secondary schools have occurred in the past 15 years. To begin with, they focused on, in particular, the attitudes of com-

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pulsory school students to faith and religious practice (Gunnarsson 1999, 1999b, 2001), but over time, attention has also focused on a variety of other attitudes and values of students in compulsory schools (Gunnarsson 2008a, 2008b, 2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2012; Finnbogason and Gunnarsson 2006a, 2006b). In the latest study, attention was focused on the attitudes and values of upper secondary school students with special emphasis on cultural and religious diversity (Finnbogason, Gunnarsson, Jûnsdûttir and Ragnarsdûttir 2011; Gunnarsson and Finnbogason 2012). SigurÅur P‚lsson has studied the status and development of religious education in Icelandic schools. He has particularly studied the development of religious education in the 20th century and compared it with the development in the other Nordic countries (P‚lsson 2008). A few smaller surveys on the attitudes of teachers and the status of the subject in compulsory schools were made in the eighties of the last century, and they are so old that they say little about the current status. There is clearly a need for many more studies in this area, particularly those that focus on what happens in religious teaching in the classroom.

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

The development of religious education in compulsory schools in Iceland, from being in particular Bible story teaching until the 1970s, to teaching about religions in which the main focus was on Christianity, but then other religions gradually received more space, until the current arrangement came into effect in 2013 and religious education became a part of the social sciences, is logical in light of social development in Iceland. The numbers of immigrants have been increasing, multiculturalism and pluralism have been growing and that has made new demands on religious education. Its status has been varied in different schools and training of teachers to teach in this field has varied in extent. Despite the fact that increased religious diversity has to a certain extent created a positive attitude to the subject, it has in some places been neglected in schools. It is also a special situation that there is little or no religious education in upper secondary schools in Iceland. Increased religious diversity entails, on the other hand, a challenge to take pains with the teaching in this field, and the situation that religious education is now part of the social sciences makes even further demands that teachers who specialise in teaching in that field defend the role of religious education and emphasize its importance. European guidelines, such as Toledo Guiding Principles about Religion and Beliefs in Public Schools (2007), are useful in this context and provide guidelines that can come in handy in shaping the subject within Social Studies where all the students in compulsory schools are expected to participate in this instruction. Quality religious edu-

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cation is important to increase people’s respect for the right of people to have different religious beliefs and life-views. It can also reduce prejudice and conflict. Recent debates in Iceland about the construction of a mosque in Reykjavik, which have been colored by prejudice and stereotypes, are a reminder of the importance of education for all students about different religions and life-views.

13.

Further information

The problem about further information on RE in Iceland is that very little is available in English. So in this matter the English titles in the reference list will have to be sufficient here. For example, in Schreiner (ed.) 2000, 91 – 98, there is a chapter on Iceland by SigurÅur P‚lsson, and in Gunnarsson 2008a, 16 – 19, an overview about the development of RE in Iceland. Some of the National Curriculum Guides can be found in English at the website of The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (http://eng.menntamalaraduneyti.is/). On research in the field in Iceland, see for example Finnbogason and Gunnarsson 2006a, Gunnarsson 2008a, 2009a and 2009b.

References AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla: Kristin fræÅi. 1976. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school: Christianity] Reykjavik: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla. 1989. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school] Reykjav†k: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, almennur hluti. 1999. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, general section] Reykjav†k: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, almennur hluti. 2006. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, general section] Reykjav†k: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, †slenska. 2007. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, Icelandic] Reykjav†k: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, kristin fræÅi, siÅfræÅi og trfflarbragÅafræÅi. 1999. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, Christianity, ethics and comparative religions] Reykjavik: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, kristin fræÅi, siÅfræÅi og trfflarbragÅafræÅi. 2007. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, Christianity, ethics and comparative religions] Reykjavik: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, almennur hluti. 2011. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, general section] Reykjav†k: Mennta- og menningarm‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. AÅaln‚mskr‚ grunnskûla, greinasviÅ. 2013. [The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory school, subject fields] Reykjav†k: Mennta- og menningarm‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ.

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AÅ n‚ tökum ‚ tilverunni: Sky´rsla um Lions-Quest verkefniÅ, samstarfsverkefni um ffltg‚fu kennsluefnis til notkunar † grunnskûlum. 1990. [Getting a grip on life: A report on the Lions-Quest project, a cooperative project concerning the publishing of teaching materials for use in compulsory schools] Reykjav†k: Menntam‚lar‚ÅuneytiÅ. Björnsson, Björn & P¦tursson, P¦tur. 1990. Trfflarl†f šslendinga. [The religious life of Icelanders] Studia Theologica Islandica 3. Frumvarp til laga um grunnskûla. Æingskjal 318, 285 m‚l. Lagt fyrir AlÁingi ‚ 135. löggjafarÁingi 2007 – 2008. [Compulsory school bill. Parliamentary document 318, 285th case. Submitted to Parliament during the 135th legislative session] http://www.althingi.is/altext/135/s/0319.html. Finnbogason, G. E.m and G. J. Gunnarsson. 2006a. A Need for Security and Trust. Life interpretation and values among Icelandic teenagers. Nordic Perspectives on Religion, Spirituality and Identity. Yearbook 2006 of the Department of Practical Theology, bls. 271 – 284, ed. K. Tirri. Helsinki, University of Helsinki. Finnbogason, G. E., and G. J. Gunnarsson. 2006b. Trffl og gildi † tilvistartffllkun unglinga. Nokkrar niÅurstöÅur fflr rannsûkn ‚ l†fsviÅhorfi og gildismati †slenskra unglinga. [Beliefs and values in the life interpretation of teenagers. Some findings in a research project on the life view and values of Icelandic teenagers] Studia Theologica Islandica 23: 43 – 70. Finnbogason, G. E., G. J. Gunnarsson, H. Jûnsdûttir, and H. Ragnarsdûttir. 2011. L†fsviÅhorf og gildi: ViÅhorfakönnun meÅal ungs fûlks † framhaldsskûlum ‚ šslandi. [Life view and values. A survey among young people in upper secondary schools in Iceland.] Netla – Veft†marit um uppeldi og menntun. 31. desember. (http://netla.hi.is/menntakvika2011/009.pdf). Gunnarsson, G.J. 1999a. Eru stelpur trfflaÅri en str‚kar? [Are girls more religious than boys?] Uppeldi og menntun. T†marit Kennarah‚skûla šslands 8: 9 – 33. Gunnarsson, G. J. 1999b. Unglingar og trffl. Nokkrar niÅurstöÅur fflr rannsûkn ‚ trffl og trfflariÅkun barna og unglinga. [Teenagers and faith: Some findings from a research on faith and religious practice among children and teenagers] Bjarmi, 93, no. 1: 13 – 17. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2001. GuÅsmynd og trfflarhugsun barna og unglinga. [The image of God and religious thinking of children and adolescents.] Uppeldi og menntun 10: 181 – 205. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2008a. “I don’t believe the meaning of life is all that profound”. A study of Icelandic teenagers’ life interpretation and values. Doctoral Thesis in Education, Stockholm: Stockholm University, Department of Education. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2008b. Tilvistartffllkun og trffl. Skipta trffl og trfflarbrögÅ einhverju m‚li † tilvistartffllkun †slenskra unglinga. [Life interpretation and belief. Do belief and religion matter in the life interpretation of Icelandic teenagers?] Studia Theologica Islandica 26: 113 – 132. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2009a. Life interpretation and religion among Icelandic teenagers. British Journal of Religious Education. Vol. 31 (1), 3 – 15. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2009b. “To be Honest and Truthful.” Central Values in the Life Interpretation among Icelandic Teenagers. In Religious Diversity and Education. Nordic Perspectives, – Religious Diversity and Education in Europe, eds. C. Bakker, H.-G. Heimbrock, R. Jackson, G. Skeie, W. Weisse .Vol. 11, 117 – 130. Münster / New York / München / Berlin: Waxmann. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2010. “Bara aÅ hafa einhvern til aÅ treysta ‚”. Rannsûkn ‚ l†fsviÅhorfum

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og gildismati unglinga. [“Just to have somebody you can trust”. Research on the life view and values of teenagers] In VelferÅ barna. Gildismat og ‚byrgÅ samf¦lags, eds. S. Nordal, S. Jffll†usdûttir and V. Ýrnason, 45 – 61. SiÅfræÅistofnun – H‚skûlaffltg‚fan. Gunnarsson, G. J. 2012. Ungt fûlk og trfflarbrögÅ. Rannsûkn ‚ l†fsviÅhorfum og gildismati framhaldsskûlanema. [Young people and religions. A study of life views and values of secondary school students] Studia Theologica Islandica 34, no. 1: 50 – 76. Gunnarsson, G. J., and G. E. Finnbogason. 2012. Margbreytileiki og samstaÅa. NiÅurstöÅur fflr rannsûkn ‚ viÅhorfum framhaldskûlanema ‚ t†mum margbreytileika. [Diversity and solidarity. Results from a study of the views of upper secondary school students in times of diversity.] Netla – Veft†marit um uppeldi og menntun. 31. desember 2012. http://netla.hi.is/menntakvika2012/007.pdf. HagfræÅistofnun H‚skûla šslands. 2012. Opinber framlög til sj‚lfstætt rekinna grunnskûla og leikskûla. [Public sector contributions to independently operated compulsory schools and kindergartens.] http://hhi.hi.is/sites/hhi.hi.is/files/C-Series/2012/Opinber%20framlog%20til%20skola%20C12_05.pdf. Hugason, H. 2001. Island: Kyrka-skola i det moderna samhället. [Iceland: Church-school in modern society] In Nordiske Folkekirker i opbrud. National idenditet og international nyorientering efter, ed. J. H. Schjörring 1945, 363 – 375, ærhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag. The Icelandic National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools General Section. 2011. Reykjavik: Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Kristj‚nsdûttir, B., and H. Ragnarsdûttir. 2010. Jafnr¦tti, fjölmenning og n‚mskr‚r. SamanburÅur ‚ aÅaln‚mskr‚m grunnskûla † Danmörku og ‚ šslandi. [Equality, multiculturalism and curricula. A Comparison of National Curriculum Guide for the Compulsory School in Denmark and Iceland]. In Fjölmenning og skûlastarf, eds. H. Ragnarsdûttir and S. E. Jûnsdûttir. Reykjav†k: Rannsûknarstofa † fjölmenningarfræÅum KHš og H‚skûlaffltg‚fan. Lassen, B. H., F. B. Jûnsdûttir, H. Blöndal, et al. 2007. šslenskur veruleiki, samf¦lag og skûli. [Icelandic reality, society and school] In Fjölmenning ‚ šslandi, eds. H. Ragnarsdûttir, S. E. Jûnsdûttir and M. Æ. BernharÅsson. Reykjav†k: Rannsûknarstofa † fjölmenningarfræÅum KHš og H‚skûlaffltg‚fan. Lions-Quest – n‚msefni † l†fsleikni. [Lions-Quest – curriculum in life skills] http:// www.lions.is/verkefni.html#lq. Lög um framhaldsskûla, nr. 92/2008. [Upper Secondary School Act, No. 92/2008]. Lög um fræÅslu barna, nr. 59/1907. [Law on education of children, No. 59/1907]. Lög um fræÅslu barna, nr. 40/1926. [Law on education of children, No. 40/1926]. Lög um fræÅslu barna, nr. 22/1946. [Law on education of children, No. 22/1946]. Lög um grunnskûla, nr. 63/1974. [Compulsory School Act, No. 63/1974]. Lög um grunnskûla, nr. 66/1995. [Compulsory School Act, No. 66/1995]. Lög um grunnskûla, nr. 91/2008. [Compulsory School Act, No. 91/2008]. Lög um leikskûla, nr. 90/2008. [Pre School Act, No. 90/2008]. Lög um stöÅu, stjûrn og starfshætti šslensku ÁjûÅkirkjunnar, 1997 nr. 78, 26. ma†. [Act on the Status, Governance and Functioning of the National Church, No. 78/1997, 26 May]. National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory School, Life skills (1999/2004). Reykjavik, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 7. http://bella.mrn.stjr.is/utgafur/compuls.pdf.

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N‚msgagnastofnun. 2013. [National Centre for Educational Materials]. http:// www.nams.is/. N‚mskr‚ fyrir barnafræÅsluna 1929: Kristin fræÅi. [Curriculum for primary education 1929: Christianity]. N‚mskr‚ fyrir nemendur ‚ fræsluskyldualdri 1960: Kristin fræÅi. [Curriculum for students of compulsory school age 1960: Christianity]. P‚lsson, S. 2008. Kirkja og skûli ‚ 20. öld. StaÅa og Árûun kennslu † kristnum fræÅum og trfflarbragÅafræÅum ‚ šslandi meÅ samanburÅi viÅ Danmörku, Noreg og Sv†ÁjûÅ. [Church and school during the 20th century. Status and development of the teaching of Christianity and religion in Iceland in comparison to Denmark, Norway and Sweden] Reykjav†k: Kennarah‚skûli šslands. ReglugerÅ um †slenskukennslu nemenda meÅ annaÅ mûÅurm‚l en †slensku, nr. 391/1996. [Regulation on teaching Icelandic to students with a mother tongue other than Icelandic, No. 391/1996]. Schreiner, P., ed. 2000. Religious Education in Europe: A Collection of Basic Information about RE in European Countries. Münster : Intereuropean Comission on Church and School: Comenius-Institute, Protestant Center for Studies in Education. Statistics Iceland 2013. http://www.statice.is/Statistics/Population. Stjûrnarskr‚ Ly´Åveldisins šslands 1944 nr. 33, 17. jffln†. [Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, 1944 No. 33, 17 June] http://www.althingi.is/lagas/139b/1944033.html. Tillögur um meÅ hvaÅa hætti skuli staÅiÅ aÅ samskiptum skûla og trfflf¦laga ‚ öllum skûlastigum. 2013. [Suggestions concerning the way in which relations between schools and religious associations at all educational levels should be conducted] http:// www.menntamalaraduneyti.is/menntamal/vidmid/. Trfflarl†f šslendinga. 2004. ViÅhorfsrannsûkn febrfflar-mars. [The religious life of Icelanders. Study of beliefs February-March] Reykjav†k: Gallup. Yngvadûttir, A. 2002. L†fsleikni. Gamalt v†n ‚ ny´jum belgjum? [Life Skills. Old wine in new wineskins?] Netla – Vefrit um uppeldi og menntun. http://netla.khi.is/greinar/2002/ 016/index.htm.

Laima Geikina

Religious Education at Schools in Latvia

Latvia regained its independence in 1990 and joined the European Union in 2004. Although Latvia has always been located in Europe, in many ways it has not developed in the same way as Europe. For instance, religious education, which is the focus of this research, was not taught in schools from 1940 to 1941 and from 1944 to 1990 during the times of Soviet occupation. Therefore the praxis of religious education in Latvia since 1990 has gone through changes that many parts of Europe went through after World War II. What follows is an exploration of these changes and some of the problems that were experienced during this process.

1.

Socio-religious background

After regaining independence there have been four important processes of change in Latvia.1) politically, the country has changed from authoritarianism to democracy ; 2) economically – it has changed from a planned to a free market economy ; 3) educationally – from a centralized and authoritarian system of education to a decentralized and democratic one; 4) and religiously Latvia has changed from an atheistic state to one which allows religious freedom (Ilishko 2007, 121). Latvia is a multi-ethnic and multi religious country. In 2011, data from the Bureau of Central Statistics shows that 30, 380 people left the country, while 7,253 entered. This suggests that since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, the ethnic and religious composition of Latvia has changed and may continue to change in the future. At present the population of Latvia consists of 60.5 % Latvians, 26.6 % Russians, 3.5 % Belarusians, 2.4 % Ukrainians, 2.2 % Poles, 1.3 % Lithuanians, 0.3 % Jews, 0.3 % Romany people, 0.2 % Germans, 0.1 % Estonians and 2.6 % of the population are other nationalities not stated. Statistics show that there are two main communities – Latvian and Russian, Russians becoming a major minority since the Russification politics of the

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Russian Empire and USSR. Data from as far back as 1935 indicates that 10.5 % of people living in Latvia at the time were Russians. During the time of the Soviet Union, in common with other countries within the USSR, citizens of Latvia were the not completely free to practice religion, and the government controlled and regulated what was permitted. This meant that: 1) all religions had to be registered (The law of Religious Organisations article 7.3 involves discriminating rules) (Balodis 2003, 155); 2) most religions were subjected to inconvenient rules; 3) religions which were considered by the state to dangerous or unconventional were often outlawed (Fox 2008, 140). Although in comparison to other Soviet countries Latvia is considered to have suffered less discrimination and confinement of religious minorities (Fox 2008, 147), recently the question of what constitutes a “traditional” and “untraditional” religions in Latvia has been raised. The five largest Christian denominations (Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Baptists and Old Believers) as well as Judaism are considered to be traditional in Latvia (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 14). Still, several religious groups such as dievturi (a group which tends to maintain old non-Christian Latvian traditions) claim the status of being a traditional religion (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 15). Most smaller religious groups are considered to be “untraditional” religions. This attitude toward religious groups may lead to restrictions on religious freedom (Barberini 2003, 19). And it remains the case that teachers of Christian education are regulated by “traditional” religions (Balodis 2005, 258). The principle of the separation of church and state in Latvia has not excluded religion from society nor has it prevented the church from being engaged in the activities of the social life of the country (Balodis 2003, 154). With the aim of bringing order to the relationship between church and state, in 2008 agreements were made between the state and eight religious groups: seven Christian churches (Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Adventists, Methodists, Baptists and Old Believers) and the Jewish community (Tiesı¯bu akti pe¯c te¯mas, Relig´ija un baznı¯ca). The religious panorama in Latvia is varied. Its “religious multiformity during the course of its history was not limited to a vast spectrum of Christian branches” (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 29). Differences exist in both religious and ethnic groups and society as a whole. According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (Centra¯la¯s Statistikas Pa¯rvaldes datuba¯zes, Politiska¯ dzı¯ve un relig‘ija), at present there are 294 Lutheran registered parishes (consisting of 708,773 members), 250 Roman Catholic (500,000), 122 Orthodox (370,000), 94 Baptists (6,930), 52 Pentecostals (3,268), 69 Old Believers (2,373), 51 Seventh day Adventists (4, 046), 39 Evangelicals (3,171), 13 Methodists (751), 10 Dievturi (663), 15 Jehovah’s Witnesses (290), 11 Hare Krishnas (146), 12 Jews (416), 17 Muslims (319), 4 Buddhists (155) and 51 from other faiths.

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From statistical data on registered parishes we can conclude that in the last twenty years religious multiformity has grown, both within Christian denominations (Evangelical Lutherans, Augsburg Confession Lutherans or Confessional Lutheran Society), New Religious Movements registered under Christianity (such as New Age and New Apostle parishes) as well as in other faiths (Muslims, Buddhists and other religions). However, “statistics of members of religious groups are incomplete. The Administration of Religious affairs’ data is based on the information given by religious organisations, whose approximated numbers are unreliable; these numbers in some situations are likely to change” (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 35). Despite some of the problems with these statistics it is clear that Latvia is a multi-religious and multi-denominational country without one dominant religion or denomination. Furthermore, “[m]odern people experiment with religiosity more than ever, forming fluid, and eclectic religious identities” (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 43) resulting in the society of Latvia becoming both ethnically and religiously more diverse (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 47).

2.

Legal frameworks for RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

Latvia’s political system is parliamentary democracy and according to the Republic of Latvia’s Constitution’s paragraph 99, every citizen of Latvia “has a right to freedom of mind, conscience s and religious faith. Church is separate from the state” (LV Satversme 1922). This paragraph was added in 1998, when the Constitution was supplemented with a section based on human rights. The relation between church and the state in Latvia is based on three main principles 1) Church and state are separate, which means that government institutions are secular and religious organisations may fulfil the function of government only when there is a statutory agreement between the church and government; 2) The government acknowledges the right of parents to educate their children and children in ward according to their religious beliefs; 3) Relations between religious organisations and the state are governed by the Ministry of Justice Office of Religious Affairs (Balodis 2003, 149). The affairs of religious organisations in Latvia are regulated by Law on Religious Organisations. The second paragraph of that law says (1) The Law On Religious Organisations, observing the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, as well as international agreements regarding human rights in the field of

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religion, shall regulate public relations which are formed when implementing freedom of conscience and performing the activities of religious organisations.

The purpose of the Law is to guarantee the inhabitants of Latvia with the right to religious freedom, which includes the right to freely express their opinion towards religion, individually or together with others to turn to any religion or not turn to any of them, freely change their religion or other faith, perform religious activities as well as express their religious conviction, observing the existing legislative enactments in force [15 June 2000] (Law on Religious Organizations). The affairs of religious education in Latvia are regulated by two laws: The Education Law (Point 10) and the Law on Religious Organisations (Point 6). Point 10 of the Law of Education says: (1) The educational system shall ensure freedom of conscience. Educatees shall have the option to acquire Christian religious instruction or ethics, or Christian religious instruction and ethics concurrently. (2) The Law On Religious Organisations shall regulate the relations between educational institutions and religious organisations (Education Law).

The second point of article 10 shows that the main normative document, that maintains the relations between education and religion is the Law on Religious Organisations, more precisely its sixth point. This point defines the principles of religious education as follows: – anyone has the right to acquire religious teachings, religious studies are optional; instruction in Christianity will be denominational; – state or municipal institutions of education must provide instruction on the Christian faith if at least 10 pupils of one denomination (parents or custodians) have submitted a written wish to receive such instruction; – School programmes of instruction in the Christian faith instruction are approved by Ministry of Education and Science (MES); Christian instruction are financed by the state budget; – MES approves programmes of religious instruction. Points 6 is added to point 12 of the United Methodists church of Latvia’s law (Latvian law of the United Methodist Church), Seventh Day Adventists laws point 14 (Seventh Day Adventist Congregation Latvian law), both permit the teaching of religious instruction in state and municipal schools by teachers of both these denominations. On the initiative of the former Minister of Education, K. Sˇadurskis, a the Law of Religious Organisations overruled the Cabinet of Ministers’ (CM) rule about the standard of primary education and its programme’s point 6, which advocates Christian education (not denominational Christian faith instruction). It was

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therefore decreed that Christian education should be denominational. The content of Christian education (CM Regulations on the National Standards in primary and basic education Nr. 1027, 21.appendix) shows an agreement between Christian denominations and the state about the content of the subject of study : “Christian education – studies about traditional Christian denominations (Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Orthodox, and Old Believers), Biblical literacy, and Christian beliefs and values. Christian education is inter-denominational, it emphasizes the quintessential nature of Christianity and its importance for the state. The doctrine of Christ is a social model with God at the centre and humanity as its highest value.” (LELB 2006)

In grades 1 to 3 in all primary schools (Pupils are in this age 6/7 – 8/9 years old) there is a choice between Christian education and ethics. Christian education is taught inter-denominationally, which appears to contradict the law on Religious Organisations and CM rules. The teachers of Christian education are obliged to have a delegation from the denomination (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Old Believers, Baptists, Adventists and Methodists) and also a document which acknowledges their qualification as a teacher. This principle of inter-denominationality comes from leaders of the churches’ views about the content of Christian education: “[…] The content of denominational faith instruction does not differ from the overall instruction in the Christian faith. The main principle is that the subject programmes should be connected to the Church, because the Church generates the study programme and prepares teachers. Archbishop J. Vanags argues that if the programme is separated from the Church it will become a materialistic and atheistic education and the Church would oppose such a move.” (Blu¯ma 1998)

The archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Zbign¸evs Stankevicˇs, states that “faith instruction means the truth of faith, as well as the teaching of truths and religious praxis” (Satori 1/4 2010). In schools with a non-Christian religious foundation, such as the Jewish schools, it is possible for Judaism to be the religion that is taught in religious instruction classes.

3.

Developments in the country’s education policies

The developments and changes to religious education are closely connected to the changes in education in general. In the last two decades, since Latvia regained its independence, there have been several reforms in education (Pa¯rmain¸as izglı¯tı¯ba¯ 2003, 6):

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1990 – 1994 – System of education and its leadership democratized and decentralized – Depoliticized content of education – Admitted the Law of Education – Admitted a 10 mark system to grade pupils’ educational achievements – Accreditation of institutions of education began – National minority faith schools established – The content of Latvia’s national education, which defines school subject standards was developed and realized. 2006 The s standards of primary education were affirmed 2008 The standards of general secondary education were affirmed 2010 The order in which general education programmes, institutions and examinational centres are evaluated was affirmed (in 2005 the rules were annulled because previous rules was different for vocational, general education and educational centres. New one united all types of educational institutions in one system). Also in the last year there have been many discussions about the need for reform at all levels of education: starting from the age of six (Lielba¯rde 2012). These discussions have focused on the need for the reform of school curricula in order to maintain uniformity as well as the reduction of pupils’ work load by integrating various study subjects in into bigger units as fields of study or modules; reforms of vocational education (CM Regulation Nr. 5 2010). The discussions have also focused on reforms in the politics of the qualifications, jobs and salaries of teachers (Golubeva 2012, 4); reforms in the conditions of how school work is financed and regulated (Golubeva 2012, 4); managing inclusive education (Golubeva 2012, 5); and the need for a civil and bilingual education to be developed (Golubeva 2012, 5). As Marija Golubeva writes: “In general primary and secondary education there are several points in which the reform plans of MES don’t reflect the necessary needs of the pupils or teachers […] there is also a need for change in educational content and support campaigns, in order to support development of democratic citizenship skills and active participation in local community life during primary and secondary education for pupils and a qualitative intercultural education. These points cannot be perceived as less important and

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it is therefore crucial when planning reforms of education to find a way to integrate them.” (Golubeva 2012, 6)

In relation to religious education it is important to note the need for changes in content and support campaigns for the development of practical civil partnerships skills and intercultural education. Regarding the reforms in religious education it is important to note that that since regaining independence, the most significant changes in the field of religious education are: 1) religion has been incorporated in the content of general education; 2) the right to religious freedom has been provided; 3) relationships between the state and religious organisations on the question of religion have been legally established; 4) the content of religious education is decided according to the state’s general education standard; 5) evaluation without grades has been established; 6) the pedagogical principle of religious education according to the Law of education on the standard of primary education and the rules of The Cabinet of Ministers on pupil- orientated religious education has been established. In the 1990s, the churches were considered to be trustworthy and religious education was perceived as a tool for democratizing society. Religious education was also considered to be a source of support during the changes the country was going through at the time. Religious education could have been a catalyst for establishing and acknowledging new goals in life (Filipsone 2005). The complicated situation of the church, which, on the one hand, tried to escape the mental and institutional stagnation during Soviet times and, on the other hand, was searching for a way of maintaining its Christian identity at a time of increased religious pluralism (Ilishko 2007) was not ready to establish an nondenominational religious education. One consequence of this has been that decisions about the content of religious education have been made between the Church and state which have excluded several religious organisations. These organisations were prevented from being involved in the process of developing a framework of religious education. Therefore, overall religious education in modern Latvia is: 1) mono-religious; 2) orientated to God and the Bible; 3) and the content has been decided upon during in a multi-denominational working group coordinated with MES (Filipsone and Geikina 2009, 115 – 116). As recent attempts to reform religious education show, the motives were not aimed at openness and plurality. In August 2010, the project of changing the Law of education, which advocated Biblical Christian education in grades one to twelve, was carried out. This means that the essence of the reforms is to establish the

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previous form of Christian education until grade 12. To give pupils a chance to establish personal relationships with God means the chance for pupils to encounter religious praxis and attend religious services. It is therefore possible to argue that religious education in Latvia is not based on academic theology (Ilishko 2007, 123). According to Golubeva (Golubeva 2012, 6), it should be noted that in the development of religious education, Latvian society is (religiously plural and its needs and interests cannot be met by Christian education or Christian faith instruction (Ilishko 2007, 124 – 125).

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

Since 1991, several private schools have been established in Latvia, some of which have been founded by some religious organisations. A religious organisation is defined by the law on Religious organisations article 3 paragraph 1 as follows: “According to the law, religious organisations are registered parishes, or religious unions (diocesan churches)” (Law on Religious Organizations). But state and private schools ¢ in this case those established by religious organisations ¢ are defined by the law of Education’s article 1 paragraph 19, which states that a private institution of education (1) An education support institution is an institution established by the State, local governments, as well as other legal or natural persons, the purpose of which is to provide methodological, scientific, informative and other type of intellectual support to educatees, teachers, parents of educatees, and educational institutions (Education Law).

According to these two conditions, and data from system of Countries Education Information (SCEI) and National Database of Learning Opportunities (NDLO), in Latvia there are 51 educational institutions, which are “under the control of legal or natural persons”. 10 of these 51 educational institutions as their names suggest are run by religious organisations: Catholic Grammar School of Aglona, Baby Jesus Family Primary school, Experimental Christian Secondary School “Staburadze”, Habad Jewish Private Secondary School, Christian David’s Primary School, Catholic Primary School of Liepa¯ja, Russian Christian School, Catholic Secondary School of Re¯zekne, Catholic Grammar School of Riga, Christian School of Talsi. (NIID 2013) nine private schools have a Christian foundation (Roman Catholic, Baptist, Moravian Church and Orthodox) and one is Jewish. According to the SCEI, the Experimental Christian Secondary School “Staburadze” has not licensed its educational programme and has been inactive

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since 2009 (Eksperimenta¯la¯ kristı¯ga¯ svidusskola “Staburadze”, school’s webpage). Therefore eight out of 51 private schools in Latvia are established by religious organisations and seven are established by juridical or physical persons and based on a specific religious (Christian) or non-religious (humanism, Latvian traditional) tradition. So one third of the available private education is based in religious or non-religious traditions. In comparison to the 832 educational institutions in Latvia, the number of private schools is small (CSB, Education Institutions and Enrolment 2013) and those established by religious organisations, legal or natural persons are also small in number. Private schools established by religious organisations vary depending on a number of factors, such as: regional development (Liepa¯ja, Talsi, Re¯zekne, Grostona, and Aglona); facilitation of Roman Catholic education (five of eight schools established by religious organisations are affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church); attention to specific religious/non-religious traditions (such as Judaism, Orthodox as part of Russian culture, anthroposophy and humanism). In addition to the comprehensive schools founded by religious organisations, there are also several institutions of higher education, founded by religious organisations in Latvia: The Luther Academy (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, or ELCL), Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences affiliated to the Pontifical Lateran University (RHIRC, Roman Catholic Church), Baltic Pastoral Institute (Latvian Baptist Union), Latvian Christian Academy (initially ELCL, now Orthodox Church of Latvia, or OCL), Theological Seminary of Synod of Orthodox Church of Latvia (OCL), The Spiritual School of Grebenschikov (OldBelievers Church of Latvia, or OBCL), etc. The number of private educational institutions established by religious organisations or in the country as a whole is not particularly high, but they have an impact on supporting education in the regions of Latvia and on the cultivation and upkeep of cultural traditions.

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

As stated above, the legal boundaries of religious education are established by the Law of Education, The Law on Religious Organisations, Rules on demands for pedagogues, their necessary education and professional qualification, and Rules about the standard of state’s primary education. According to legal documents, religious education in Latvia is realized denominationally, following the principle of learn religion and learn from religion. In this respect, it is similar to other former Soviet countries of Central Europe. This principle is approved of by approximately one third of Lativan society. According to the latest research

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data, 56 % of society believes that religion is a personal issue and schools should not be involved in it. Thirty-three per cent think that aid from school on this issue would be good for the children, and 10.9 % did not have an opinion on this topic (Popularis and SKDS 2013). Compared to data from Marketing and Public Opinion Research Centre (2004), the attitude of society seems to have become more positive, with the percentage of those in favour increasing from 23 % (SKDS 2004) to 33 %. § The aims and tasks of the Christian education are outlined in the appendix of the CM Regulations on the National Standards in primary and basic education Nr. 1027, 21 as follows: § The aim of Christian education is to aid pupils’ mental and moral development and their ability to exist in a changing world, and to provide pupils with an opportunity to establish a personal relationship with God and a life affirming view toward society. § The tasks of Christian education – 1) to gain knowledge of God and His order of the world; 2) to learn to master Christian life skills – prayer, serving, commonwealth (in school, family and church). 3) to be motivated in everyday situations by Christian values. § The aim and tasks of Christian education show that during the learning process it is possible to gain personal faith in God, realized through rituals, prayers, and attending services. Teachers are a crucial part of education, they can use Christian education to evangelise or proselytise. As the data of international research shows, more positive correlation between pairs of concepts to learn religion/learn from religion and to learn about religion/learn from religion are revealed when teachers were asked about the aims of religious education (Filipsone and Geikina 2009, 118). So, if teachers theoretically have a positive attitude to such a notion of religious education as learn from religion, they rarely use it rarely in practice (Filipsone and Geikina 2009, 118 – 119). Only 28 % of teachers involved in the research were positive to a dialogue between different religions. 31 % of teachers are confused by religious pluralism in society and 50 % were not sure that diversity of worldviews in society is good, 46 % of teachers agreed that diversity makes society colourful, whereas 40 % were not sure that such diversity enriches society (Filipsone and Geikina 2009, 118 – 120). Taking into account teachers’ involvement in church life – 76.9 % frequent church every week and 96.5 % pray to God at least once week ¢ it is possible to argue that teachers’ attitude to religious and cultural pluralism derives from the teaching of the church and their own beliefs (Filipsone and Geikina, 120). Other research shows that society in Latvia is less tolerant of ethnic or religious minorities (Ilishko 2010, 192). Originally the content of religious education was developed by delegated

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pedagogues and clergymen from legally recognized churches. Academic theologians were not included in the working groups that developed the standards (Andersone 2005). During the recent reforms the National Centre for Education (NCE) developed a competition where all parties of interest could participate. The content of Christian education remains to be confirmed from both churches and NCE.

6.

Practice / reality of RE in different schools

As stated previously, according to the Law on Religious Organisations, religious education is denominational. But the rules of the Cabinet Ministers state that Christian education as part of religious education is ecumenical. Furthermore, no academic argument has been given for what makes Christian education ecumenical, especially from theological perspective. Also while visiting classes led by teachers of different denominations, I saw how they arranged their classrooms and presented the content of Christian education according to their own religious tradition (Icons, altarpieces, crucifixes, differences in Lord’s Prayer and the differences in numbers of various sacraments in various religious denominations, etc.). Most vividly these differences could be seen in Orthodox classes. In the school year 2006/7, Christian education was taught in 42 % of Latvian schools (Ministre Kok¸e un Starpbaznı¯cu konsultatı¯va¯ padome vienojas […], 07. 04. 2008.), but in the school year 2012/2013 Christian education was taught in all state schools in grades 1 to 9 for 9,687 (5.8 %) pupils of 167, 380 (MES, Statistics on General Education 2013) in the country’s primary education grade. That is 1.8 % more than shown by the statistics of attendance of Christian faith instruction in the year 1998 (Andersone, 2005). In the school year 2012/2013 denominational Christian faith instructions were taught to 363 pupils (0.2 % of all pupils) and Christian education and ethics were taught to 92 pupils or 0.05 % of all pupils (Information about students enrolment received from Ministry of Education, Department of Policy Initiatives and Development.1 Instead of Christian education it is possible to choose ethics, which is the preferred choice of most Latvian pupils. One class per week is dedicated to religious studies. Religious education is not included in the list of final examinations for primary and secondary pupils. Traditionally during the period of primary education Christian education and ethics classes are included in the schedule. If Christian education is offered as an optional subject it is either the first or the last class of 1 Information about students enrolment received from Ministry of Education, Department of Policy Initiatives and Development.

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the day so as not to interfere with the rest of the day’s learning. The only religious minority which teaches religious education are the Jews.

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas

In 1994 the congress of Latvian Education employees adopted a resolution, whose article 2 contained the idea of establishing religious studies and ethics (Kon¸kova-Kru¯min¸a 2008, 51). Since the modifications of the law on Religious organisations in 1998 it has been decided that Christian faith instructions and ethics is state financed. Since the rule of Cabinet of Ministers in 2004 ethics has been an alternative choice to Christian education. The question of everyone’s right to freedom of consciousness and religion was settled. But problems arose when another subject was offered – social sciences. Initially social sciences were made as an integrated subject who included ethics, economics, health studies and civil sciences to be taught from grades one to nine. If ethics was offered as an alternative to Christian education it was necessary to change the content of social sciences so there would not is any overlapping in the first three grades. In spite of this, the church was able to make the choice between Christian education and ethics compulsory in the first three grades, therefore there was a lot of overlapping of content in ethics and social sciences. “The two years it took to develop and approbate the standard of social sciences, which includes the integration of four subjects – ethics, civil studies, economics and health studies, seems to have been wasted because of changes made by MES to exclude ethics from the block of social sciences and include Christian education instead. Practically, it means that schools need to have both ethics and Christian education teachers” (Dedze 2003).

Therefore ethics is taught as a unified subject in grades one to three and an integrated subject in social sciences in grades four to nine. The aim of ethics is to: “promote pupils’ interest and learning about ethical values and ethical heritage, promoting moral fulfilment and a readiness to take action in everyday situations based on moral values” (CM Regulations on the National Standards in primary and basic education curriculum Nr. 1027, 20. appendix). Comparing this aim to the one of Christian education it can be inferred that in each of these subjects pupils will learn different knowledge, skills and attitudes. When talking to teachers of ethics a crucial lack of ethically- based stories emerges. Pupils from primary schools lack experience to realize moral aspirations. At this age, pupils can follow positive examples in the form of narrative. In Christian education this is done through Biblical stories, while in ethics, teachers

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do not have collections of narratives to aid the teaching of their subject. Despite this dearth of ethical stories and narratives, ethics is taught to most all-round education school pupils and it is a state financed alternative to Christian education in primary school grades one to three.

8.

Dealing with Religious Diversity

Should ecumenism be understood as a means of dealing with social questions in the so-called field of religious education or should it be understood as a sign of unity of all Christians at the Lord’s Supper? To answer this question, on the one hand, it could be said that ecumenical unity has been hardened since Latvia regained independence. On the other hand, the Council of Spiritual affairs is a regular consultative institution which coordinates the relations between state and religious organisations (Ecclesiastical Council Regulations). Its statute states that only “traditional religious organisations” are involved in the coordination. In addition to the Council of Spiritual Affairs “in 2009 as an informal group of specialists in religious affairs, the consultative board of Religious affairs was founded. The board has consultative functions, which can give advice to government, but its recommendations have no juridical power. The board consists of 14 members – mostly from traditional Christian churches, but also from the Jewish community, local Dievturi groups and the Register of Enterprises. Since its foundation the board is relatively inactive. In one year they had no meetings” (Starptautisks zin¸ojums par Reli g‘ijas brı¯vı¯bu 2011).

This means that “eight religious groups – Lutherans, Catholics, Orthodox Old Believers, Baptists, Methodists, Adventists and Jews have legislative rights, which other religious groups do not. Only members of these groups take part in the council of Spiritual affairs” (Starptautisks zin¸ojums par Reli g‘ijas brı¯vı¯bu 2011).

However, several activities in cooperation with other Christian groups do take place. “Breakfast of prayers” took place in 2007 and 220 famous people took part including a member of Protestant Charismatic church “New Generation”, which shows a certain level of openness and changes in the understanding of ecumenism (Kon¸kova-Kru¯min¸a 2008, 47). A certain cooperation and ecumenism can also be seen amongst religious groups, but a dialogue between religions has not yet properly started in a visible way. One possible reason for this is the ethnic and religious diversity of society. (Kru¯min¸a-Kon¸kova and Te¯raudkalns 2007, 47) From the research about ethnic tolerance (Kl¸ave 2008, 13) it can be seen that

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“In spite of the multi-ethnic reality of Latvia, in many people’s view a culturally homogenous society is the expected result and ideal to reach for. This means that for such people, accepting immigrants, especially if they don’t share our visual resemblance and express a wish to live in Latvia, is very difficult” (Etniska¯ tolerance un Latvijas sabiedrı¯bas integra¯cija 2004, 16).

Most Latvians and members of other nationalities see the world in black and white (BISS 2004, 17 – 18). The research in 2009 about the integration of immigrants in Latvian society points out “in several situations alien work experience in Latvia was made unbearable because of relationships with local workers, who are intolerant of alien labour in Latvia”, and “observations of foreign citizens show that local people are uninterested in foreigners and their culture and diversity” (Imigranti Latvija¯ 2009, 83, 100). This suggests that the tendency towards being intolerant of people from other countries still exists. To illustrate difficulties in interreligious dialogue I will use a recent incident with the chapel of Saeima. A Hindu wished to use this chapel for prayers but was refused access. A Roman Catholic priest commented that the reason for denial was that: “This chapel is a Christian chapel and these signs and this chapel mean something to Christians and helps them in their relationship with God, I want that to be respected. I don’t think I could go to Asia and practice my religion in their sacred places” (TVNET / LNT 2013). Members of Saeima also argued that: “Those deputies who frequent this chapel might be offended by other religions coming into it” (TVNET / LNT 2013). In summary, the results of the research suggest that on the one hand, leaders of religious and political organisations (don’t) create an environment unsuitable for dialogue. But on the other hand, the “demand” of society seems to influence the rhetoric of religious leaders. It is like a complete circle of communication, which describes the praxis of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue in Latvia. The biggest challenge for such praxis is to actualize and embody the European White Paper of Intercultural Dialogue in Latvia (White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue 2008).

9.

Religion in schools outside of RE

The sources I used for finding evidence of religious activities beside religious education in the school were homepages and the self-assessments of schools. Next to each category of activity one illustrative example is mentioned, although such activities take place in almost all schools. With the term “religious activity beside religious education” one understands the instructional or educational activities which are religious by their content or form, and which take place outside the training plan. A very popular activity is

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the service, usually organised in the period of Christmas and Easter. Sometimes, the service is organised on special occasions, such as reunions and anniversaries of the school or has even become a part of school traditions (as it is in Riga 28th Secondary School, source: school’s webpage). Separate schools base their educational activities on Christian values (for example, Primary School of Tı¯nu¯zˇi, source: school’s webpage), organising such activities as an opening service of the week, the festival of lighting the Advent wreath, White Christmas, Holy Week, as well as Easter. Alongside maintaining the Christian traditions, activities are also devoted to Latvian traditions and these take place in most schools in Latvia. Ideologically, these activities are related to the cyclic understanding of time by ancient Latvians and various rites are devoted to old deities of ancient Latvia – the celebration of Michelmas (Secondary School of Ezere), harvest festival in autumnal equinox and Shrovetide in Pine-tree mount (Primary School of Umurga), celebration of Martin’s Day and the vernal equinox (Primary School of Je¯kabpils). Similarly, the cultural traditions of minorities are maintained in minority schools – Hanukkah (Sh. Dubov’s Secondary School for Rigaer Jews), Shrovetide and All Soul’s Day (Lithuanian Secondary School of Riga), Vigil and the week of Rosary, and other religious activities throughout the every-day life of the school (The State Grammar School of the Poles of Daugavpils), the celebration of St. Catherine’s day (Estonian Secondary School of Riga), orthodox celebration of Christmas and Easter (Ukrainian Secondary School of Riga) and Maslenitsa (Primary School of Bik¸ernieki) (Pl¸avin¸a 2010). The Latvian Association for Christian Teachers (LACT) which unites teachers from various Christian denominations regularly organises Contest of the Bible for Children from the schools where Christian education is taught. Also, LACT offers camps in the summer, organised and conducted by their members (Latvijas Kristı¯go Skolota¯ju Asocia¯cija). In the school environment religious symbols are most frequently used for arranging classrooms for Christian education. For example, in the I. Kozakiewicz’s Pole Secondary School “the most important elements are national flags of both countries and the Cross” (Webpage of I. Kozakiewicz’s Pole Secondary School).

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Laima Geikina

Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities issues

In general, professional training for teachers is offered in seven higher education institutes in Latvia: University of Latvia (UL), Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy (RTTEMA), Ja¯zeps Vı¯tols Latvian Academy of Music, University of Liepa¯ja, Rezekne Higher Education Institution (RHEI), Daugavpils University (DU), and Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences affiliated to the Pontifical Lateran University (RHIRC). In order to find out which institutions offer training for teachers of religious education, as well as discovering how each prospective teacher develops or improves his / her religious competence, an questionnaire for 21 directors of the study programmes. They were questioned via e-mail. Teachers of religious education are trained in three high-schools: teachers of religious education and ethics in UL (60 KRP, 80 ECT), RHEI teachers for Christian education and ethics (60 KRP, 80 ECT), RHIRC teachers of philosophy, ethics and Christian education (80 KRP). These programmes are master’s degree study programmes or professional study programmes. In accordance with the demands of the Law on Religious Organisations, when a teacher gets this qualification, he or she must state the Christian denomination to which he / she belongs. Then he / she must receive deputation from one of the eight churches (in accordance to the demands of the Law), and only after that the teacher is authorised to teach Christian education in a school. If a school also offers such disciplines as History of Religions, Ethics and Philosophy, the deputation from the church is not necessary. The answers from the higher education institutions which responded to the questionnaire, indicates that religious studies it integrated in such courses as “Cultural Theories and History of the World” (RTTEMA), “The Philosophy of Value Education” (RTTEMA), “Introduction to Philosophy” (RHEI, RTTEMA), “Ethics and Aesthetics” (RHEI), “History of Civilization” (RHEI) Religious issues are also examined in such courses as “History of Pedagogy” (RTTEMA), “Theory and Methodology of Training” (RTTEMA). Before getting a qualification, the students from professional study programmes, mentioned above, undertake independent research in the field of religious education. Graduation papers would provide a good source of data for research in order to develop theories of the politics of religious education; also they would be useful for practitioners in the field.

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Empirical research concerning RE

Since 1990, empirical research in the field of religious education has generally been financed by the state. In most cases the researchers try to find out what society, parents, school administration and teachers think about Christian education. Because of the limited resources and lack of interest from the administration of MES it has not been possible to research in-depth questions related to the content, methodology, cooperation between teacher and pupil, and results of the training. What follows is a summary of research on the theory and practice of religious education in Latvia: 1996. “The Location and Role of Christian education in the Latvian Educational System”. Project was carried out by LACT, research was commissioned by MES. Results: 2,517 parents from all over Latvia were questioned; 55.7 % would choose for their children to be taught ethics, culture of communication, Latvian folklore etc.; 26.6 % would choose Christian education; 17.1 % would choose both worldly and Christian values education, for example, ethics and Christian education), 0.6 % would choose none of the courses of values education 1999. “About the Possible Ways of Organising Christian education in Latvia”. Project was carried out by University of Latvia Sociology and Philosophy Institute (UL FSI), research was commissioned by MES. Results: 49 % of parents would choose ethics, 33 % ¢ history of religions, 18 % would choose Christian education. From the 18 % of parents who would choose Christian education, 18 % would prefer denominational Christian education, and 82 % ¢ inter-denominational. The research suggests that 57.5 % of parents think that children should receive moral guidance from their families rather than school (Kon¸kovaKru¯min¸a 2008, 60). 1999. “Sociological Portrait of Latvian Youth”. Project was carried out by UL FSI. Results: Pupils from 9th and 12th grades answered the question “Do you consider yourself a believer?” The results: 26.2 % ¢ no, 54.9 % ¢ to a certain extent, 18.9 % ¢ yes, I’m a believer. Respondents’ attitude to faith instructions 6.7 % positive, and respondents think that subject of faith instructions should be compulsory, 50.5 % respondents think faith instructions should be a subject of choice, 36.5 % ¢ faith instructions should not be taught in school and 5.2 % think young people should be steered clear of religion; responses on the frequency of attending church disclose that most believers (37.4 % Catholic, 35.2 % Protestants, 32.6 % Orthodox) frequent church only on religious festivities and

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non-believers (50.6 %) almost never go to church (Korol¸eva at al. 1999, 176 – 182). 2004. “Attitude to Teaching Christian Faith instructions to Pupils in Grades One to Three”. Project was carried out by SKDS. Results: 67 % parents would choose ethics, 23 % Christian education; from parents whose children regularly attended Christian festivities, 74 % would choose Christian education, from parents whose children sometimes attended Christian festivities, 51 % would choose Christian education and from parents whose children don’t attend Christian festivities, 16 % would choose Christian studies. 2013. “A good school: Wishes and evaluation. Poll of Latvian citizens.” Project carried out by SKDS. Results: 56 % of citizens think that religion is a matter for the family, 33 % think that teaching Christian education would be good for children 11 % of parents do not have an opinion on this question, 35 % of parents with children of school age are positive about Christian education in school, and so are 32 % of parents without children of school age (Populares Latvia and SKDS 2013). In conclusion it can be deduced that before passing distinctive resolutions (1996, 2004) people involved in the politics of religious education and stakeholders in these matters are informed that society is interested in an ecumenical religious education and approximately one third is positive towards a Christian education. Some research shows that parents would want a religious education which would integrate religious diversity and history of religion. The current model fulfils the wishes of those who would like an interdenominational Christian education. The question about different religions and history of religion remains unanswered. Research on theological and pedagogical conditions. 2009. “Perspectives on teaching Religion” Project carried out by SocratesErasmus Programme “Teaching Religion in a Multicultural European Society (TRES)”. Research in Latvia “Latvia: Religious Education in the Eyes of Teachers”. Project was carried out by Faculty of Theology of UL. Results: The model of Latvian religious education is to teach religion; initially it has been established as a denominational Christian education and later transformed to Christian education based on Bible stories, overlooked by state acknowledged denominations based on the principle teach about religion and is using teacher-centred methods orientated towards knowledge and understanding of achievement of training. In spite of that, teachers are positive about all methods offered by researchers; also, they are positive about institutional support for their work, although financial

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and technical means are insufficient. Additionally, teachers point out that they feel psychologically comfortable with their job (a low indicator of burnout) (Ziebert and Riegel 2009). By taking into account the limited amount of research on theological, pedagogical and psychological aspects of education, there are two main challenges for researchers: 1) to attract attention of society and officials of education and researchers to the studies of this field; 2) to get more financial support for the studies of this field.

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

Taking into account multicultural and multi-religious situation in Latvia, it is hoped that it will be possible to develop the religious and intercultural competence of Latvian society in order to reduce the distrust, intolerance and orthodox viewpoint about religious and cultural pluralism. The main challenges in the field of the education will be to begin a discussion about the different approaches to religious education, the differences in pedagogical abilities and theological knowledge of professionals in the field, as well as of society in general. The challenge is also the integration of human rights and democratic civic awareness in religious education, or the integration of religion in the content of social sciences and other disciplines. In order to achieve this aim, one must develop real ecumenism within the framework of Christianity and real interreligious dialogue between various religious groups.

13.

Further information

Recommended literature

Balodis, R. 2013. Religious Education in Latvia. In The Routledge International Handbook of Religious Education, ed. D. H. Davis and E. Miroshnikova, 202 – 211, London / New York: Routledge. Filipsone, A. 2011. Religious education in Latvia and the challenge of religious pluralism. In Religious Education in Contemporary Society, ed. K. I. Johannessen, 95 – 110, Oslo: Nordplus. Filipsone, A. 2009. Religious Literacy or Spiritual Awareness? Comparative Critique of Andrew Wright’s and David Hay’s Approaches to Spiritual Education. In International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, Vol. 14, No 2, May 2009, 121 – 128. Filipsone, A. 2007. Integral Philosophy of Ken Wilber and Religious Education. In International Handbook of the Religious, Moral and Spiritual Dimension of Education, ed. A. McGrady, M. de Souza, K. Engebrektson, and G. Durka, 93 – 105, Springer.

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Filipsone, A. (2005, Fall). Religious Education in Post-Soviet Latvia. Part II, East-West Church & Ministry Report, Vol. 13, No. 4, 10 – 11. Filipsone, A. (2005, Summer). Religious Education in Post-Soviet Latvia. Part I. East-West Church & Ministry Report, Vol. 13, No. 3, 9 – 10. Filipsone, A. (2005, Winter). Time of Uncertain Conversations: Religious Education in Public Schools of the Post-Soviet Latvia. Religious Education, Vol. 100, No 1, 52 – 66. Geikina, L., A. Filipsone. 2009. Latvia: religious education in the eyes of teachers. In How Teachers in Europe Teach Religion, ed. H-G. Ziebertz, and U. Riegel, 113 – 124, Berlin: LIT Verlag. Geikina, L. 2013. Learning to be … and living together! Religious education in public schools: experience in Latvia and Europe. 243 – 268, Riga: Drukatava, with English summary. Geikina, L. 2012. Religious nature of Atheistic education. In collective monograph Religiosity in Latvia: history and contemporary situation, ed. S. Krumina-Konkova, 138 – 158, Riga: FSI, with English summary (316 – 317). Geikina, L. 2009. Teacher training in the context of Bologna Process. In Ecumenical Theological Education, 29 – 36, Tartu: University of Tartu, University Press. Geikina, L., Z. Rubene. 2010. Implications of Totalitarian Values in the Post-Soviet Educational Space: Analysis of narrative interviews in Latvia. In Teacher of the 21st Century : Quality education for quality teaching, 592 – 597, Riga: ATEE Spring University, University of Latvia. Ilishko, Dz., Education Encounters and Interreligious Education: A Latvian Case Study for Expanding the Borders of Hospitality. In International Handbook of Inter-religious Education, ed. K. Engerbretson, M. De Souza, G. Durka, and L. Gearon, 191 – 204, Heidelberg / London / New York: Springer. Ilishko, Dz. 2009. Pedagogical Challenges for Educating an Authentic Religious Identity and responsible Pluralism. In Religious Education in a World of Religious Diversity. Vol.12, ed. W.A.J. Meijer et al., 41 – 52, Münster : Waxmann. Ilishko, Dz. 2007. Religious Education in Latvia. In Religious Education in Europe. Situation and current trends in schools, ed. E. Kuyk, R. Jensen et al., 121, Oslo: IKO Publishing House.

Websites

Ilishko, Dz. Religious Education in Latvia, EFTRE webpage, May 2009 http://www.mmi web.org.uk/eftre/reeurope/latvia_2009.html

14. CM ELCL LACT MES NCE RHEI

List of Abbreviations Cabinet of Ministers Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia the Latvian Association for Christian Teachers the Ministry of Education and Sciences National Centre of Education Rezekne Higher Education Institution

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RHIRC

Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences affiliated to the Pontifical Lateran University RTTEMA Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management UL University of Latvia

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Rita Giedre˙ Rugevicˇiu¯te˙

Religious Education at Schools in Lithuania

1.

Socio-religious background

During the twentieth century, Lithuania experienced three profound transformations. The first involved the creation of an independent Republic of Lithuania (1918 – 1940). At the time, the democratic state institutions established close links and collaboration with the Catholic Church as well as with those churches of other denominations. According to the constitution (1922) the Lithuanian State introduced compulsory religious instruction in public primary and secondary schools. Several Catholic religious orders i. e. (The Marists, Jesuits, and Franciscans) opened private gymnasiums (10) and primary schools (18). At the time, the Vilnius Academy, Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University theology and philosophy departments, various informal Catholic movements as well as the Catholic periodical press became a strong influence and cornerstone of Catholic education and culture. There were also Orthodox, Evangelical and Jewish communities which influenced the political, economic, cultural, social and religious life of the country. Today Lithuanian law recognizes nine existing traditional religious communities. Another poignant part of twentieth-century Lithuania was the 50-year Soviet occupation by the communist regime. During the first year of the Soviet occupation, Lithuania lost one-quarter of the current population, significantly those people who were the most innovative and active in the public life of their country (Anusauskas 2004). The Lithuanian population endured economic, cultural, ethnic and spiritual violence. Religious education was abolished in all the educational institutions of the country, because education was then influenced by an atheistic ideology which was hostile to any faith. During the Soviet regime, some representatives of the Catholic Church – the so-called underground church – guarded not only faith, morality and truth, but also the nation’s culture, language and history, this became a significant political and spiritual resistance to the occupying authorities. Religious education continued to be taught in a few families, small gatherings, and cultural events in the underground movement

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where it used only silent symbols, language and cultural expression. In the early 1980s, more active priests, especially the Jesuits and Marists, kept records of the persecution of Catholics and other religions. Thus was born “The Chronicle of the Lithuanian Catholic Church” – an underground periodical magazine, which was known not only in Lithuania, but also in Western countries. It was translated into five foreign languages and distributed amongst 38 countries (Kriksˇcˇionybe˙s istorija 2000, 663). Only in 1988 did the Soviet Union adopt the Law on the freedom of conscience which basically opened the door for a variety of religious communities to participate in public activities. Believers could now have free access to religious communities, and the Catholic Church in Lithuania was able to implement Vatican II decrees, enact reforms and carry out pastoral activities. In 1988 the movement of human science and art steering group “Sa˛ju¯dis” sought to recover the independence of Lithuania. The third phase of change began when Lithuania regained its independence in 1990. It had to re-build democracy and began again to learn to live in freedom. However, the half-century-long Communist regime had deeply influenced Lithuanian thinking, affecting attitudes, beliefs and worldviews. During independence moral education (religion or ethics) was validated as part of a general education in schools by the Republic of Lithuania Education Law. 85 % of students in the first year chose to study the Catholic religion. In 1991 the diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania were restored. Lithuania set up ecclesiastical provinces in Vilnius and Kaunas. The “coming out” of religious communities from the underground began to “open the door” for everyone. There are now 40 female and 15 male religious orders in Lithuania. During the first five years of independence there was a special “believers” influx in the church’s religious activity, as people after the fall of communism endured spiritual emptiness, lack of identity, insecurity and a sense of uncertainty. Such a phenomenon may have been partly due to nostalgia for an independent Lithuanian society influenced by the Catholic Church (Briliu¯te˙ 2005, 57). In 1993 Pope John Paul II visited Lithuania, strengthening people’s resolve to break away from the Soviet way of thinking by encouraging them to have faith and hope and to live in freedom and dignity. However, Lithuanian society now had a limited understanding “of the sacred origins and spiritual purpose of the Church and this misapprehension led to an oversight in understanding the Church’s importance in society” (Laumenskaite˙ 1993, 102). From the earliest days of independence, the Catholic Church cared deeply about the provision of religious education and even dioceses created catechetical, family and youth centers. State Universities and colleges opened the faculties of theology and religious education departments, which trained religious educators, theologians and parish staff.

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Research on religiosity in post-Soviet countries does not indicate that religion collapsed, but neither does it suggest that nor that it recovered significantly. In 1990 the Church attendance in Lithuania was 28 % of population, in 2000, 32 %, and in 2011 it was 30 % of population (Glodenis 2012). A European survey of values from 1990 – 1999 revealed that one-third of the respondents visited church only during religious holidays, and those who visited chuch once a week amounted to less than one-fifth (Zˇiliukaite˙ 2000). The understanding of Christian values during this period seems to be superficial, as can be seen by in a number of incompatible beliefs that people held at the time, For example, people were found to have a personal faith in God, the afterlife, but also in reincarnation and telepathy. In Lithuania, the relationship between society and the church could be described as “dependence without faith”. According to the survey, trust in Church over the two decades in Lithuania decreased from 73 to 53 % (Zˇiliukaite˙ 2000). In the decade of independence Lithuania had significantly increased the number of practicing Christians from 55 % to 84 %. In 2000, religion was considered to be important in the lives of 57 % of respondents, whereas in 1990 it was only important for 43 %. Indicators of religiosity vary between age groups. The importance of religion and belief in God amongst young people is lower than it is for older people. For example, only 18 % of young people under 30 attend church, whereas for over 65-year-olds this increases to 59 %. This was also a time when Lithuanians became more interested in various forms of spirituality. A number of organizations began to offer a variety of forms of spirituality. Some of these were influenced by Eastern religious traditions, such as the Art of Living Society, others with the Western tradition of religious mysticism, such as Kabbalah. The popularity of neo-paganism had also increased partly because it was associated with ethnographic movement, which sought to preserve the Lithuanian / dialects and heritage of songs. After the restoration of independence the ancient Baltic religion gained legal recognition. In 2003 accession of the State of Lithuania to the European Union meant that the country now faced new tasks and responsibilities. Quite rapidly the secularization of Lithuania began to spread as post-Soviet thinking remained alive and well. Secular society became increasingly consumerist and hedonistic, and this also seemed to influence technical, scientific and economic thinking. Gradually people began to desert the churches. However, those religious communities which fostered the faith of small groups were growing. Lithuanian religious tendencies were becoming more individualistic but this did not mean that they were necessarily related to religious beliefs and communal rituals (Matakaite˙ 2003, 42). According statistics from 2011, Lithuanian residents identified as belonging to 59 religious communities whereas in 2001, they had identified with only 28. In the 2011 Census, 77.3 % of the population declared that they were Catholic, this was slightly less than in 2001 when 79 % had

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identified in this way ; 4.1 % identified with the Orthodox Church, 0.8 % the Greek Catholics, 0.6 % Evangelical Lutheran, 0.2 % Evangelical Reformed, 0.9 % Muslims and 6.1 % of the population identified with other faiths. Only 6.1 % of the population did not identify with any religious community (Glodenis 2012). Baptists, the Free Church and the Seventh Day Adventists were given the religious status by the state. There are now 23 non-traditional religious communities and 9 spirituality groups. According to the Migration Department, since 1990 about 769,000 people left the country (2011. censusdata). On average every year about 30 thousand emigrate and population surveys indicate that intentions to emigrate remain unabated (Lietuvos gyventoju˛ pozˇiu¯ris ˛i imigracija˛ ir darbo imigrantus 2010, 4). However, these numbers of people emigrating and returing to the country make up only about one percent of the population (Lietuvos gyventoju˛ pozˇiu¯ris ˛i imigracija˛ ir darbo imigrantus 2010, 6). In 2012 about 20 thousand people arrived in Lithuania. The vast majority (87 %) of the arrivals were Lithuanian citizens returning. There were about 2,500 foreigners that came to Lithuania, of which approximately 1,000 were EU citizens and the remaining 1,500 were nonEU nationals. Most foreigners come from Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Young people perceive immigration more positively than the elderly, 48.3 % of pupils and students were affirmative and only 30 % were negative). In Lithuania socio-economic status is influenced by the free market and trends in globalization. Citizens’ religious freedom is not restricted, but the spiritual growth of the believers is weak, because it is influenced by the postmodern attitudes of society. Research into the religious situation in Lithuania is limited, mostly recorded by monitoring overall trends in religious institutions in Lithuanian society. According to sociologists, in Lithuania there is a notable new religious phenomenon, that of spirituality advocacy groups, but these do not want to be associated with any religious tradition and offer instead a return to common human values. Similar trends, called “alternative spirituality”, have been researched in other western societies. In Lithuania alternative spirituality is presented as a non-religious phenomenon, whereas in western societies, alternative spirituality is presented as a new phase of religious life, which is concerned with liberation from traditional religion and its dogmas (Aliˇsauskiene˙, 2009).

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Legal Framework of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

In Lithuania the relationship between the state and religious communities is based on cooperation. Due to historical, cultural and social circumstances the Catholic Church holds a special place (Vaisˇvilaite˙ 2001). The judicial acts of Lithuania guarantee the freedom of religion and beliefs of an individual: freedom to confess their faith and share it, freedom to perform religious rites in private or in public and freedom to teach religion. (LR Konstitucija 26, 29, 43). Article 26 of the Lithuanian Constitution guarantees the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Article 43 of the Constitution recognizes the corporate freedom of religion “State-recognized churches and religious organizations have legal status and the right to self-determination”: Churches and religious organizations freely organize themselves according to their canons and statutes. Article 29 of the Constitution guarantees all people equality : “Human rights cannot be restricted and do not discriminate on the grounds of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion, beliefs or opinions”. The Law of Religious communities and societies determine the juridical relationship between religious communities and the state. According to the law of religious communities and societies, Lithuania has four statuses for religious communities and societies: a state-recognized traditional, state-recognized, other (non-traditional) registered and unregistered (Religiniu˛ bendruomeniu˛ ir dvasiniu˛ grupiu˛ zˇinynas 2009). In Lithuania nine traditional religious associations and communities have been in existence for several hundred years. Non-traditional religious communities can be recognized by the state where they operate from the moment of registration in Lithuania for 25 years and more, if there is support from the public and their teaching and practices are consistent with law and morality. The recognition of a religious community is decided by Parliament upon receiving the Ministry of Justice’s report. The recognition means that the state supports the community’s spiritual, cultural and social heritage. Traditional and state-recognized religions have certain privileges: on the request of parents, religious faith can be taught in public schools, while the state-sponsored media may periodically organize religious programs, and these religions are allowed to be practiced in the army. Lithuanian State Constitution, Article 26 states: “Everyone has the right to freely choose any religion or belief individually or with others, in private or in public, to confess, to perform religious rites, to practice its faith and teaching. Parents and guardians have the flexibility to take care of children’s religious and moral education according to their beliefs”. The beginning of Article 40 of the

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Constitution states: “State and local government educational institutions are secular. If requested to do so by parents, they provide religious education.” Article 1 of the Law of Religious communities and societies states: “There is no state religion in Lithuania”. Article 9 of the same reads: “public educational institutions, parents (guardians) request can be taught in traditional and other state-recognized religious communities and religious”. “The State recognizes nine Lithuanian historical, spiritual and social heritages of traditional Lithuania existing religious communities and associations: Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Lutheran, Evangelical Reform, Orthodox, Old Believers, Jews, Sunni Muslims, and Karaims” (Religiniu˛ bendruomeniu˛ ir bendriju˛ ˛istatymas 5). The State maintains the neutrality of religion and beliefs and at the same time guarantees for all the freedom of expression and congregation of religious communities. Catholic religious education is propagated by “the Republic of Lithuania and the Holy See contracts on cooperation in education and culture”, ratified on July 20th 2000. Article 1 of this paper says that the Ministry of Education “in all state and municipal general education institutions provides the teaching of the Catholic religion with the same conditions as other teaching subjects”. The teaching of religion in public schools is regulated by the procedure of Lithuanian Law on Education. The first paragraph of the 31st article of this law reads: “religion is an optional part of moral education. Moral education is a subject in primary, middle and secondary education. By the request of parents, religion may be included in their children’s pre-school education. It can be carried out through an informal education and self-education”. The second part of the same article determines the age of the student, when they can choose their religious education. “The student participating in primary, and secondary school education programs, who has attained the age of 14 has the right to choose one of the compulsory moral education subjects: traditional religious education, or ethics” (Sˇvietimo ˛istatymas 31.2). Thus, religious education in Lithuania may be formal (educational institutions: kindergartens, schools, colleges, universities) and informal (religious festivals, educational gatherings, pastoral activity groups, movements and organizations). Programs of Religious education, textbooks, teaching materials and teacher’s qualification are looked after by the relevant religious community or association in accordance with the general education requirements. Such cooperation between the state and religious communities does not undermine the essential principle that education (religious teaching) in school is governed by education law. The Lithuanian state does not interfere with the content of religious education, in order to maintain the state’s neutrality.

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Developments in the country’s education policies

The education system in Lithuania from primary school, through upper school to university was created in the sixteenth century. In 1579 Vilnius University was founded in Vilnius and is operational to this day, making it the oldest in Eastern Europe. In 1773 Lithuania become known throughout Europe for establishing the first Ministry of Education, which at that time was shared between Lithuania and Poland. The education Commission had been entrusted with the reform of the entire education system. In 1918 – 1940, during the independent Lithuanian state period, education was based on the national culture – as it was in most of Western Europe. The education system in Lithuania changed during the times of the Soviet occupation: it not only changed the curriculum, but also the form of education, and the whole education system became centrally controlled from Moscow. In schools, as well as universities, education was ideological, although the subjects were taught in the Lithuanian language. The changes in Lithuanian education all related to the country’s political, social and cultural situation. Education reform took place in several stages. When the Soviet Union declared “perestroika”, there was great change in the Baltic States. In 1988, the “Sa˛ju¯dis” movement in Lithuania led people towards the nation’s restoration, and a group of intellectuals led by Dr. Meile˙ Luksˇiene˙, suggested the formation of national schools. Nationality, democracy, humanity and transformation were considered as crucial principles in Lithuanian education reform (Jacku¯nas 2006, 12). The main task of the school was – “to view the person as the absolute value and by nurturing the physical and mental nature of each individual to allow individuality to unfold, awakening the pursuit of selfdevelopment” (Lietuvos vidurine˙s bendrojo lavinimo mokyklos koncepcija 1989, 7). For this it was necessary to change the normative conception of development into a liberal development paradigm, to shift from autocratic to a democratic state, so that the curriculum would be free from ideologies and politics. The idea of religious education in mainstream schools was also raised. After the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, the cultural and humanistic education continued aiming to develop, a system that was modeled on the education systems of Western European democracies. In 1991 the Law on Education defined the following educational objectives: “to develop a person’s mental and physical abilities, to build strong morals and a healthy lifestyle, to cultivate the intellect, allowing for the development of individuality, to provide the younger generation with the general and vocational education in line with current scientific and cultural context; to provide the residents of Lithuania continuing educational opportunities, to cultivate appreciation of citizenship, personal and familial relationships, the nation, society and the State of Lith-

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uania, as well as the aspiration to participate in the cultural, social, economic and political life” (Lietuvos ˇsvietimo koncepcija 1992, 6). In 1992 a concept of education was created, where the objective was to develop each person for democracy. It also promoted a fundamental principle of humanism: that man is an absolute value. Educational goals aimed at the developing the individual, helping them to develop a national and cultural maturity. The new system of education moved from a dualistic towards holistic education. With the new concept of education: “Education – is the entirety of preconditions necessary for the individual’s inherent abilities to flourish, while adopting and developing the culture” (Zˇelvys 2009, 19). Yet, the paradigmatic turning point – of ideology and education – affected schools and teachers, who are guided by the classical paradigm of education and this brought about substantial change in practice. Although theoretical foundations were already laid, the implementation of new education by increasing the diversity of educational institutions, changing the general education programs, creating textbooks and preparing, teaching materials, as well as looking after the specialized training of teachers and qualifications, is a slow process. Lithuania created various educational institutions: public and private, secular and religious, as well as institutions for ethnic minorities. The first decade of the new educational system – the liberation from the soviet system and deconstruction of its legacy – is associated with a state of national spiritual elevation, freedom and public idealism. Religious Education as an elective subject in school moral education was legalized by the Education Act (1991). The Catholic Church, the strongest religious community in Lithuania, was first become integrated into this new education system using the inter-war Lithuanian religious teaching concepts, programs and textbooks. Initially, faithful enthusiasts were teaching in the schools the schools, as there were no qualified teachers as yet. Catholic dioceses were organizing catechetical courses and formed catechetical centers, where attention was placed on religious teachers’ training, their qualifications, their spiritual development and subject matter and methodological assistance. The Lithuanian Catechetical Center, which coordinates the activities of diocesan catechetical centers, organized qualification seminars, inviting lecturers of religion from Poland, Germany, Austria, Scotland, the United States, and catechetical experts from France, who all shared their experience of teaching religious education. In 1993 institutions of higher education opened preparing theologians and religious teachers in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda. The Lithuanian Catholic Bishops’ Conference brought together an educational committee, which looked after the preparation and publication of curriculum, textbooks and teaching aids. In 1998 the Catholic religious education program for secondary schools was officially approved, this was guided by the normative paradigm of education. Accordingly the new religious textbooks were prepared either by Lithuanian au-

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thors or translations were made of other textbooks. The first decade of religious education involved structural change, and it was also a time of spiritual development within the society. Lithuanian society seemed to be moving from a defensive position towards dialogue. The second stage of education policies in Lithuania was associated with globalization and neo-liberalism, influenced by the National Education Strategy 2003 – 2012 directives, the social and economic situation of the country, and 2004 accession to the European Union. Lithuanian politicians realized that the country would inevitably become involved in the common world market. The strategic directives provided a response to the challenge of globalization: “on the one hand, such a response requires a much more coherent educational orientation in the modern economy and new personal skills / qualifications and new technologies” (Sˇvietimo gaire˙s 2002, 23). On the other hand, “education should consistently refer to the frame of national cultural civil tradition, conveying, interpreting and developing it”. The purpose of the Education Development Strategy was to be responsible for the the quality of education, changing education governance and the funding system. Moving towards decentralization it aimed at the development of the autonomy of learning communities. Lithuanian schools have procedural autonomy, because the state does not interfere in the process of curriculum implementation, the profile choice of education, the quality of education, school life, and aspects of the organization, such as administration. In 2003 and 2008 the updated education program’s new curriculum emphasized the integration of economics, sustainable development, healthy living, and citizenship education programs. “The official education philosophy lies between conservatism and liberalism, and seeks an ideology which is useful to one social class – officialdom, the aim of this ideology would be to deploy a curriculum that controls the worldview of the obedient learner” (Duobliene˙ 2009, 115). In the second stage of the education policy’s development religious education underwent a major paradigmatic change. In 2003 The Catholic Church in Lithuania separated the religious education curriculum in schools from that of catechesis in the parish. The 2004 and 2008 education programs revealed that religious education had moved to the teaching and learning paradigm that corresponded to Lithuanian education policy (Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2008, 60). At this stage, the general religious education programs were developed not only by the Catholic Church, but also for the Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, the Karaims and Jewish community. It shows the openness of education policy makers that provision was made for all the traditional religious communities to look after religious education in schools. There is a tendency within educational policy for religious education to be pushed to the margins, as it is associated with the tradition and the transmission of objective values and spiritual culture. At this

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stage religious education was faced with the problem of implementing a new program. This was especially difficult as there were very few innovative learning tools, the role of a teacher of religion was not considered prestigious, there was a lack of competent, permanent teachers, and very little intercultural dialogue. It is evident that with the strengthening of globalization, Lithuania is more and more involved in international networks, experiencing the influence of supranational education, and thus there is clearly felt a need for a more refined Lithuanian education policy which would distinguish what is useful for Lithuania, from what is disastrous. The results of two decades of educational policy suggest that decisions made and actions taken by the education politicians and policy makers have been more superficial than efficient and helpful for the future of Lithuania (Duobliene˙ 2010, 82). Democratic society raises the principles of social justice and equal opportunity, but it is not clear what direction these ideals will be implemented, due to the lack of analytical, critical and creative potential.

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

After the restoration of Lithuanian independence, the government aimed to make education accessible to all citizens. The education system in society enables individuals to develop. It is characterized by both the mission and structure of the distinct functions carried out, and that is influenced by the context of the education system. Historically, religious educational institutions already existed in the interwar period, so they just had to be restored, taking into account what parents now felt was necessary for their children. In 1998 the National School concept saw the emergence of an alternative developmental model of education both in terms of its content and mission (Targamadze˙ 2009). In 2001 and 2010 a non-traditional concept of education was approved, which understood development as “an integral totality of tools and methods of development that consists of an individual developmental philosophy, developmental goals, requirements for educator and characteristic development, developmental organization, the environment for development, and characteristic educational institution’s structure and management” (Non-traditional concept of education 2001, 2010). Religious schools are included within this model of alternative development. Firstly, Lithuania re-established the Catholic Schools that existed during the interwar period: Jesuit high schools in Kaunas and Vilnius, Franciscan gymnasium in Kretinga and Catholic Schools in Telsˇiai. Gradually, all types of

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schools were created: pre-schools, primary schools, basic, secondary schools, high schools and vocational training centers. In 1995 the national Catholic Schools Association was established, consisting of 272 teachers from 32 Catholic educational institutions. This association developed the concept of Catholic school education, participated in the amendment of educational laws, the design of the educational training programs, as well as with the ongoing education of Catholic school teachers. The mission statement of the Catholic Schools Association l states that “the primary mission of Catholic schools is to educate in accordance with a Christian philosophy of development which corresponds to the Catholic Church’s teachings and principles, as well being relevant for today” (Lithuanian Catholic school concept 2006). In 2006 the National Families and Parents Association was established. This brings together Christian families, helps create and maintain religious education institutions, is in contact with the Ministry of Education and actively takes part in legal deliberations, and cooperates with the representatives of the Catholic Church who are supervising the religious education of dioceses. Religious communities’ educational institutions can develop and expand and expand their activities in the education system, because they are guaranteed in the Lithuanian State Constitution. Ministry of Education Law Article 28 stipulates that the network of schools include those of the state, municipal and private co-educational schools. Article 47 specifies that parents and guardians have the right to choose for their child “the development program, the format, school or other education provider”. In Lithuania state-recognized religious communities’ are legally required to demonstrate that they are able to offer the state-standard education Education Law Article 67 defines the financial arrangements of educational institutions “non-state traditional religious community or association schools engaged in formal education programs are funded by the Government or its authorized institution according to a budget for training funds and economic resources for school. They will be paid as much as they would be for the same type of state or municipal school, where this is provided by the Republic of Lithuania”. In Lithuania, Christian education schools make up about one per cent of all educational institutions. However, there is a great demand for this type of education. The country has a number of prestigious Christian schools that achieve relatively high academic results, offer good quality learning environments, foster respectful relationships, endorse communication and co-operation, encourage student creativity, and have a high regard for the spiritual development of their pupils. These schools have strong religious traditions, and have adapted to the transformations of modern society. Currently, Catholic schools are in a process of adjusting their developmental framework in harmony with the edu-

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cation system; as well as adopting modern day school management techniques and enabling teachers to develop their skills. In Lithuania there is not only Catholic, but also other state-recognized religious schools. Non-state ecumenical Christian Schools operate in Klaipe˙da and Vilnius. In Lithuania there are also state and non-state Jewish community schools: Vilnius Sholom Aleichem gymnasium and Jewish high school Menachem house. Religious communities’ schools gradually gained confidence at being part of the public education system; they developed specific concepts of development, as well as teaching methods that were responsive to a liberal developmental paradigm However, these schools face the challenge of teacher’s competence and qualifications. Private educational institutions, receive partial financial support from local authorities. Religious communities’ schools are also aware that their development system cannot be separated and developed separately from the general education framework.

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

Religious education in Lithuania is based on the confessional model. The Lithuanian Concept of Education School Curriculum (1992) objectives are directed towards the development of personal, public and cultural maturity. The aim is to base education upon a liberal development paradigm, of which the fundamental principle is to cooperate with the nature of an individual, enable the learner to gain self-knowledge, self-expression, self-direction, developing critical thinking and creativity, and the ability to be and act within the society for the common good (Bruzgelevicˇiene˙ 2008). 79 % of the population of Lithuania identify as Catholic. The Catholic Church therefore recognized the importance of establishing religious education within schools. Originally, there were no religious education policymakers or qualified teachers that could help establish a religious education program. The first religious education programs were submitted by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The first Catholic religious education program (1994, 1998) was based on the philosophy behind the religious teaching of the interwar period. This was inspired by an idealistic and post-Thomist direction of developmental philosophy (Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2008). The purpose was to enable students to know the truths of faith, deepen their Christian understanding of the world, and apply God’s great commandment of love in life, to encourage them to become a member of God’s people (the Church), and to actively join the parish (Bendrojo lavinimo mokyklos programos. Kataliku˛ tikyba I – XII klasei 1998, 6). This approach to education was theological and aimed at teaching young people Christian truths. The curriculum was divided into the following areas: knowledge of the

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Christian faith and Christian beliefs and practices. The program provided a set of Catholic religious instructions, “which consist [ed] of the Catechism, Liturgy, Sacred Scripture, Church history, religious studies and Christian ethics and the Christian way of life” (Bendrojo lavinimo mokyklos programos. Kataliku˛ tikyba I – XII klasei 1998, 5). This was systematic catechesis proposed by the Catholic Church that enabled students to develop according to Christian principles. During this period, religious education and catechesis were related and were both aimed at shaping the lives of students. A coherent curriculum was developed, the contents of which were essentially based on the Church’s teaching, but each lesson followed the principle “life – faith – a new life”. The program was designed for believers, because at that time the prevailing view was that the students inherited faith from the family and thus the role of the program was to deepen and enrich this faith. However, after several years of this approach to religious education, it became clear that such a detailed training program did not serve the young people of the time as it was not capable of facing the some of the real challenges in school. The goals of this type of religious education were not the same as the general goals of education. The curriculum had not been adapted to accommodate students’ needs nor meet the expectations of the public. Passive learning techniques were employed and students were presented with one-sided teaching materials, furthermore, teachers were not properly qualified to teach. This was a period of religious education’s conceptualization within the general system of education and the time when questions were raised about religious education’s place within society and the Church. It was also a time when Lithuanian society was still influenced by Soviet ideology as well as the authority of the Church. The second phase of the paradigmatic change in Catholic religious education was concerned with the definition of religious education within school and in the parish catechesis. It was also during this phase that religious education became integrated into the processes of change that were taking place in the wider system of education in Lithuania. The objective of the 2004 project and the program of 2006 was to help students learn Christian values as personally acceptable guidelines for life and to encourage their use within their relationships with people, with God, themselves and the world (Tikybos (kataliku˛) bendroji programa 2006, 6). The essential goal was to discuss problems that young people face in life from the perspective of the Gospel. The classes were designed to help give meaning to life and develop a person’s identity. The program was based on holistic, cognitive development. Religious education moved to a more integral – student-centered teaching and learning. This consisted of a combination of anthropological and theological content. Religious teaching was proposed to apply interpretive, creative and an active education that was better rooted in the experience and preference of the student. The educational process facilitated

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opportunities to integrate with other disciplines, ethics in particular. The training program outlined the theme of each lesson as well as its aims and objectives, and what students would be able to achieve. This change reflected the integration of religious education into the liberal education system. The modus operandi of the curriculum was to consider the context of the group of students and address any problems that they might encounter through problem-solving exercises and existential dialogue. At the centre are the pupil, their psychology, youth cultural awareness, social issues, and the teaching of the Church. The curriculum was based on revelation, providing a sense of personal existence. Religious education was for all students, it offered life direction and a dialogue in finding existential meaning. Students analyzed phenomena they encountered in life, and thus expanded their understanding, and their ability to reflect and choose what kind of person they wanted to become in a modern society. This raised challenges for teachers of religion, who were required not only to have a good understanding of their subject matter, to be intelligent, communicative and have excellent teaching skills, but also to be spiritual – to be witnesses of the Good News. The third phase of the development of Catholic religious education was concerned with the updated primary and secondary education programs (2008 and 2011 respectively) and the middle school general programs. This was a structural change to the programs directed towards competency training. The 11th-12th grade program’s objective was to help students to develop Christian faith-based values, which would be the basis for living a meaningful life in response to the call of God and society’s requirements, developing personal relationships and developing as an individual (Vidurinio ugdymo bendroji programa. Kataliku˛ tikyba 2011, 28). The content was comprised of humanistic, theological, and cultural dimensions. Education was directed towards the cultivation of human spiritual growth and cultural maturation, ecumenical and inter-religious knowledge in response to the challenges of the modern world. In religious education it is important not to become confused by different worldviews, life styles, truths, values and so on. Religious education can help people on the path to finding meaning in different situations in life and being open to the world and to God. The program emphasized holistic, cognitive development. The 11th-12th grade program offered four modules of faith: Catholicism and Religions of the World, Life Vocations, the Holy Scriptures: a journey of life and Philosophy of religion. The curriculum was outlined in the areas of relational and cognitive development and included the question of life from a faith perspective, communication and consensus, knowledge of Scripture and faith, answering the call of God and the Church and spiritual growth. The methodology was based on dialogue, and phenomenological and hermeneutical philosophy. Catholic reli-

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gious education modules opened up wider opportunities for students in a contemporary society enabling them to become interested in religion, to develop an existential self-understanding, and a religious, spiritual and cultural awareness. Teaching religion in this way therefore enables students to develop the ability to identify and analyze their existential experience, reflect on Revelation and be guided by evangelical values. It also encourages commitment amongst young people to be and act together. Education is directed towards the competency in the fields of individual and the social, discovery of religion, and cultural awareness. Learning to pose questions, seek the truth, to consider problems from different points of view are the key principles of a religious pedagogy. Thus it is important for the teacher not only to be competent in the subject matter and have good communication skills as well as being spiritual, but it is equally important to offer pedagogical excellence. Catholic religious education has changed in educational orientation towards the individual self-identity and self-help based on experience and guiding a person to think critically, embracing wider cultural, ethical and social horizons. Religious socialization and interpretation of reality is a factor in a person’s spiritual strength. The inter-religious dialogue and encouragement to engage in discussion of existential personal issues, is facilitated by religious communities and influenced by the constant change in the various spheres of society. This influence has led to more reflection of religious education in schools and critical evaluation of the educational process. Other religious denominations’ educational concepts and objectives are in a developmental process of change, as they integrated into the mainstream education system at a later time. In the 2008 and 2011 common program document, the Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Karaims and Jewish religious education programs were also submitted, and these are being slowly integrated within a general education in schools. This demonstrates that in Lithuania intercultural and inter-religious communication is thriving and it also reflects the openness and respect for all state-recognized religious communities. Developing the holistic personal development of young people in schools opens up religious issues in wider society.

6.

Practice / reality of RE in different Schools

Religious education is specified as an elective subject of moral education and is obligatory subject in a primary, middle and secondary school curriculum. According to Article 31 of the Education Act, it is an opportunity and duty of the parents or guardians of the children up to the age of 14 to chose for them either

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ethical moral education or religious education. After the age of 14 the child has a right to choose for themselves between religious or ethical education. According to the general curriculum in each class (primary, middle, secondary school) there is one lesson of moral education per week. In order to ensure continuity and consistency of learning, it is recommended that students choose ethics or religion for a two-year period (1 – 2, 3 – 4, 5 – 6, 7 – 8, 9 – 10, 11 – 12 classes). Each school, on the request of parents and students, places students in either the ethics or religious education classes. Individual school boards decide the size of the group (9 to 24) for the ethics or religious education classes. Each academic year, the size of the groups of moral development classes varies. Religious education groups are formed in varied ways: within one class, parallel classes or joint classes. The size of the religious education groups and the number of lessons performed differs in various regions of Lithuania as well as between urban and rural schools. According to the statistics of the Lithuanian Catholic Church Catechetical Center (in 2012 / 2013) 59 % of the students chose Catholic religion classes (grades 1 – 12). This number varies: the highest number of students choosing religious education would be in the primary schools and the lowest in the secondary level students. This demonstrates that the choice is often influenced by the worldview of the family and the overall outlook on religion by society and young people. In Lithuania extensive research on parental attitudes towards religious education is yet to be carried out. The fragmented research that exists shows that about 80 % of the parents do not influence the students’ choices (Zulumskyte˙ 2005) and 70 % (aged 12 – 18) of students choose religious education lessons for themselves (Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2006). A 2001 survey on student the choices students make between the different moral development programs suggests that only one third of the students consistently study their chosen moral development subject (Stasiulevicˇiu¯te˙ 2001). These findings reveal that while the schools provide students with the choice, it nevertheless is quite difficult to implement a coherent chosen moral (ethics or religion) development program and help the students to acquire skills in the subject. This puts the religious educator in a precarious position because of the workload, teaching conditions and the circumstances within the school. Based on feedback from teachers of religion, not every public school provides acceptable conditions for religious education in school. Often this is because of a lack of allocated classrooms, training and technical equipment, as well as a lack of tolerance and respect for religious teacher’s worldview and the work they do. The school community and the student’s parents often do not recognize the purpose of religious education because they see how the number of students choosing ethics and religion classes varies. The majority of people do not understand the value of religious education at school. It is not only about acquiring

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knowledge of religion, but also the development of the spiritual, ethical and social skills and values, which are not noticeable immediately and difficult to assess in the process of personal development. Religious education lessons in school may be attended by all students regardless of their beliefs and worldviews. Today, teachers of religion face serious challenges. They must organize the lessons taking into account student diversity, and this will involve differentiating learning tasks, and creating stimulating, active and meaningful activities focused on the development of students’ competency. Religious education in schools is organized not only in the classroom but also though the non-traditional learning methods: guided tours, educational activities in museums, organized conferences, promotions, projects. Religious education models during the lesson may be varied, but what is essential is that appropriate learning activities are used, students feel engaged in meaningful activities that have a clear purpose, and the lesson objectives are achieved. During a religion lesson, the experiences of everyday life are analyzed and this leads to the existential recognition and belief in the Christian tradition. By helping to acquire appreciation and communication skills and fostering spiritual values, religion helps a person to understand the realities of life and discover his or her purpose in the world. Religious education in school plays an integral part in the formation of the person, in which the most important thing is learning to be and searching for the truth, to engage in dialogue and to work together with others. Much of the quality of education depends on the competency of the teacher, specialized training and learning equipment, and a positive learning environment. In this area religious education is struggling. Although religious educators have the general subject programs, methodological recommendations and some of the updated Catholic religion textbooks, there is still a huge lack of training and learning equipment and provision of religious education instruction across all religious communities. Moral education in public schools is not graded but the “credited” or “failed”. In today’s school assessment is regarded as a support in monitoring individual student progress. Assessment of learning is formative, which reflects specifically what each student is competent in, has achieved and what he or she still needs to achieve or improve on. Pupils are encouraged to assess each other’s work and to evaluate themselves. According to Lithuanian primary, middle and secondary schools plans of general education, moral education (ethics and religion) is not included in the examination program. Religious education in public schools is an optional subject, but in denominational schools it is a compulsory subject for all students. In the public preschool there is no religious education, but in the Christian pre-schools religious education is integrated into the children’s developmental activities. Religious

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education is almost non-existent in the Vocational schools, as the young people tend to choose the subject of ethics. The religious education of different religious denominations in Lithuania is gradually becoming more accessible as well as becoming an integrated part of the social and culture education.

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

As previously stated, in the general education state schools moral education is mandatory but there is the option of religious education or ethics. At the beginning of Lithuanian educational reform it has been agreed between the education policy-makers and the Catholic Church that moral education becomes a special subject, the purpose of which is to help in the development of of students’ personality, fundamental values, self-awareness and civic activities. Education is based on “European cultural values: the incomparable value of a person, charity, equality, freedom of conscience, tolerance, and democratic relations in society” (Lietuvos sˇvietimo koncepcija 1992, 7). Under the influence of post-Soviet ideology, the school chose the path of democracy assisting pupils in creating their own worldviews freely selecting the ideology as a path of creating selfawareness, development, expression and internalization of values (Bruzgelevicˇiene˙ 2008). It was because of this that moral education now consists of two options: ethics and denominational religious education. Ethics is an optional and mandatory subject as part of moral education in primary, middle and secondary school. The 2008 general moral education program’s introduction states that “ethics and religion lessons are brought into a cohesive whole of moral education by their common purpose –the focus on the spiritual formation of the student, dignity and common human values, common purpose and shared common goals, provisions of collaborative didactic learning, similar curricular themes and analysis”. Ethics classes reveal a variety of cultures and religions, worldviews and self-determination options. Ethics aims “to help students to develop moral thinking, existential self-awareness and common human and moral value-based relationships with oneself, others and the world” (Dorinis ugdymas 2008, 8.1.1). In 11th-12th grade there are four modules of ethics offered: philosophical ethics, professional ethics, family ethics, ethics and the cinema. The content of ethical learning is developed in the following areas of an individual’s activity : self-awareness and self-safety, interactive communication, social relationships, and relationship within the world. Middle and secondary schools (grades 5 – 12) are taught a subject called

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ethnic culture, the purpose of which is – “to enable each student to acquire the basics of ethnic culture, get to know the variety of events, to acquire traditional creative skills, take on the traditional ethical and aesthetic values” (Etnine˙ kultu¯ra 2008, 5). The process of education integrates two functioning spheres: the knowledge and assessment of the effects of the ethnic cultural values and, ethno-cultural expression. Elementary school (grades 9 – 10) has an option entitled Family Life and Sexuality Education Program. “The aim is to develop a mature personality and prepare students for family life” (Rengimo ˇseimai ir lytisˇkumo ugdymo programa 2008, 21). The program is structured thematically allowing teachers to freely choose the teaching and learning model. In grades 9 – 12 next to moral education there is an offer of an additional free elective subject in Psychology. The aim of teaching psychology in school is to help students develop psychological competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) necessary to understand the key assumptions of human behavior, form psychological self-identity and self-expression (Psichologija 2008, 12.1.1). The psychology program consists of four inter-related educational activities that help students understand the basics of psychological research, to develop selfawareness, self-expression, social skills and values. In high school grades 11 – 12 as an alternative to denominational religious education there is the subject of Religious Studies. This course aims to “encourage students to develop cultural awareness and knowledge; understanding of each other’s cultural and religious identity. This is of incomparable worth and helps foster their cultures by integrating traditional authentic religious experience, gaining new knowledge and developing critical reflection. It also seeks to promote responsible tolerance for all religions (religious phenomena, beliefs, worldviews) and their followers as the framework of civic identity and intercultural dialogue” (Religijotyra 2011, 10.2.1). The curriculum is divided into three parts: the introduction of Religious Studies, traditional Lithuanian religions and new religiosity. This course is associated with the country’s spiritual heritage and the knowledge of religions of the world and the ability to be involved in the dialogue and discussion, think critically, and reflect in order to promote students’ self-determination of values, tolerance, and to develop a responsible and mature national consciousness. In Grades 11 – 12 Philosophy, a Social Sciences elective subject is offered. The purpose of which is to develop students’ critical thinking and to expand humanitarian education. This course “aims through interpretation of philosophical texts to provide students with the opportunity to develop critical thinking and intellectual expertise, helping to have a point of reference in the world’s diversity, to then analyze and evaluate it and to act appropriately” (Filosofija 2011, 9.2.1). The program provides a wide range of problems in philosophical

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anthropology : Philosophy as a way of life, the mystery of man, a working man, a playing man, a fighting man, a dying man, a believer, a loving man, and man as a creator. During the philosophy lessons students are encouraged to think freely, independently and critically, to understand the classic philosophical texts and interpret them according to their existential experience (Filosofija 2011, 9.3.2). In 2012 general education school for grades 5 – 12 provided an option of integration into the intercultural education course in order to ensure a respectful and socially equitable intercultural relationship, placing a priority on universal ethics, rather than cultural differences (Trapkultu¯rinis ugdymas Lietuvos mokykloje 2012, 9). In pre-school education, moral education as well as the country’s cultural and religious traditions is incorporated into the child’s formal education (curricular activities) and informal education (mornings, afternoons, holidays, tours, projects). In the kindergarten self-awareness, and the emotional and social skills program entitled “Zippy’s Friends” is provided for students, which aims to help 5 – 7 year olds develop social and emotional coping skills to better their emotional well-being. Non-state run schools are allowed to create and offer the students not only elective programs, but also courses integrated into the school’s educational process. This is reflected in the 2010 alternative concept of education and established schools (Amonasˇvill, Montessori, Steiner, Suzuki, etc.), who’s educational purpose is to adapt to the individual student’s abilities and inclinations.

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

From history we know that the sixteenth century Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a country tolerant of all religions. Openness and respect for the provision of other religions and cultures, coexistence and aspiration for cooperation was alive and desirable in Lithuanian culture and life. At the beginning of the education reform M. Luksˇiene˙ (2001) notes that “education is the cultural part of the process”, where the focus should be on “the natural human medium”, that meant the national cultural heritage, symbolism, semantics and religion, where it is important to ensure for the individual and the nation the cultural level which would enable both to engage in the modern world. Intercultural and inter-religious education in educational policy is an integral part of a holistic personal development. As discussed in sections 5& 7, the objectives of moral education (ethics and denominational religion) to affect the desire to know the country’s spiritual heritage, to have a point of reference in the world’s diversity and participate in the dialogue by discussing ethical and religious issues, as well as learning to live

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in a changing, diverse, democratic and multicultural society, combining openness towards others as well as maintaining their identity (Dorinis ugdymas 2011). In the formal education of the primary, basic and secondary schools the ecumenical and inter-faith dimension is reflected in the program content of ethics, religious education, religious studies and philosophy. Some state schools hold informal events: organize ecumenical meetings, conferences, projects and actions that help students get to know each other, encouraging respectful communication carrying out work for the common good. In the non-state denominational schools, during religious education lessons, pupils also learn about the religions of the world, learn to seek the truth through various religious sources, organize ecumenical prayers with other religious communities, and participate in ecumenical projects, concerts, camps, movements and exchange programs. Lithuania has few private Christian ecumenical schools. However, one example is the “Word of Faith”, which integrates Christian values within the curriculum. The students are from various backgrounds – not only Protestants, Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptist, Lutheran, Reformed but also non-believers and those who do not belong to any community. The schools most important provision is the acceptance of every person, dialogue and respect for others, and for difference. The Catholic Church, the largest religious community in Lithuania, slowly and gradually opened up dialogue and cooperation with other Christian communities. Society witnessed the signs of ecumenical interaction: there is a prayer week for unity held annually, a Christian music festival – “The Soul” – ecumenical conferences, youth Taiz¦ worship services, food collection initiatives for the poor, the ecumenical “Scripture Journal”, found in Christian bookshops as well as different publications from Christian communities, and different ecumenical associations. Christian community websites are also ecumenical and have inter-religious dialogue sections where you can find information on this subject. Religious communities in their search for truth are innovating and enriching each other in the perception of Scripture and Tradition with respect to everyone’s conscience, human dignity, life and peace. Two decades ago, Lithuanian society became more religiously diverse after the collapse of the Soviet Union when the opportunity presented itself for the freedom of religion and conviction. State legislation allows religious minorities to exist. However, the research on discrimination on grounds of religion and belief in Lithuania, performed in 2007 by New Religions Research and Information Center in conjunction with the Public Opinion and Market Research Centre VILMORUS, revealed that about 80 % of Lithuanian population has negative attitudes towards different religious groups. Hence, society is doubtful whether it is possible that people belonging to certain religious communities

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and religion-related groups should be afforded normal civil rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom to assemble together, and the right to work (Diskriminacija de˙l religijos ir ˛isitikinimu˛ Lietuvoje 2007). The 2010 study “Discrimination on grounds of religion, faith, beliefs, and attitudes in education and vocational training” found that both the teachers and students are faced with the lack of objective information about religious diversity in Lithuanian society (Alisˇauskiene˙). These studies reveal that intercultural and inter-religious education is inadequate and has not yet yielded the expected results in education and in society. The 2011 investigation was aimed at examining the public opinion of different social groups living in Lithuania and sought to identify the social isolation of these groups. Comparing respondents’ answers in respect to living with neighbors, co-workers and tenants shows that the most disliked groups are Roma (Gypsies), ex-prisoners, persons with mental disabilities, and homosexuals. In terms of religious communities, the most undesirable groups to rent a house to or have in the neighborhood or the workplace are Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hindus and Buddhists. A large section of the Lithuanian population has a negative view towards ethnic minority groups and people of other races (e. g., Chechens, Pakistanis, Chinese, and people from African countries) (Pilinkaite˙ Sotirovicˇ and Zˇibas 2011, 138). This reflects society’s cultural insularity. According to A. Navicko (2003), one of the biggest obstacles to religious freedom and religious tolerance in the current Lithuanian society is the obstinacy of the largest Christian religious communities. In order to challenge the intolerance towards the minorities we need to pay attention to the role that Lithuanian media has in shaping public opinion about the non-traditional religious communities and activities in Lithuania. In 2000, R. Zˇiliukaite˙ carried out an analysis of the press and found that the most commentaries (67 %) expressed negative attitudes towards non-traditional religious communities, 17 % were neutral and 16 % were positive. Many articles (64 %) used the negative label of “sect”. Articles artificially created intrigue, without evidence-based arguments and this led to what Jenkins calls the “moral panic”. The media marginalize religions in Lithuania distorting the Christian identity and its way of life. In the media religion is more of a cultural symbol than an existential choice (Navickas 2003). An alternative to the secular media is the Christian press, RTL Radio (Culture and Religion, Small Study, Orthodox culture and so on), Radio Maria, TV “Holy Day thoughts” and other shows on traditional religions and foreigners living within Lithuania provide objective information about Lithuania and other countries’ cultural and religious heritage. They also promote sharing and enhancement of each other in truth and love. It is the responsibility of education policy makers and representatives of religious communities of intercultural and inter-religious perspective of all

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levels (strategic educational provisions, general education curriculum, teaching textbooks, methodological tools, teacher qualifications and training) to analyze the present situation and to provide ways and means for change. In schools there should be more focus on the development of critical thinking, social and communication skills development, civic and cultural awareness, freedom of personal identity, value-based growth in order to learn to recognize, act and cooperate within a multicultural environment without being influenced by negative stereotypes in respect to themselves and others. There is a need to change the organization of religious education, so there can be more space for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. It is necessary to prepare new qualification program for teachers, to transform and not be limited to the denominational religious teachers’ education method of teaching in order to respond to present day Lithuania’s educational change.

9.

Religion in schools outside RE

During historical and ideological cataclysms, Lithuania drew spiritual strength from religion. On becoming a Christian country in the fourteenth century, Lithuania combined pagan traditions with Christianity, as it was the source of the human spirit, a part of the meaning of life and the nation’s culture. After the restoration of independence in order to live in a democratic country schools were faced with the task of developing students not only as a psycho-physical beings, but also as cultural participants, who were able to integrate culture and religion with their own values and grow and expand as a person (Luksˇiene˙ 2001). In the beginning there was a lot of hope placed in the comprehensive and the innovative nature of the religion. In today’s society, religion becomes one of the many social institutions which shape a person’s worldview, thinking, values and beliefs. The state needs a religion which creates “a sacred space” (Luckmann), makes social reality sacred, providing it with meaning and its interpretation. First, the Lithuanian state in an attempt to restore what had been destroyed by the Soviet system, approved the dates of public holidays within the Christian calendar, during celebration programs provided the time for the celebration of Mass, at Christmas or Easter and allowed the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to publicly address the nation through the media, and so on. Secondly, the state and religion entered into a cooperative relationship defined by law in teaching, practice, observance and worship. Public life in Lithuania is full of religious symbols and traditions that help to unfold and provide reference points for man’s existence. In addition to traditional religion, there is an emergence of new spiritual movements that

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cultivate individual spirituality, promote feel-good experiences and help cultivate positive thoughts, as well as self-awareness and self-expression. Within the context of a Catholic country, religion is part of the culture, traditions and rituals of the school. Schools create spaces for religious signs: a crucifix or other religious symbols are displayed in the religious education classrooms; in the corridors you will find the stands or decorations with religious holiday themes. The beginning and the end of the school year as well as Christmas and Easter holidays are marked by the events involving representatives of religious communities or through celebrating Mass. Lithuania has a living expression of popular devoutness, which is freely practiced in school. For example, prior to All Souls’ Day students tidy abandoned graves, lighted candles are placed on the graves of famous people, sacred celebrations are organized and, prayers for the dead pupils and parents are said; during the period of Advent, meditations take place, advent hymns are sung, charitable events are held and greeting-cards are sent to orphans, the sick or the elderly ; at Easter time students tidy the surroundings, paint and roll Easter eggs, chant and sing songs in concerts. Religion is present in the school community, responding to the needs of social groups, through non-formal education. The school operates Christian Youth movements (Order of Malta, Valancˇiukai, scouts, ateitininkai). There are organized Christian events: Kaziukas fairs; concerts of sacred songs, folk dances and arts. Provincial schools form close links with the Church in the development of children’s day care centers, charitable organizations, the spiritual-cultural assistance and others. Lithuania students and teachers are not afraid to wear crosses or other religious symbols, because it is the free choice of each individual. Public attitude towards Christians is respectful. Religious symbols fundamentally strengthen “subconscious religiousness” providing a sense of eternity and they direct the person towards the transcendence of mystery and openness. This is an important aspect in the development of identity. In the different regions of Lithuania, the school uses the religious symbols of the religious tradition it follows as well as the local tradition. The school “absorbs” and integrates the historical experience, current cultural signs in relation to the environment of the nearest school and students’ and teachers’ worldview by teaching students the importance of being responsible for making decisions in your life. This contributes to citizenship and ethnic cultural development. Religion in school is manifested through interdisciplinary communication, the culture of communication and cooperation, fostering dignity and respect, learning to live in peace and harmony. Not all Lithuanian schools are respectful of the culture of communication because media breeds a lot of aggression and violence. Religious teachers together with the school community may initiate

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respectful communication projects, as well as working with the weak, supporting minority representatives and providing psychological and spiritual support. Ethical relationships (love, compassion, justice, responsibility, a sense of duty) – are reflections of religious expression in the life of school. Often in the case of death or disaster people feel the need for religion, at such times there is a search for deeper explanation and meaning. Religion helps self-awareness, and meaningful existence. Non-state schools are choosing religious forms of expression influenced by different philosophies and world-views, such as yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, and psychodrama. Lack of religious socialization, the influence of globalization and the diversity of world-views stimulates religious individualism. Religious awareness and knowledge in a multi-dimensional society is the measurement of individual’s cultural awareness. In today’s society the sociocultural aspect of religion is more important than the theological component of religion. Emphasis is placed on the continuity of culture and tradition, on the similarities between different worldviews, spiritual values, behavior and social life and the assurance of quality of life (Adviloniene˙ 2005). This is important in Lithuanian schools.

10.

Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities issues

In Lithuania there are two types of higher education program – university and college. Students may acquire three degrees: first – professional bachelors or bachelors, second – Master’s, the third – PhD. Depending on the scope of the studies it can varying in degrees of intensity – full-time and part- time. A college of higher education prepares students for professional life. Full-time studies generally last three years and part time last four years. At least one-third of the study program consists of practical training. The graduates get a professional bachelor’s degree. On completion of supplementary studies (duration of which is determined by each higher education institution) and after acquiring practical work experience they may continue to study for the master’s Degree at university. Colleges are both public and private. University studies are focused on universal elementary education, academic preparation and the highest level of professional skills. A full-time bachelor’s degree takes four years, part time – usually five years. The graduates get a bachelors degree. Further master’s degree studies usually take 1.5 – 2 years. Those who wish to pursue an academic career may study further in PhD (du-

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ration of studies – four years). University studies are carried out by universities, academies and seminaries. Teacher training in colleges and universities is designed according to a parallel and concurrent model. Students enrolling in teacher education programs perform “time motivational tests” which are believed to help select suitable candidates for teaching work. Parallel (coherent) pedagogical study programs consist of subject-matter study (90 credits), and professional teacher training (60 credits). The pedagogical studies consist of several subject-matter studies and professional teacher training (Pedagogu˛ rengimo reglamentas 2012, 8). The Professional Teacher Studies course is formed of 30 theoretical credits (priority given to pedagogy, psychology and subject methodology). Future teachers during their training present 3 – 4 practical applications for developmental education, which encompass 20 – 30 credits in universities and 30 credits in colleges. The graduates of the university get a bachelors degree, a professional teacher training; and the graduates of the college get a professional bachelors degree and professional teacher status. The teacher qualification is given after the completion of teaching practice and passing an exam or after the successful defense of a pedagogical studies thesis. Religious educators are trained in the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences Faculty of History of the Catholic Religion Department. Here it is possible to study for a bachelor’s degree in becoming a teacher of the Catholic religion and a master’s degree in Christian anthropology. At Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Theology, a bachelor’s degree in becoming a teacher of religion or a master’s degree in religion of universal education and family studies are offered, and in Klaipe˙da University Faculty of Pedagogy Catechetical Department, it is possible to study for a bachelor’s degree as a teacher of religion and psychology, or study for a master’s degree in spiritual counseling. The aim of Lithuanian Catholic religious education bachelor’s degree program is to prepare the specialists of religious education to teach moral education as an elective subject in primary and secondary school education. The duration of the course is 4 years and it may be full or part time. Alongside general education and psychology courses there are the following disciplines: The philosophy of Catholic theology (Philosophy of Religion, Church History, the theology of Scripture [Old and New Testament], liturgy and theology of spirituality, dogmatic theology, moral theology, Church’s social doctrine, Church Law, ecumenism, pastoral catechesis and religious education methodology), free elective courses and five pedagogical practical applications: non-formal education, observed teaching practice, assistant teaching practice, teaching practice with the mentor, and independent teaching practice. The completion of the practical experience is followed by the defense of the pedagogical thesis and the bachelor’s thesis. Upon completion of studies the qualification in religious ed-

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ucation, religious studies bachelor’s degree and professional teacher’s qualification is obtained (LEU Kataliku˛ tikybos katedra). In order for religious educators to work in the mainstream schools they must not only have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in religious education and professional teacher’s qualification but also the canonical mission (missio Canonica), which shall be issued by the diocesan catechetical center with Ordinate’s approval. Canonical mission is issued for a fixed period of time: a two year permit is given to those who started work anew and those who have not yet qualified as religious teachers are given one year valid canonical mission, and for everyone else there is a consideration between 1 – 3 years (LKC Kanoninio siuntimo isˇdavimo aprasˇas). In support of religion teachers’ continuous education the catechetical centers organize qualifying seminars, provide the space for the sharing of experience of teachers methodological centers, provide methodological consultations and look after teaching equipment. Religious teachers are employed and their salaries are paid by the state educational institutions. “The Catholic religion teachers in state and local schools have the same rights and obligations as the other teachers” (Sˇventojo Sosto ir Lietuvos Respublikos Sutartis de˙l bendradarbiavimo ˇsvietimo ir kultu¯ros srityje 3.3). The number of entrants for the profession of teacher of religion is decreasing, thus multiple subject specializations are now offered, so that they can more easily find work at school. The religious teacher education system is not homogeneous; there is a lack of connection between the Church and the state, curriculum, teacher competence and enduring proficiency. In Lithuania the prestige of an educator in society is low, it is difficult for young professionals to gain employment, to adapt to school and respond to everchanging educational requirements. The role of the teacher has changed in the modern society : instead of it being the holder of knowledge it has changed to become the organizer of the educational process, the developer of education opportunities, the counselor regarding learning issues, a partner, and a mediator between the learner and the different modern sources of information. Within the pedagogical system the applied scientific model is prevalent. This increases the gap between the prospective teachers practice, the child, the school, and the needs of society. Lithuanian religious teacher training system is fragmented and not linked to the lifelong learning needs or continuing education. It also does not offer appropriate working conditions, and there is a lack of holistic thinking and emphasis on values. Since joining the European Union, the Lithuanian religious education system is changing, albeit slowly, according to European teacher training directives, this is evident in the way it has carried out various projects, training, consultations, and provided small-scale assistance. Educational policy identifies the following problems in teacher training: the selection process of the candidates, pro-

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fessional and subject matter preparation, competency, duration of training, teacher’s professional status, and partnership. It is anticipated that in partnership there will be an improvement of teacher training on the legal, structured and practical levels. It is known that the level of competence of teachers determines the quality of education of the younger generation and the future of society’s development and self-awareness.

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

Empirical research into religious education in schools began 10 years after Lithuania’s independence. Between 2004 and 2005, the Catholic community Catechetical Center of Lithuania in conjunction with the Ministry of Education conducted a national-level study to investigate the content of the Catholic religious education programs within the changed society. Sixty-one teachers of religion from across the country participated in this study. Interviews were carried out with these teachers, 65 % of whom were from urban schools and 35 % from rural schools. The study took place in several stages and focused on the delivery of teaching, methodological development of material, content implementation and evaluation of the results. Results from the study indicate that the proposed Catholic religion curriculum for 1 – 12 grade pupils is effective and relevant. It is aimed at development of students’ abilities raising the existential, moral, and social issues in the light of faith (Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2006, 78). The study also revealed some of the difficulties in the implementation of the program. Much of the success of the program depends on the teacher’s ability to manage the teaching process (Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2006, 78). In 2008 the Ministry of Education commissioned research into the use of comprehensive study programs and educational standards in the planning and organization of the educational process. This research was conducted by the lecturers of Vilnius University Department of Education. The study included teachers from all levels of education (646), together with teachers of religion. The results showed that teachers welcomed the renewal of the content, its clarity and purpose. Some teachers indicated that there was a lack of connection with other subjects and non-formal education, textbooks and tests were inadequate, and the quality of moral education was poor (Duobliene˙ 2008, 78). Every few years, the Ministry of Education conducts research into the general education school textbooks. Social and moral education textbooks issued in relation to development in 2005 were subject to this qualitative research. The study revealed that value development in Catholic education was one-sided and lacked the study of critical thinking. Between 2007 and 2008 a study was conducted to explore the civic and ethnic values presented within the social and

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moral education textbooks used in the general education system between grades 5 and 12. The results revealed that the authors of the textbooks pay considerable attention to value attitudes that relate to individual freedom and rights, responsibility and duty, tolerance and respect. However, there is a lack of attention to the value of justice, which is promoted by the Church’s social teaching (Jasˇinauskas 2008, 68). Local surveys have been have been carried out with students who choose religious education. In Lithuania there has also been empirical research on students’ motivation to learn and to choose religion classes (Zulumskyte˙ 2005, Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2006), parental attitudes to religious education at school (Zulumskyte˙ 2005, Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2006), teacher competency (Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ 2004, 2006), and the expression of students’ spiritual needs (Daugirdiene˙ 2004, Tiju¯ne˙liene˙ 2008) as well as other empirical studies. More empirical research into religious education in Lithuania needs to be conducted in the future to compensate for the relatively small amount that has been carried out to date.

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

Religious education in schools is an important socio-cultural phenomenon and has an impact on society. In the Lithuanian education system, there are a number of alternatives to religious education. This reflects the openness of the education system and a desire to help integrate each individual student into a pluralistic society. However, in Lithuanian society there is very little discussion of these alternatives, because media coverage is not always objective and has been influenced by negative public opinion on religion, religious and ethnic minorities and religious education. An open discussion would help to reduce the existence of various myths in society. For example, in religious education students learn about and analyze and evaluate their own beliefs and values and the world’s major religions traditions. This helps foster cultural awareness in school and society. The task of religious education is to review the curriculum, the learning tools and regenerate the ecumenical, intercultural and inter-religious perspectives; to organize teacher training qualifications in this discipline, to establish contacts with allocated representatives of religious communities in the field of education; to carry out empirical research towards reducing ethnic, religious, and cultural division. In school, religious education is based on the holistic formation of the person in order to develop their spiritual, emotional, social, intellectual and cultural dimensions of their lives, and this plays a valuable part in community’s process of humanization. Within the context of globalization, religious education at school creates a space for dialogue with other cultures and religions. It also

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nurtures self-growth, the development of values and respect as well as tolerant relationships, interdisciplinary integration, and citizenship. The challenge of religious education is to help the school community to rediscover the purpose of religion within students’ personal and public life, to reduce the public stigma and negative attitudes towards religious communities in the search for commonalities and greater understanding between groups. Therefore, in Lithuania the teachers of religion should be helped to gain a wider range of skills in order to enrich school life, as well as being offered the opportunity to develop their own skills and increase their qualifications. Religious education is in compliance with the school education system, which guides the process of learning in Lithuanian schools. It deepens and extends cognitive, cultural, social and personal competencies. A few years ago the Lithuanian education system began to direct the general education towards the development of student competencies. Teachers of religious education should help develop students’ competencies, prepare modern teaching tools and be concerned with training of other teachers and their qualifications. The challenge for teachers of religious education is working together with teachers of ethics and other subjects. Another challenge for religious education is to raise the prestige of teachers of religion. Firstly, there is a need to change the models of teacher training to be in accordance with the overall education system, international standards and the requirements for teacher competency by offering several types of professional qualification. Secondly, it is necessary to help develop the training of teachers and help them to become more qualified through creating a centre that collaborates with specialized educational and religious communities’ institutions. Thirdly, it is important to strengthen ecumenical, inter-religious, intercultural and interdisciplinary relationships, fostering intercultural dialogue while considering justice, compassion, and solidarity. And finally there is a need for the development of the scientific-methodological basis of religious education research. This could be aided by the creation of religious education websites revealing the religious-cultural heritage and educational opportunities, the organization of different levels of empirical research as this would help researchers to engage in international projects. In Lithuania the OSCE and Council of Europe (2007) main principles of religious education in schools are gradually being applied to religious, intercultural and civic education and religion programs. This should be the concern of education policy and religious communities, and it requires analytical, critical and creative work for integrating these principles into the general education process. The Lithuanian education system is faced with a challenge to analyze and evaluate what its specific needs and requirements are while also adopting the

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proposals of the European Union. It requires critical thinking, civic awareness and spiritual strength to do this in a rapidly changing modern society. Religious education is an integral part of education; it is open to change and renewal as well as the need for the improvement of teacher training and qualifications. There is also a need for religious education to cater for the needs of society and the processes of change. In Lithuania Soviet ideology and contemporary social and political context are still an obstacle for dialogue and cooperation in the renewal of religious education at school.

References Anusauskas, A. 2004. Sovietinis genocidas ir jo padariniai. http://www.genocid.lt. Advilioniene˙, Zˇ. 2005. Religinis tapatumas ir religingumas posovietine˙je Lietuvoje: sociologinis zˇvilgsnis. Filosofija. Sociologija, no. 4: 12 – 20. Alisˇauskiene˙, M. 2009. Religija Lietuvoje: sociologine˙ perspektyva. In Religiniu˛ bendruomeniu˛ ir dvasiniu˛ grupiu˛ Lietuvoje zˇinynas, ed. M. Alisˇauskiene˙, Zˇ. Gapsˇiene˙, and D. Glodenis. Vilnius: Teisingumo ministerija. Alisˇauskiene˙, M. 2010. Moderniosios religijos formavimosi prielaidos, raisˇka ir ypatumai. Kultu¯ra ir visuomene˙, no. 1: 85 – 99. Bruzgelevicˇiene˙, R. 2008. Lietuvos sˇvietimo ku¯rimas 1988 – 1997. Monografija. Vilnius: Sapnu˛ sala. Duobliene˙, L. 2006. Sˇiuolaikine˙ ugdymo filosofija: refleksijos ir dialogo link. Vilnius: Tyto alba. Duobliene˙, L. 2010. Sˇvietimo politika ir globalizacija: nacionaliniai ir supranacionaliniai ypatumai. Acta paedagogica Vilnensia, no. 25: 69 – 84. Glodenis, D. 2012. 2011 m. gyventoju˛ surasˇymo duomenys aisˇkiai nerodo, kad Lietuvoje vyktu˛ sekuliarizacijos procesas. http://www.religija.lt. Gudavicˇius, E. 1999. Lietuvos istorija. Nuo seniausiu˛ laiku˛ iki 1569 metu˛. Vilnius: Lietuvos rasˇytoju˛ sa˛jungos leidykla. Jacku¯nas, Zˇ. 2006. Lietuvos sˇvietimo kaitos linkme˙s (1988 – 2005). Vilnius: Kultu¯ros, filosofijos ir meno institutas. Jasˇinauskas, L. 2008. Pilietiniu˛ ir tautiniu˛ vertybiu˛ raisˇka socialinio ir dorinio ugdymo vadove˙liuose. www.upc.smm.lt/ekspertavimas/tyrimai. Juknevicˇius, S. 2005. The Religiosity and Morality of Lithuanians in a European Context. In Post-Communist Lithuania: Culture in Transition, ed S. Juknevicˇius, 58 – 87. Vilnius: Culture, Philosophy and Arts Research Institute. Laumenskaite˙, E.I. 1993. Religija ir bazˇnycˇia Lietuvoje: dabartis ir perspektyvos. Naujasis zˇidinys, no. 3: 102 – 112. Lietuviu˛ emigracija: problema ir galimi sprendimo bu¯dai. 2005. Vilnius: Pilietine˙s visuomene˙s institutas. http://www.civitas.lt/files/Tyrimas_Lietuviu_emigracija_Studija.pdf. Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 2005. Vilnius: Mu¯su˛ Sauluzˇe˙. Lietuvos vidurine˙s bendrojo lavinimo mokyklos koncepcija. 1989.Vilnius: Zˇinija. Lietuvos sˇvietimo koncepcija. 1992. Vilnius: Leidybos centras.

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Lietuvos sˇvietimo politikos transformacijos. 2009. Monografija, ed. T. Bulajeva, and L. Duobliene˙. Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla. Luksˇiene˙, M. 2001. Jungtys, ed. R. Bruzgelevicˇiene˙. Vilnius: Alma litera. Kriksˇcˇionybe˙s istorija. 2000. ed. J.S. Anrews, C.J. Atkinson, and S.B. Barnes. Vilnius: Alma litera. Matakaite˙, S. 2003. Individualus religingumas ir kasdieninis gyvenimas. Filosofija. Sociologija, no. 1: 37 – 42. Putinaite˙, N. 2007. Nenutru¯kusi styga. Prisitaikymas ir pasipriesˇinimas sovietu˛ Lietuvoje. Vilnius: aidai. Religiniu˛ bendruomeniu˛ ir dvasiniu˛ grupiu˛ Lietuvoje zˇinynas. 2009. Teisingumo ministerija. http://www.tm.lt/rel_static/rel_zinynas. Rugevicˇiu¯te˙, R.G. 2006. Tikybos pamoku˛ pasirinkimo motyvai ir bendroji kataliku˛ tikybos programa. Soter, no. 17: 69 – 84. Rugevicˇiu¯te˙, R.G. 2008. Bendrojo lavinimo Lietuvos mokyklu˛ kataliku˛ tikybos mokymo programu˛ kaita. Pedagogika vol. 90: 57 – 64. Sˇvietimo gaire˙s. 2003 – 2013 m. projektas. 2002. Vilnius: Spauda. Tiju¯ne˙liene˙, O., and M. Barkauskaite˙. 2008. Lietuvos universitetu˛ studentu˛ dvasiniu˛ poreikiu˛ raisˇka. Pedagogika, vol. 91. Vaisˇvilaite˙, I. 2001. Tradiciniu˛ ir kitu˛ religiniu˛ bendriju˛ ir bendruomeniu˛ perskyra Lietuvoje. In Religija ir teise˙ pilietine˙je visuomene˙je. Tarptautine˙s konferencijos medzˇiaga, 127 – 129., Vilnius: Justitia. Zˇiliukaite˙, R. 2003. Religija besivienijancˇioje Europoje: sekuliarizacija ar kintancˇios religingu- mo formos? In: Besivienijanti Europa. Kolektyvine˙ monografija, ed. S. Juknevicˇius, 91 – 113. Vilnius: Kultu¯ros, filosofijos ir meno institutas. Zulumskyte˙ A., and G. Overlingiene˙. 2005. Tikybos pamoku˛ pasirinkimo motyvacija ir jos kaita 6 – 12 klase˙se. Soter, no. 8.

Institutions Ministry of Education: www.smm.lt School general education programs: www.upc.smm.lt Department of Migration: www.migracija.lt MINISTRY OF JUSTICE: WWW.TI.LT Lithuanian Catholic Church’s catechetical center : www.lvkc.lt NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: HTTP://NKMA.LCN.LT National Families and Parents Association: www.nsta.lt. LEU Catholic Religion Department: http://www.leu.lt/if/ktk. VDU Faculty of Catholic theology : http://www.vdu.lt/lt/fakultetai/kataliku-teologijos-fakultetas. KU Catechetical Department: http://www.ku.lt/pf/struktura/katedros/katechetikos-katedra. The Roman Catholic Church s website: www.katalikai.lt THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH WEBSITE: WWW.ORTHODOXY.LT

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THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH WEBSITE: WWW.LIUTERONAI.LT THE REFORMAT EVANGELICAL CHURCH WEBSITE: WWW.REF.LT JEWISH COMMUNITY OF LITHUANIA WEBSITE: WWW.ZYDAI.LT KARAIM COMMUNITY OF LITHUANIA: WWW.KARAIM.EU. THE CHURCH OF FREE CHRISTIANS WEBSITE: WWW.LKB.LT. THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN LITHUANIA WEBSITE: WWW.JEZUS.LT.

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Religious Education at Schools in Norway

The authors of this chapter have both worked with religious education issues for several years, mainly in relation to teacher education and co-operating with international research networks.1 However, we represent different disciplinary backgrounds, different generations and to some extent different fields of interest. While subscribing to a mainly critical and analytical research perspective, we are also committed to religious education as a genuinely educational enterprise, firmly rooted in the aims of both general and subject area education, but also having a reflective relationship to the local, national and global context where religion, worldviews and values are part of peoples’ lives and thoughts. Br”ten has worked with teacher education at the University College of SørTrøndelag, in Trondheim, Norway since 1998. She received her doctorate from Warwick University in 2010, based on a thesis comparing Norwegian and English religious education, which has now been published (Br”ten 2013). She has a continuing interest in comparative perspectives and another article by her in this volume discusses methodological issues related to comparative approaches to religious education. Skeie has worked in teacher education in Bodø, Stavanger and Stockholm, Sweden, after finishing his PhD at NTNU, Trondheim in 1998. He has been involved in the tutoring of doctoral students in the field of religious education for many years and has also done empirical research, for instance in the FP6 REDCo project. Presently, Skeie is working both at Stockholm University and the University of Stavanger.

1 We thank colleagues who have helped us, including Heid Leganger-Krogstad; Elisabet Haakedal and Sidsel Lied, but they have no responsibility for the end product.

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Socio-religious background

Norwegian society, viewed from the early part of 21st century, has gone through many changes over the last hundred years. In the years after 1900 the country became independent from Sweden and, parallel to a strong wave of emigration mainly to North America, it went through a late, but intensive modernisation, including rapid industrialisation and a radicalised labour movement. This developed into a strong political force during the coming century and competed with an already strong lay church movement over the ideological hegemony in local communities. In 1918 it was suggested at the Labour Party’s General Assembly to remove religious education as a school subject and make teaching about religion part of history education. Even though this was never put into practice it is a sign of the distance between the two strong popular movements of the 20th century, most pronounced until the occupation and war of 1940 – 45. After this, the relationship mellowed and gradually co-operation has become more common. From the later part of the previous century and onwards, the labour movement was strongest in cities and small towns while religious movements flourished mainly in the countryside. However, there were also regional differences that are still possible to recognise (Agøy 2011). The conflict over religious education in schools reflected the confessional nature of Norwegian religious education in a country with a Lutheran state church and only small religious minorities, of which other Christian denominations were the main ones. This reflected a rather homogeneous cultural composition of the population, but with significant modifications. A Sami indigenous minority was under strong assimilationist measures during most of the 20th century with a similar situation for travellers and other small ethnic groups. Industrialisation was realised with a mixed work force including immigrants from neighbouring Nordic countries and more distant regions, and the migration waves have created transnational families all over the country (Brochmann and Kjeldstadli 2008). This, together with a long history of shipping, a particularly strong missionary movement and an export oriented national economy, has meant that many Norwegians have experience from “distant” countries, even if the country may seem geographically peripheral, at least from a central European perspective. The economic basis of the country has been extremely dependent on international trade since the Middle Ages when the export of dried fish first started at some scale (Hodne 1975). In the present situation there is both continuity and change in relation to the longer historical perspective. The economy is still export-oriented with fish as a strong component, but recently also oil and gas have been added and have made Norway very affluent both in terms of private wealth and state economy. Now in 2013 there is a need for work-immigration in Norway, in contrast to other

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European countries. Since 1945, politics have been oriented towards economic growth and welfare, irrespective of who has been in government. An important part of this has been the social contract between the state, labour unions and financial and industrial sectors, which has secured a stable socio-political situation for most of the period. The global orientation is still significant for the economy and development aid, human rights initiatives and peace negotiations have been added to the missionary tradition. Since the 1970s Norwegians have travelled more abroad, and a new development has been immigration from more distant areas, such as Southern Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. This has meant that a visible and sometimes challenging socio-cultural diversity is now part of most Norwegian local communities. This has also meant that religious plurality is now present most places, certainly in Oslo and other cities, but also elsewhere. Traditional majority Lutheran religion has been in decline in many aspects, in spite of many initiatives from the Church of Norway to regain its former position, but the Church of Norway continues to have a strong influence. Around 60 % of the population marry in a church ceremony, 80 % of 14years old Norwegians take part in Church confirmation and more than 90 % of the people are buried with a Lutheran Church ritual. When events of national importance are celebrated, and also in times of national crisis, the Lutheran Church tends to be central, as was seen in many of the expressions of public mourning following the terrorist attacks of 22. July 2011. In the early years of the twentieth century, official data show that 2.3 % of the population were not members of the Lutheran Church (Asle 2011). In addition to a large group of non-members, this group was dominated by a large variety of sects and denominations related to Christianity. There was a very slow decrease in membership of the Church of Norway, but the main picture remained until the late 1960s when still only 3.8 % where not members and very few belonged to non-Christian religions. Since then an increasing diversity has been noticed. In 2012 the membership in Church of Norway is about 77 % of a total population of 5 million.2 Even if statistics are not secure, the remaining 1 million or 23 % of the population is composed of about 0.5 million non-members and about 0.5 million registered members in communities. Within the population of registered members outside of Church of Norway, we find 56 % Christians (including 100,000 Roman Catholics), 22 % Muslims, 17 % secular worldviews, 3 % Buddhists and 2 % covering Hindus, Jews, Sikhs and other religions. These are not secure figures, partly because 1960 was the last census with questions about religion and partly because official membership figures do not necessarily reflect the real numbers belonging to a group. In other words, non-members can 2 For figures see Statistics Norway on religion: http://www.ssb.no/en/kultur-og-fritid/statistikker/trosamf and Asle 2011.

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also belong to religious groups, and this is probably the case for many immigrants (Breistein and Høeg 2012). About 14 % (0.7 million) of the Norwegian population are born in another country or have parents who are. This is ten times more than in 1970.3 Investigations show that a majority of these immigrants find religion to be significantly more important in their daily life than the average of the Norwegian population do.4 In terms of religious and worldview diversity, before the increase of immigration in the early 1970s, a distinct feature of Norway has been a strong secular Humanist Association. Relative to the population it is one of the strongest organisations of its kind globally with a stable membership today over 80,000. Secular Humanists started to organise themselves in the 1950s through establishing an alternative to Church confirmation for young people and as a protest against the privileges of the Lutheran Church. In addition to civic confirmation it now organises life rituals connected to birth, marriage and death, and it is represented all over the country. The initiatives and ideas of the Humanist Association were important for changes in religious education in the post-World War II period. While their main objective was a neutral education about worldviews and ethics, in the 1970s, a system with two parallel subjects was established. Those pupils whose parents were not member of the Church of Norway could be exempted from Christian education and were entitled to have an alternative subject of “Life stances”. The model with the parallel subjects remained during in the 1970s and 1980s until a major educational reform in the 1990s. “Life-stances”, as an alternative to mainstream religious education, was not developed into a full parallel system for all religious groups as in Finland, and gradually the increased use of the right of exemption meant that a growing group of students did not have any education about religion in school at all. This was among the concerns that motivated the Ministry of Education to commission a revision of the entire system of religious education in public schools, which led to an extensive reform in 1997. Now, denominationally based religious education and a parallel subject, with neutral education about worldviews and ethics, was replaced by a new, broad school subject teaching about religions, worldviews, ethics and philosophy. The idea of this kind of religious education reform was quite broadly accepted, but the practical implementation in terms of curriculum and regulations was heavily disputed, particularly by minority groups (Haakedal 2001). This reaction was of course critical for the new school subject, since the 3 http://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef. 4 See Statistics Norway : http://www.ssb.no/kultur-og-fritid/artikler-og-publikasjoner/etmangfold-av-tro-og-livssyn.

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intention of including diversity was a main goal of the subject. On the other hand, religions and education in school was always a sensitive issue, so this could be expected given its radical break from the existing tradition where there was at least a right of full exemption. The first ten years therefore were quite turbulent, but also meant a lot of engagement in issues of religious education and diversity. Part of this controversy was that international human rights bodies criticized the religious education curriculum and regulations and this forced the state of Norway to make changes. Included in this process was a much discussed case in the European Human Rights Court (Lied 2009). The latest curricular changes appeared in 2008, and after this there has been less debate about religious education in school. These reforms can also be seen to reflect a change in the general perspective on religious education. In the early stages of the reformed curriculum, debate was mainly focused on national and Christian cultural heritage. Now it is discussed much more as an aspect of sociocultural diversity in Norway and intercultural education. However, voices who want to maintain a strong cultural heritage perspective are still heard, and one current example is the conservative government coalition signalling that they wish to reintroduce “Christianity” in the name of the school subject (October 2013).

2.

Legal Frameworks of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

Compulsory school in Norway starts at the age of 6 with grade one and continues to grade 10. The three years of upper secondary education (grade 11 – 13) are not compulsory, but everyone has the right to this level. Both primary, secondary and upper secondary education are free of charge, as is higher education. Even though the first 10 years of schooling is compulsory, the rights of parents to take care of their children’s education at home is protected and co-operation with parents is underlined in the very first paragraph of the Education Act. Here there is a distinction between the values that are the foundation of education (basic values in Christian and Humanist heritage and tradition, with examples) and aims of education (understanding of the foundation, insight into cultural diversity, scientific perspective, development of social skills, equality, environmental consciousness etc.). Based on the Education Act, the Ministry of Education decides on the curriculum for different educational levels. In earlier times, more of school policy and regulations was centralised, but today the municipalities run primary and secondary schools, and the national level is in charge of

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upper secondary education.5 This de-centralisation is, however, in line with other parts of public management paralleled by a growing central bureaucracy with a controlling and policy role. This role is filled by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, which is responsible for the development of kindergarten and primary as well as secondary education and also is the executive agency for the Ministry of Education and Research.6 Issues of religion and education go back to the Lutheran Church of Norway being the then Danish kings’ religion (since the Reformation), and recognised as the official state religion since the Constitution of Norway as independent state in 1814. At that time, Norway had just become part of a union with Sweden after the former ruler, Denmark, had been defeated in the Napoleonic wars. This union lasted until 1905 when full independence was achieved. The state church system continued until a process of separation slowly started in the 1980s, mainly focusing on increased independence for the Church of Norway within a state-church system (Thorkildsen 2012). It is difficult to understand the present situation without taking into account the central role of Church of Norway both formally and informally in the history of the nation state, and the overwhelming dominance in terms of numbers even today. Like other Scandinavian countries, the majority of the population seems to be quite secularised in terms of attitudes towards religious beliefs when compared with other countries in Europe, but this is combined with a rather strong attachment to the national church measured in political support and use of life rituals (Botvar and Schmidt 2010; Modeer 2013). The major sociological difference, compared to most other religious and belief groups, is that the active core members of the Church of Norway are fewer in relation to total membership. In 2008 there was a broad agreement between all political parties that a process of separation between church and state should take place. Key reasons were seeing the state as a secular institution supporting freedom of religion and belief, as well as the role of the state in supporting and encouraging expression and organisation of different religion and beliefs. The consequent changes to the Constitution were made in 2012. Now the Church of Norway could decide about the appointment of priests and bishops and make internal decisions more democratic. The separation process is probably only at its beginning since many aspects of the former state-church system prevail in terms of a special situation for the Church of Norway (Schmidt 2011). Lutheranism is still the religion of the king and it is mentioned that the Church of Norway has a special role as the church of the Norwegian people (“norske folkekirke”). The Church of Norway is supported by the state equally with all other religions and worldviews, but there 5 See http://www.udir.no/Upload/Brosjyrer/5/Education_in_Norway.pdf ?epslanguage=no. 6 http://www.udir.no/Stottemeny/English/.

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is a special law about the Church of Norway. Church employees are largely state employees and the budget is part of the state budget. The former paragraph of the constitution, placing Lutheranism as state religion, is replaced by a statement about the value foundation of the state which is “Christian and Humanist heritage”, followed by a pledge to secure democracy, the rule of law and human rights.7 Regulations ensure that all registered religious and belief groups, including the Church of Norway, are entitled to the equivalent economic support based on membership figures. The present situation can therefore be described as one of increased, but still limited, equality between religious and belief groups. In 2013 a government committee made recommendations for future state politics in the field of religion and worldviews, arguing for continued change towards equality (Kulturdepartementet 2013). There are formally established bodies at national level dealing with co-operation and consultation between religious and belief organisations, and from time to time these raise issues of education. The Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities was established in 1996 by a variety of faith groups to deal with issues of common interest.8 The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief (since 1998) focuses on human rights both nationally and internationally. To some extent, similar bodies have been established locally, but there is no comprehensive system for co-ordinating contact between religion and belief groups on issues related to education or other matters. From the 1990s onwards there have, however, been different initiatives related to dialogue between religions and worldviews, partly, but not entirely, related to the bodies mentioned, and this process is now being investigated more closely (Grung 2011; Leirvik 2003). This development is not formally linked to religious education in school, but has to some extent influenced educational thinking and has probably contributed to the continuing position of “dialogue” in the curricula for religious education. In terms of educational legislation, the role of religion has changed in a way that is not too different from the more general changes in relationship between religion and state. One level has to do with the general ethos of school and the other with religious education more specifically (Haakedal 2001; Lied 2009). In the discussion about the latest changes in the Education Act (2008), regarding the preamble concerning law, a major issue was whether the value foundation should be expressed via certain traditions or the other way around. The first alternative was chosen, stating that education should be based on “basic values in Christian and Humanist tradition and heritage” (as in the Constitution) 7 There is no updated English translations of the Constitution, for the text in Norwegian see http://www.lovdata.no/all/hl-18140517 – 000.html#3. 8 See webpage: http://www.trooglivssyn.no/index.cfm?id=136722.

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followed by a list of examples of central values.9 Thus religion and belief are made relevant for the foundation of the school. There is legal provision for a limited right to exemption from school if certain parts of the teaching are interpreted by parents or pupils as participation in activities that are in conflict with their own religion or life stance. It is also possible to be exempted from school on religious holidays. There is a special section of the Education Act dealing with religious education, starting with the somewhat paradoxical statement that it “is an ordinary school subject”. This is followed by a declaration that the teaching is not to be any sort of “preaching”, but to give “knowledge about Christianity, other world religions and worldviews, Christianity as cultural heritage and knowledge about issues in ethics and philosophy”. The teaching shall contribute to understanding, respect and skills in dialogue and the presentation of religions and worldviews is to be done in an “objective, critical and pluralistic way”. This last formulation especially reflects the critique from international human rights bodies of the former legislation on religious education in Norway. The main problem was that, as long as there were no general right of exemption, there was a lack of clarity about whether the teaching could be biased in favour of Christianity. It was therefore necessary to underline the impartiality of the teaching. However, there is still no general right of exemption, as this is not regarded as necessary given the latest changes. There have been no new legal complaints since 2008.

3.

Developments in the country’s education policies

General education policies since 1945 have been dominated by the ambition to use education to support and stimulate the country’s economic growth after the Second World War. Much political focus has therefore been on expansion, infrastructure and organisation (Tønnessen 2011). Usually religion has not featured much in policy discussions, but there are significant exceptions. In the 1950s, the government suggested reducing the hours per week for teaching religion in primary school. This led to a reaction where 700,000 people signed a petition against this, and the two hours per week were restored. Apart from this, religion was mainly debated in relation to its place in the preamble of the Education Act. The post-war years meant co-ordination and streamlining of education towards a strongly centralised educational system, but also a continuous expansion. In 1968, compulsory schooling was extended from 7 to 9 years and a 9 This and following statements from the Education Act are translated by authors. See http:// www.lovdata.no/all/hl-19980717 – 061.html#1 – 2.

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focus on youth in education became more pronounced. Around 1970, critical voices towards the post-war model started to be heard, influenced by the 68generation. This included a stronger emphasis on student perspectives and a more child-oriented pedagogy. At the policy level there was increased emphasis on local management and the contribution of education to the local community. Teaching became less authoritarian and schoolbooks were transformed into more multimodal products, including in religious education. Even though some of the influences from the “progressive” pedagogy of the 1970s continued, at policy level into the 1980s, the last part of the century showed a reaction against this, particularly in terms of policy (Skeie 2009; Telhaug 1982; Telhaug and Medi”s 2003; Telhaug, Medi”s, and Aase, 2006). From the 1970s there has been an increase in migration to Norway. Until the mid 1970s this was mainly work related. Later, families of migrant workers arrived, and also other kinds of immigrants, including asylum seekers; this was a new societal developments in Norway. A growing awareness of the intercultural dimension of education was visible in the 1980s. Migration and sociocultural diversity challenged school practice and educational policy and gradually became part also of the discourse about religious education. Stimulated by trends from the 1960s and 70s, development of local and regional school practice was encouraged in the curricula. Policies and pedagogies emphasising the local and contextual perspective influenced thinking both in school administration and in subject areas including religious education. This influence can still be traced in recent publications, but it is an open question how far it has influenced practice over time (Leganger-Krogstad 2011). In the 1980s the indigenous Sami population in Norway also made their voice heard in a new way and gradually educational authorities acknowledged that much harm had been done through assimilationist policies in previous decades. The 1990s is sometimes called a decade of large reforms in education. Extension of the length of compulsory education continued, to 10 years instead of 9, giving everyone the right to upper secondary education. Structural reforms in higher education encouraged institutions to merge into larger units, and some University Colleges to develop into full Universities. The decentralisation ideals of the 1970s were put into practice by giving more power to local educational authorities, but at the same time stronger centralised accountability regimes were established. The importance of addressing diversity in education was clearly acknowledged and a white paper in 1995 discussed many of the issues that have been part of the debate since (NOU 1995). The 1990s was also the decade when religious education was changed from being a confessional subject with a parallel non-confessional alternative, into an inclusive and pluralistic subject for everyone, focusing on religions, worldviews, ethics and philosophy. Many of the reforms were based on a new general cur-

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riculum (1993), covering primary, secondary, upper secondary and adult education, which has not changed after 20 years (The Royal Ministry of Education 1997). Since the turn of the century, many policy initiatives have been in the direction of enforcing or adjusting earlier trends. The expansion of the educational system has mainly focused on pre-school education where the main ambition has been to offer all children the possibility to have a place. This has largely succeeded, but has been expensive in terms of resources. There has been an even stronger emphasis on learning outcomes in subject areas at all levels of education and often the discourse has evolved around the ranking of Norway in OECD overviews, PISA tests etc. In 2004 a central office for curriculum development, national tests and quality assessment was established by the government, extending central influence.10 A frequently used word in connection with education in Norway currently is “knowledge” (Norwegian: “kunnskap”). The present curriculum is called “the Knowledge Promotion” and the Norwegian title of the Ministry of Education and Research is “Kunnskapsdepartementet”; literally meaning “Department of Knowledge”. An effect of the increasing emphasis on “knowledge” is that the main focus seems to be on certain school subjects, such as mathematics, Norwegian, English and science. Some schools are quite competitive in terms of high results in reading and arithmetic, and teaching and learning in other school subjects, such as arts, history, social studies and religion, may suffer from this. There is also a discussion whether the inclusion of children with special needs, which has been considered a characteristic of the Norwegian school system is being undermined through increased segregation of pupils according to ability, under the current general label of “adapted education” (Fasting 2013). Summing up, the development in Norwegian education policy in the post Second World War period has many features in common with other Nordic countries, moving from a social-democratic “golden age” (1945 – 1970), through an intermediate phase of progressive education in the 1970s, and entering a continuing phase of globalisation and neo-liberal influences. The first phase was partly based on each country becoming rather homogeneous in socio-cultural and even socio-economic terms, based on high minimum wages and relatively small wage differences. Even though there are national differences, the “Nordic model in Education” developed and was characterised by a certain “de-politicisation” of both educational policies and politics itself, accompanied by an emphasis on compromise between different power interests, a confidence in 10 The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training is responsible for the development of kindergarten and primary and secondary education. The Directorate is the executive agency for the Ministry of Education and Research: http://www.udir.no/Stottemeny/English/.

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science as a basis for government, and a strong state (Telhaug et al. 2006). Present developments can be seen as a new set of struggles, but also as “a new compromise” between power interests plus a tendency to be more influenced by international developments, particularly those expressed by the OECD.

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including any changes and developments, legal relationships

In the post World War 2 two period, the emphasis in Norwegian school policy has been on a common public education for all. The main alternative to this has been a limited number of “private” schools. These are 85 % state funded and are not allowed to take fees exceeding the remaining 15 % of costs. Some argue for the use of home schooling, but this is a marginal phenomenon (Beck 2002). According to current law, private schools are allowed only if they can document that they offer an alternative pedagogy, are affiliated with a distinct religion or worldview, are international, offer top athletic training, offer a Norwegian primary school abroad, or are specially designed for the disabled or support certain rare handicrafts. Governors of such schools may apply for the formal status of “private school”. From an international point of view, the numbers are low.11 In 2012 about 6 % of all primary and secondary schools were private, but they are mostly small schools and only three per cent of all pupils attend these schools. This is less than a quarter of the numbers in Sweden and Denmark (Berge and Hyggen 2011; Ihle 2007). There are signs that the change to a more conservative government in 2013 may lead to a liberalisation of policy, even though the controversy around recent developments in the current liberalised Swedish system has led to some caution regarding this issue in Norway. There has been a slow, but continuous, growth in pupils numbers in private schools in the last ten years. At present, only Christian schools, both Protestant and Catholic, are found among the private schools. Many of these are small Protestant schools in local communities and with a conservative theological profile. This does not mean that they are easily categorised in terms of pedagogy or profile and little research in this field of education has been conducted so far. In the religious schools a concern that the Christian school ethos should influence the whole school is combined with strong educational ambitions and varied pedagogy. The approach in religious education is teaching into Christianity, and the focus on diversity is limited, but not absent. Pupils reflect on their own belief in a socio-cultural context. However they concentrate much less on diversity, 11 See Statistics Norway : http://www.ssb.no/en/utdanning/statistikker/utgrs.

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including religious diversity, compared with pupils in public schools (Hodne and Sødal 2005; Lied, Maksim, Sæthren, and Lykina 2007; Lippe 2010). Other significant private schools are Waldorf schools and Montessori schools. In many cases the reasons for applications to open private schools are related to the closure of small community schools by the local municipality. Parents then mobilise and may start a private school. It is common for these to be based on Montessori principles. On several occasions there have been efforts to start Muslim primary schools, and some years ago one was set up in Oslo. In Autumn 2013 a private Muslim upper secondary school was planned to open in Oslo with only female students, but this is still to see. Research into parents’ motives for choosing private religious schools suggests a diversity of reasons, but the parents tend to focus on what is seen as best for the children in a broad sense, rather than emphasising socialisation into a particular religious worldview (Helgesen 2003). Contrary to some popular suggestions, research gives reason to question the idea that private schools in Norway isolate certain social or religious groups from general contact with the local community ; in other words they do not seem to bring about social segregation (Helland and Lauglo 2007).

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

In the current syllabus for religious education (2008), the name of the subject was changed to “Religion, philosophies of life and ethics”, as distinct from the former “Christianity with orientation about, religions and philosophies of life” (1997).12 According to the curriculum text, the compulsory religious education subject in primary and lower secondary education has a quite wide and complex thematic content, covering Christianity, other religions (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and “other religious diversity”), philosophy of life, and also philosophy and ethics.13 The aim is to “help the pupil gain new insight and allow for dialogue”, gain “knowledge of religions and philosophies of life, and the function these have as traditions and as actual sources of faith, morals and understanding life”, “stimulate general education, making room for wonder and reflection”, and “learn to talk with other people who have different views of the world where questions of faith and philosophies of life are concerned”. The mention of Christianity as a “major proportion of the learning content” is ex12 From 2002 – 2008 the name was „Kristendoms-, religions- og livssynskunnskap“ meaning „Knowledge of Christianity, religions and philosophies of life“, the abbreviation KRL was kept. 13 The English version of the curriculum text quoted in the following can be found on this website: http://www.udir.no/Stottemeny/English/Curriculum-in-English/_english/Curricula-in-English/

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plicitly justified by referring to its role as “cultural heritage in our society”. When these issues are debated, the fact that the majority of Norwegian citizens are members of Christian Churches, with the Church of Norway as the dominant institution, is often mentioned; 77 % of the population were members in 2012.14 Compared to earlier curricula, the emphasis currently is less on personal development and more on “knowledge”. The subject teaching is supposed to be “varied”, but the “careful choice of working methods is especially important when considering parents, guardians and pupils so that they feel their own religion or philosophy of life is respected.” Quoting key terms from the Education Act, it is underlined that “[…] the teaching of this subject should be objective, critical and pluralistic. This implies that the subject should be taught impartially and based on facts, and that the different world religions and philosophies of life should be presented with respect.” Further, there is a link to the overall education policy in the emphasis on religious education contributing to “basic skills”. Competence aims are differentiated according to key stages; levels 4, 7 and 10, and also according to (1) Christianity, (2) Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Philosophies of life, (3) Philosophy and ethics. Formal assessment is done after year 10 through an oral examination. In Norway, pupils get a school leaving certificate with marks in all subjects after year 10. This means that the sum of their marks that they get in tests during the year will appear on this certificate. In addition, examination subjects are not selected by students’ own choice. If RE is selected, students are given an oral exam, the result of which appears as a separate mark on their certificate (Br”ten 2013, 125). The research based debates about religious education in schools overlap to some extent with public debates as earlier, but the focus has changed considerably. A common issue is related to the interpretation of the curriculum in terms of a balance between “knowledge”, “frame of reference” and “treating all religions and philosophies of life in an academic and professional manner based on the distinctive characteristics and diversity of all religions”. Some have argued that this balance may be achieved in the curriculum by seeing it as contributing to “integrating socialisation” (Engen 2009; Gravem 2007), while several others maintain that diversity is still not sufficiently secured in the general core curriculum (Breidlid 2012). Br”ten has considered whether the subject might still contribute to maintaining and even constructing “otherness”, despite its intended inclusiveness (Br”ten 2013, 202). Drawing on classroom research, Iversen has argued that disagreement and diversity may be seen as a constructive element in the classroom community, with the ethos of teaching and learning in religious education producing a “community of disagreement” (Iversen 2012). Fifteen years into the development of religious education, including changes 14 http://www.kirken.no/?event=doLink& famID=230.

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in legal and curricular texts in 2002, 2005 and 2008, towards being a broad and inclusive school subject, the contrast with the former confessional religious education is today mainly relevant as an explanation of historical background and influences. Such changes take some time to settle and there are always tensions between the formal curriculum and the development of practice. It is difficult to assess the long term effects, but the most significant short term result is probably that religious education today is seen as a vital part of intercultural education and education for diversity, while formerly there was a much stronger emphasis on national and Christian heritage: “Religious education in primary and secondary education today appears as being the main school subject supporting diversity management and is directed specifically towards stimulating an interest towards diversity and variations in religion and culture. At all levels competence aims are related to the life interpretation of different religions and worldviews, and comparison and contrast between these. Many aims are also directed towards questions particularly relevant to those who belong to different discrete traditions.”15

6.

Practice / reality of RE in different schools

Religious education is compulsory in primary (grade 1 – 7), secondary (8 – 10) and upper secondary school (grade 11 – 13) and there are regulations about how many hours should be taught. In primary education, the average number of lessons per year is 61, while in secondary school it is 51. This means in practice that compulsory education has 1 – 2 hours on average each week, while all upper secondary students have two hours per week in their third year. The way this is put into practice in schools may vary, but being a separate school subject ensures that religious education does not lose its lesson time. There are, however, many informal reports from teachers that this is a subject where lesson time may be used for dealing with more general issues relevant to the specific class, such as social activities. In terms of teaching style, the institutionalised whole-class conversation probably is a widespread phenomenon. This is characterised by teacher dominance and power, combined with broad pupil participation. The dominant pattern of answering teacher questions is also known from RE research (Haakedal 2004; Klette 2003; Skoglund 2008). A recent survey from 2011 / 2012, answered by about 260 teachers in central and northern Norway, confirms some of the same trends; teaching methods which are frequently used are re15 These are the words of a professor of history education discussing the contribution of different school subjects towards issues of democracy and public space in the aftermath of 22. July 2011. Translation by Geir Skeie from Nielsen (2012, 147).

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ported to include storytelling and philosophy with children. Some also use drama, music, activities related to religious holidays and festivals and a fair number of teachers also take pupils on visits outside the school.16 A national evaluation of religious education practice was done in the late 1990s following the establishment of the new curriculum in 1997. In summary, teaching varied considerably from school to school and between individual teachers, and this variation was not always in line with the curriculum (Hagesæther, Sandsmark, and Bleka 2000; K. I. Johannessen 2000). On the one hand, the lack of a direct link between curriculum text and practice may be common knowledge (Goodlad 1979), but it may also be seen as a sign that religious education was loosely “framed” or in a transitional state. Both teaching methods and the subject itself were considered to be more open to interpretation, especially at that time when public debate about the subject were still on-going after the reform, as was the case against the State of Norway at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (Høstmælingen 2005). The latest changes in the Education Act and curriculum of religious education also meant that issues related to religion in school have been more decoupled from religious education as a distinct subject. Today, school rituals, co-operation with local religious communities, observation of religious (Christian) festivals etc. are more often treated as a whole school issue than as part of religious education, but not always without debate (Haakedal 2009).

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

As explained above, there have been no such alternative subjects since 1997 in Norway, and only a limited right of exemption, which is not specific to religious education as such, but generally for school activities. Ethics and philosophy are included in the religious education subject itself. In terms of ethics, this has been part of curriculum for a long time and today it is treated not mainly as the ethics of certain traditions, but more in terms of general ethics. Philosophy became part of the primary and secondary school subject in 1997 and its content has been a combination of “philosophising” and history of philosophy. The philosophy with children movement has had a significant influence on teaching

16 Oddrun Br”ten has been involved in this study, but the results of the survey have not yet been published. The project is called KURLE: Kartleggings of utviklingsstudie i RLE-faget, see http://webster.hibo.no/alu/seksjon/krl/kurle/., Fuglseth, K. (red.) 2014: RLE i klemme. Ein studie av det erfarte RLE-faget. Trondheim: Akademika)

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through books and courses related to teacher education (Børresen and Malmhester 2003; Schelderup, Olsholt, and Børresen 1999).

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

In 1997, the policy was changed in order to deal with religious diversity through creating an inclusive subject for all students, a space for learning together, dialogue and critical discussion. This has however been controversial, especially with the lack of right of withdrawal from the whole subject. The slogan was; “exemption from some activities, but not from knowledge” and this meant a limited right of exemption. The situation led to court cases against the state of Norway in the Norwegian legal system as well as in international Human Rights institutions (Høstmælingen 2005; Lied 2009). Thus, dealing with religious diversity in school religious education and dealing with it in society at large has been a parallel process. In European REDCo research (which included Norway and seven other countries) it appeared that students wished for a “safe space” for dialogue about religion, and Norwegian RE could provide such a safe space. However, gathering pupils in the same space does not guarantee inclusion on equal terms, and there is a dynamic between majority and minorities as well as a question of what constitutes neutral ground. It also required a skilled teacher, and we know that many who teach the subject does not have formal qualifications, or are not sufficiently qualified. However a multi-faith approach to religious education, like the Norwegian one, does create an arena where integration and social cohesion in a plural society could at best take place. At worst, however, it could be an arena for reproducing stereotypes and constructing “otherness” (Br”ten 2013, 202; Breidlid 2012). In research since 1997, the question of how Norwegian RE can be inclusive has been central, though some have also argued for separate RE according to the background of students. In Norway, the change from Christian religious education combined with a secular alternative, to a common multi-faith religious education was implemented politically from “above”, followed by a process of implementation in practice. This meant that schools were at first not ready for the new subject, and teachers were not qualified to teach it. New textbooks were produced following the 1997 reform, but often the sections about religions other than Christianity had a different quality, with more of a “religious studies” approach, while the parts about Christianity maintained a more traditional (theological) style. Due to the rapid curricular changes after 1997, publishers have been reluctant to produce new books, but recently several new textbooks have appeared and may possibly contribute to better quality of teaching (Winje 2008). With globalisation and increasing labour migration from Europe, one

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would expect a need also for a less Lutheran-influenced teaching about Christianity, but this has not been much discussed. In the face of a strong national tradition, one may ask whether those from religions “other” than the Christian and specifically Lutheran tend to be presented as “others”. This sometimes includes the secular Humanist Association despite its inclusion in the preamble to the school law as a “national” tradition. It seems that the issue of inclusiveness is not so easily resolved and that the question of religious diversity in religious education can be approached in different ways and from different perspectives, among them curriculum and policy, academic discourse and classroom practice. At the level of curriculum, one may argue that Christianity, in the form of its Norwegian tradition, is still the main religion taught occupying one third of the subject content according to the National Curricula from 2008, leaving only one third to the “other” world religions and secular life views. The last third is reserved for philosophy and ethics. The curriculum underlines inclusiveness, but there is a continued ambivalence between, on the one hand, wanting to open up and be inclusive and integrative and, on the other, a desire that elements from the former Christian religious education should continue, justified by a strengthened focus on the Christian tradition as part of our cultural heritage. The curriculum level is related to public discourse and policies, and one may ask whether the intended inclusive subject in Norway is still too ethnocentric (Br”ten 2013, 205). Skeie (2006, 24) has suggested that Norwegian religious education runs on two tracks: on the one hand there is an intention to counter relativism through promoting a certain set of values, which can also be seen as an intention to counter the problems with “modern” or “individual” “plurality” (Skeie 2005). However, there is also an intention to counter conflicts between more or less organised religious “groups”, which can be seen as an attempt to counter problems with “traditional plurality” or group plurality. The Norwegian National Curriculum for religious education can thus be seen to reflect both an ambivalence of wanting to maintain and update links to the national tradition, or national imaginaries (Schiffauer et al. 2004, 10), and also wanting to address the new plurality, or pluralities, both traditional and modern. It is possible to interpret the current situation as a compromise which creates an arena to negotiate recent social change regarding Norwegian traditions in relation to a longer period of national history. At the level of academic discourse, the interest in “religion in education” has increased as a result of the public debate about RE since the 1990s. This has primarily resulted in a significant increase of religious education research, but also in more attention from disciplines such as political science, sociology, law and education. Within the field of religious education research, there is now strong attention to issues of diversity and, while theologians used to dominate the field, more people from religious studies are taking part. This has resulted in

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an emerging debate about the knowledge base of teacher education, but also for teaching and learning in school. Bengt Ove Andreassen has argued, on the basis of teacher education textbook analysis, that earlier religious education research has had a Christian theological bias and that this also has resulted in a misplaced emphasis on personal development using religion as a resource (Andreassen 2008, 2012).

9.

Religion in schools outside of religious education RE

The preamble to the Education Act (“form”lsparagrafen”) concerns the overall purpose of schooling in Norway. Traditionally, and even now since the changes in 2008, religion has a central role in this. Before 2008 this overall aim was partly formulated as “in agreement and co-operation with the home, to give pupils a Christian and moral upbringing […]”.17 After 2008 this was changed to “Education should build on basic values in Christian and humanistic heritage and tradition, such as […]” and then a number of explicit values are mentioned. It states further that those same values are also found in other religions and worldviews, and that they are also a part of Human Rights. In practice, it is evident that in schools there is a predominant secular ethos. Religion outside RE in Norwegian schools is mainly what pupils and parents bring with them relating to personal or traditional religion. In Norway, religion is to a large extent considered to be a private matter. However, the Norwegian Christian traditions are visible in school activities in connection to the celebration of Christmas and Easter. These include making decorations and singing traditional songs, and a tradition for schools to take their pupils to Church especially just before Christmas, even though this has been a topic of much debate for many years (Haakedal 2009). Pupils may be exempted from participation in such activities. Prayer does not occur to any significant degree in the general school agenda, but some schools, especially in Oslo, have allowed Muslim students to meet for prayer on school premises and in school hours. Some schools pay joyous attention to festivals from other religions than Christianity, but this happens in an educational context in such a way that it is not considered to be part of religious activities. Wearing of visible religious symbols is allowed and, for example, Muslim women and girls may wear the hijab.

17 English translation of the full text in Br”ten (2013), 215 – 216.

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227

Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities, issues

After abandoning the former denominational oriented subject, religious education teachers had to renegotiate their teacher role. The subject could not be seen as “Christian” in the same way as before and it was also not identical with the secular alternative from the 1970s onwards (Skeie 2003). That many who taught the subject did not have much subject knowledge also probably affected teaching and learning detrimentally. Since 1997, more well qualified teachers have been available, and there are fewer teachers who received their teacher education before the confessional subject was abandoned in 1997. Between 1997 and 2010 a religious education course was compulsory as part of teacher training in Norway. After a reform in 2010 emphasising subject specialisation, students were given the choice of RE among other subjects. Now only a small percentage of new teachers have a basic training in religious education, but students who choose it often get more subject specialisation than their predecessors. However, there are several routes into the teaching profession in Norway, and some teachers have subject specialisation from universities combined with a course in educational science. It is more common for teachers with university education to teach in upper secondary schools or the upper part of primary or secondary school. Educational options for religious education teachers in Norway have changed over the years, in part reflecting general changes in educational options for teachers, and partly reflecting changes in the subject or its position in schools. There are currently 6 universities in Norway and 30 university colleges. Some of the universities used to be university colleges but have recently changed in status as a result of Government policy. These include the University of Stavanger (2005) , the University of Agder (2008) and the University of Nordland (2011). One year of “educational science” in addition to subject specialist university studies has traditionally been an option, especially for secondary school teachers. Recently, universities have also developed integrated teacher training courses with pedagogical studies as part of, or alongside, their subject studies. However, most teachers, especially primary school teachers, receive their training in University Colleges. This is a broad generic teacher education which includes practice of teaching, but, since the reform in 2010, there are specialist courses for teachers for the lower (1 – 7th grade) and for the upper classes of primary school (5 – 10th grade). Religious education was, since the establishment of teacher education in the latter part of 19th century until 2010, a compulsory part of teacher education in Norway. In connection with the reform from Christian education to plural re-

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ligious education in 1997, the subject was strengthened. However, in 2002, time allocated was reduced significantly and following the latest reform in 2010 it became optional. The nature of the study changed as the subject changed in schools, from mainly education in the teaching of the Christian religion before 1997, to including also other world religions and philosophies after 1997. Ethics was always a part of the study, but the understanding of “ethics” has also changed over time. Today religious education is significantly less prominent in teacher education than it used to be and the major influences in teacher education seem to come from international policy trends rather than national cultural heritage (Afdal 2013; Braathe 2012).

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

The following overview introduces larger-scale research such as doctoral studies. Ole Gunnar Winsnes pioneered empirical research in religious education in Norway, motivated by a desire to make religious education more relevant to children, and inspired by international research at that time, such as that conducted by Sven Hartmann in Sweden and Harold Loukes and Ronald Goldman in England (Winsnes 1988). Winsnes suggested a more pedagogically based religious education, aiming to assist pupils’ reflections on life questions (Skeie 2007). Sissel Østberg was also a pioneer in Norwegian religious education research when she investigated the situation of Muslim children in Norway in the late 1990s (Østberg 2003). The research had a background in her experience as a teacher educator and was made relevant for RE even though the focus of the research itself was mainly on questions of identity, using ethnographic methods and drawing on Warwick research in the UK. Earlier, several researchers had studied aspects of children and young people’s worldview and religion, but with more emphasis on young people with a background in Christian religious heritage and secular humanism. In an article about Norwegian religious education PhD research during the period 1985 – 2005, Sidsel Lied concluded that one of the things needed was more empirical classroom research (Lied 2007). She also commented on the increase in research from around 1997 when the school subject was changed and teacher education in RE expanded. Br”ten also discusses this (2013, 57 – 65), and also considers the relationship between disciplines, such as theology, religious studies and pedagogy as well as the changing dynamics of who does research and how much research is done. She also discusses how ideas are exchanged between countries, for example how certain ideas from England have for many years been of interest to Norwegian researchers and higher education teachers in religious

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education. Prior to 1997 research was dominated by theoretical and historical studies, but the last ten years have seen the production of more empirical research, including work on teaching and learning in the classroom. Lied’s research contributed to this, since she explores students’ interpretations of stories from different religions and worldviews in the light of the plurality of pupils’ life interpretations (Lied 2004). Further empirical research on primary children has been done by Skoglund, who has studied classrooms at grade 2, while Lied researched grades 5 and 6 (Lied 2004; Skoglund 2008). Skoglund’s research concerns conversations in full classes in lower primary school about life interpretation. Von der Lippe and Iversen have researched the secondary school level (Iversen 2012; Lippe 2010). As part of a larger European Commission project, von der Lippe examined 14 – 16 year olds’ relationship to religion and religious education in a multicultural society.18 Jørgensen (2014) has explored students’ written work in RE (grades 8 – 10), as has Haakedal (2012). Vestøl (2005) studied upper secondary pupils’ texts, focusing on their use of moral / ethical tools. Iversen is looking at how teachers and curricula represent national identity, especially “Norwegianness” in religious education. Nicolaisen’s research on Hindu children is relevant here, since she has observed classroom interaction in grades 6 – 9 as part of her study (Nicolaisen 2011, 2012). She is alone however, in focusing on a distinct (Hindu) religious background, combining a discussion of both the perspectives of children as well as the construction of the RE subject in the classroom. Anker has explored pupils’ construction of respect and disrespect in a multicultural school (Anker, 2011). As part of her comparative PhD project, Br”ten (2013) also investigated classroom activities to see how they linked to other levels of curricula. Taking into account the strong position of teacher training colleges in religious education research, it is rather surprising that only limited research has been done into the field of teacher education and the practice and self-understanding of teachers. Elisabeth Haakedal is an exception here, with her rich study of the role of religious education teachers (Haakedal, 2004). Geir Afdal has also focused on teachers, especially their perspectives on tolerance in the curriculum (G. Afdal 2006). Hovdelien (2010) has explored primary and lower secondary school principals’ views on multicultural education and RE. Andreassen has completed a critical analysis of textbooks used in teacher training, while Skrefsrud has written about the meaning of dialogue for teachers in an intercultural context (Andreassen 2008; Skrefsrud, 2011). 18 There is also research into the diversity of religions and beliefs in Norway which is relevant to religious education because it informs us about the socio-cultural context; this research is not covered in the present chapter.

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Recently published research by Dag Husebø and Øystein Lund Johannessen is adding to this field by focusing on student teachers and practising teachers respectively (Husebø 2012, 2013; Johannessen 2009). Sidsel Lied has also contributed here (Lied 2012). These writers also represent a rare example of action research in the field, combining practice development with research (Skeie 2011). While not being action research as such, much of Leganger-Krogstad’s long term research into the interface between the local context and religious education practice has made an important contribution, balancing empirical research and systematic scholarship (Leganger-Krogstad 2011). Something similar can be said about Sagberg’s research, which is directed towards the role of Christianity in teaching and learning in pre-school settings, using a children’s spirituality perspective (Sagberg 2001).

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context.

In a European context, on the level of formal educational policies, we see actions to promote religious education as part of intercultural education (Jackson 2012, forthcoming 2014a and b). This can either contribute to existing models for religious education or could supplement it. In Norway we should be well equipped to continue to work with our current model towards developing religious education further as a subject which deals with the multicultural backgrounds of pupils and parents in schools and in society at large. However, there is reason to be concerned about the future development of the subject, especially in practice, as religious education was removed as a compulsory component of teacher education in 2010. This policy will lead to fewer but better qualified teachers; however, the great majority of new teachers will not have any education about religion at all. There is reason to think this policy will lead to a diminishing of religion as a part of an intercultural focus in schools, at the same time as we know that to many people, especially of immigrant background but also others, religion is a very central part of their lives and thus an indicator of cultural differences between Norwegian citizens, including pupils in school. We know that education of teachers in the field of religious education is also a critical point in many other European countries. The provision of good quality teacher education in RE is a challenge for Norway and for the wider European context. Lack of good specialist training is an obstacle to achieving goals as expressed for example in the Toledo Guiding Principles or in the Recommendation of the Council of Europe (Jackson forthcoming 2014 a and b). Regarding religion in school outside of RE, there is also a need for teachers to have some basic knowledge about religion especially of religions to which large

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groups of students in schools in Europe currently belong. At the moment this is only a very marginal part of Norwegian teacher training. To the degree that this is also the case in many other European countries, it represents another area of concern on a European level. The importance of qualified teachers is well documented (Riegel and Ziebertz 2009; Want, Bakker, Avest, and Everington 2009).

13.

Further information

Similar recent presentations of religion and education in Norway may in some ways complement this account by having a slightly different profile (Alberts 2011; Plesner 2013). There are also investigations into religious education in Norway that include analysis of the present situation and a wider context (Br”ten 2013; Iversen 2012). Changes are continuously happening in the field, and the autumn of 2013 brought religious education into the headlines again when the new government coalition announced that the role of Christianity was to be strengthened in terms of quantity (55 % of teaching), and that Christianity would be brought into the name of the subject again. The reaction to this have been strong and the outcomes of this proposed policy shift remain to be seen. The many changes in the field of religion and education have stimulated research and development. In the 1970s when Skeie was a university student, there was one professor in religious education in Norway (Ivar Asheim) and he changed his field into ethics after a few years: In the early 1990s Ole Gunnar Winsnes became professor, but also left the field after some years, in this case for sociology of religion. In 2003 Sverre Dag Mogstad became professor and, following the changes in religious education in schools, there has been a rapid change in the last ten years, with today 9 professors working in the field of religious education and these are spread all over the country.19 Around 20 doctoral dissertations have been produced in the field in the last 15 years and several of them are published internationally (e. g. Afdal 2006; Br”ten 2013; Eriksen 2010; Leganger-Krogstad 2011). Many younger researchers publish internationally and the field of research is flourishing, often in spite of limited support from academic institutions and funding institutions. This lack of infrastructure is a long terms challenge and the present trends in higher education, with increasing specialisation, does not favour the religious education research field. Nevertheless, there are initiatives to support research, such as an organisation for researchers in religious education, the Norwegian religious 19 These are K”re Fuglset, Sturla Sagberg, Sidsel Lied, Sverre Dag Mogstad, Geir Afdal, Heid Leganger-Krogstad, Elisabet Haakedal, Nj”l Skrunes and Geir Skeie

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education research forum –NoReFo (http://www.norefo.no/). There is also a forum for school teachers, mainly working in upper secondary and secondary education: The Norwegian Association of RE Teachers (http://www.religion.no/ ?page_id=206), which is also a part of the wider international network European forum for teachers of religious education (EFTRE), and the Coordinating group for Religion in Education in Europe (CoGREE).

References Afdal, G. 2006. Tolerance and Curriculum. Münster : Waxmann. Afdal, H. W. 2013. Policy Making Processes with Respect to Teacher Education in Finland and Norway. The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning 65, no. 2: 167 – 180. Agøy, N. I. 2011. Kirken og arbeiderbevegelsen. Spenninger, skuffelser, h”p. Tiden fram til 1940. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. Alberts, W. 2011. Religous Education in Norway. In Religious Education in a Plural, Secularised Society, eds. L. Franken and P. Loobuyck, 99 – 114. Münster : Waxmann. Andreassen, B.-O. 2008. “Et ordinært fag i særklasse” En analyse av fagdidaktiske perspektiver i innføringsbøker i religigionsdidaktikk. PhD Avhandling. Tromsø: Universitetet i Tromsø. Andreassen, B. O. 2012. Religionsdidaktikk. En innføring. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Anker, T. 2011. Respect and disrespect: social practices in a Norwegian multicultural school. PhD, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo. Asle, R. 2011. Statistikk om religion, tro og livssyn – en behovsanalyse Notater. Vol. 7. Oslo: Statistics Norway. Beck, C. 2002. Home Schooling and Future Education in Norway. European Education 34, no. 2: 26 – 36. Berge, Ø., and Hyggen, C. 2011. Privatskoler i Norden. Omfang, utvikling og den politiske debatten Fafo-notat. Oslo: Fafo. Botvar, P. K., and U. Schmidt. 2010. Religion i dagens Norge. Mellom sekularisering og sakralisering. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Braathe, H. J. 2012. Discursive positioning in Norwegian teacher education: Shifting from cross-curricularity to skills-based subject specialisation. International Journal of Educational Research 55 (Nov), 26 – 35. Breidlid, H. 2012. Et ekskluderende “vi”? Verdier, kulturer og kulturarv i læreplanens generelle del og i form”lsparagrafen: nasjonalt fellesskap, multikulturalitet og kulturell kompleksitet. Acta Didactica Norge 6, no. 1: 1 – 18. Breistein, I. F., and I. M. Høeg, eds. 2012. Religionsstatistikk og medlemsforst”else. Trondheim: Akademika forlag. Brochmann, G., and K. Kjeldstadli, 2008. A history of immigration: the case of Norway 900 – 2000 Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Br”ten, O. M. H. 2013. Towards a Methodology for Comparative Studies in Religious Education. A Study of England and Norway. Münster : Waxmann.

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Børresen, B., and B. Malmhester, 2003. La barna filosofere. Den filosofiske samtale i skolen. Kristiansand: Høyskolforlaget. Engen, T. O. 2009. Socialisation, Literacy and Empowerment. In The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education, ed. J. A. Banks, 252 – 262. New York: Routledge. Eriksen, L. L. 2010. Learning to be Norwegian. A case study of identity management in religigous education in Norway. PhD thesis, University of Warwick. Fasting, R. B. 2013. Adapted education: the Norwegian pathway to inclusive and efficient education. International Journal of Inclusive Education 17, no. 3: 263 – 276. Fuglseth, K. (red.) 2014: RLE i klemme. Ein studie av det erfarte RLE-faget. Trondheim: Akademika. Goodlad, J. I. 1979. Curriculum inquiry : the study of curriculum practice. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gravem, P. 2007. Debatt: Religions og livssynsundervisnignen i en flerkulturell skole. Nordic Journal of Human Rights 24, no. 1: 170 – 177. Grung, A. H. 2011. Interreligious dialogue: Moving between compartmentalization and complexity. Approaching Religion 1, no. 1: 25 – 32. Haakedal, E. 2001. From Lutheran Catechism to World Religions and Humanism: Dilemmas and Middle Ways through the Story of Norwegian Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education 23, no. 2: 88 – 97. Haakedal, E. 2004. “Det er jo vanlig praksis hos de fleste her-”: religionslærerrolle, livstolkning og skolekulturell ritualisering: en religionspedagogisk studie av grunnskolelæreres handlingsrom p” 1990-tallet. Avhandling til dr. art. graden. Oslo: Det teologiske fakultet Universitetet i Oslo: Unipub. Haakedal, E. 2009. School festivals, collective remembering and social cohesion: A case study of changes in Norwegian school culture. Journal of Religious Education 57, no. 3: 46 – 55. Haakedal, E. 2012. Voices and perspectives in Norwegian pupils’ work on religions and worldviews: A diachronic study applying sociocultural learning theory. British Journal of Religious Education 34, no. 2: 139 – 154. Hagesæther, G., S. Sandsmark, and D.-A. Bleka. 2000. Foreldres, elevers og læreres erfaringer med KRL-faget. Bergen: NLA-forlaget. Helgesen, M. 2003. Barns behov eller foreldres særinteresser. Foreldres motiver for ” velge privat skole for sine barn NIBR- rapport. Vol. 2003:8. Oslo: Norsk institutt for by- og regionforskning. Helland, H., and J. Lauglo. 2007. Sosial segregering i private grunnskoler? Utdanning 2007 – muligheter, m”l og mestring, 88 – 111. Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyr” / Statistics Norway. Hodne, F. 1975. An economic history of Norway : 1815 – 1970 Trondheim: Tapir. Hodne, H., and H. K. Sødal. 2005. Snever kristendomsundervisning og pedagogisk konservatisme? Prismet 56, no. 3: 175 – 186. Hovdelien, O. 2010. Den multikulturelle skolen – hva mener rektorene? Grunnskolerektorer, skolens verdiforankring og religions- og livssynsundervisningen. Phd-avh., Kristiansand: Universitetet i Agder, Fakultet for humaniora og pedagogikk. Husebø, D. 2012. Bridging theory and practice in Norwegian teacher education. Educational Action Researc 20, no. 3: 455 – 471. Husebø, D. 2013. Fagdidaktisk utprøving av en fortolkende kulturbevisst tilnærming til

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Religion, livssyn og etikk-undervisning.Om forholdet mellom teori og praksis i lærerutdanningsfaget og grunnskolefaget RLE. University of Stavanger, Stavanger. Høstmælingen, N. 2005. Grunnlov, Stat og Kirke. In Farvel til statskirken? En debattbok om kirke og stat, ed. D. Søderlind, 149 – 164. Oslo: Humanist forlag. Ihle, A. H. 2007. Magt, Medborgerskab og Muslimske Friskoler i Danmark. Traditioner, idealer og politikker. København: Københavns Universitet. Iversen, L. L. 2012. Learning to be Norwegian. A case study of identity management in religious education in Norway. Vol. 21. Münster : Waxmann Verlag. Jackson, R. 2012. European developments. In Debates in Religious eucation, ed. L. P. Barnes, 168 – 180. London: Routledge. Jackson, R. forthcoming 2014a. The Development and Dissemination of Council of Europe Policy on Education about Religions and Non-religious Convictions, Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion & Education. Jackson, R. forthcoming 2014b. “Signpost”’: Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-Religious Worldviews in Intercultural Education, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publications. Johannessen, K. I. 2000. Et Fag for enhver smak?: en evaluering av KRL-faget. Oslo: Diaforsk. Johannessen, Ø. L. 2009. “Sameness” as Norm and Challenge – Norwegian Teachers and Religous Diversity. In Teachers responding to Religious Diversity in Europe. Researching Biography and Pedagogy, eds. A. v. d. Want, C. Bakker, I. t. Avest, and J. Everington, 95 – 110. Münster : Waxmann. Jørgensen, C. S. 2014. Som du spør f”r du svar? En empirisk studie av skriving i religionsog livssynsfaget. Phd-avh., Trondheim: NTNU, Program for lærerutdanning. Klette, K., ed. 2003. Klasserommets praksisformer etter Reform 97. Oslo: Pedagogisk forskningsinstitutt. Kulturdepartementet. 2013. NOU 2013:1 Det livssyns”pne samfunn. En helhetlig tros- og livssynspolitikk. Oslo: Norges Offentlieg Utredninger. Leganger-Krogstad, H. 2011. The religious Dimension of Intercultural Education. Contributions to a Contextual Understanding. Vol. 14. Münster : LIT. Leirvik, O. 2003. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in Norway. Popular realities, political and religious responses, interfaith co-operation. Islamochristiana 29, 121 – 140. Lied, S. 2004. Elever og livstolkingspluralitet i KRL-faget: mellomtrinnselever i møte med fortellinger fra ulike religioner og livssyn. Dr. avh., Elverum: Høgskolen i Hedmark. Lied, S. 2007. Norsk religionspedagogisk forskning 1985 – 2005. Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift 107, no. 3: 163 – 195. Lied, S. 2009. The Norwegian Christianity, Religion and Philosophy subject KRL in Strasbourg. British Journal of Religious Education 31, no. 3: 263 – 276. Lied, S., A.Maksim, K.Sæthren, and S. Lykina. 2007. Kristne friskoler i en flerkulturell kontekst. Uppsala: Swedish Science Press. Lied, S. 2012. Studenter i forskning – ett svar p” utfordringer fra det flerkulturelle og livstolkingsplurale klasserommet. Vallset: Oplandske Bokforlag. Lippe, M. S. v. d. 2010. Youth, religion and Diversity. A qualitative study of young people’s talk about religion in a secualr and plural society. A Norwegian case. Stavanger : University of Stavanger.

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Modeer, K. æ. 2013. “Die Mauer der Trennung“ als Thema der Kirche und des Staates in den Nordischen Ländern. Religion – Staat – Gesellschaft 14, no. 1: 31 – 50. Nicolaisen, T. 2011. Corresponding Values and Colonising Discourses. Situating ‘Hindu Chikldren’ and their Values in relations to Hegmonic Norwegian Discourses about Religion British Journal of Religious Education 34, no. 3: 231 – 245. Nicolaisen, T. 2012. Hindubarn i grunnskolens religions- og livssynsundervisning. PhD, University of Oslo, Oslo. Nielsen, M.-B. O. 2012. Demokratikompetanse for den digitale offentliheten og det diskursive demokratiet? n analyse av skolens læreplaner i lys av utfordringene fra 22. juli. In Skolen, nasjonen og medborgaren, eds. T. Solhaug, K. Børhaug, O. S. Stugu, and O. K. Haualøkken, 127 – 154. Trondheim: Tapir akademisk forlag NOU. 1995. Opplæring i et flerkulturelt Norge: utredning fra et utvalg oppnevnt av Kirke-, utdannings- og forskningsdepartementet; avgitt februar 1995 elektronisk ressurs. Oslo: Statens forvaltningstjeneste, Seksjon statens trykning. Plesner, I. T. 2013. Religion and Education in Norway. In The Routledge International Handbook of Religious Education, eds. D. Davis and E. Miroshnikova, 243 – 250. London: Routledge. Riegel, U., and H.-G. Ziebertz. 2009. How teachers in Europe teach religion: an international empirical study in 16 countries Münster : LIT Verlag. Sagberg, S. 2001. Autensitet og undring. En drøfting av kristendommens plass i norsk barnehage i institusjonsetisk og personetisk sammenheng. Trondheim Tapir Akademisk Forlag. Schelderup, A., Ø. Olsholt, and B. Børresen. 1999. Filosofi i skolen. Oslo: Tano Aschehoug. Schiffauer, W., et al. 2004. Civil Enculturation: Nation State, School and Ethnic Difference in The Netherlands, Britain, Germany and France. New York: Berghahn Books. Schmidt, U. 2011. State, law and religon in Norway. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 24, no. 2: 137 – 153. Skeie, G. 2003. KRL – et fag p” frammarsj? In Norsk lærerutdanning : søkelys p” allmennlærerutdanningen i et reformperspektiv, eds. G. E. Karlsen and I. A. Kvalbein, 189 – 206. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Skeie, G. 2007. Religion and Education in Norway. In Religion and Education in Europe : Developments, Contexts and Debates, eds. R. Jackson, S. Miedema, W. Weisse, and J.-P. Willaime, 221 – 242. Münster : Waxmann. Skeie, G. 2009. Religions- og livssynsundervisning i Norge. Et historisk tilbakeblikk. In Religions- og livssynsdidaktikk: en innføring, ed. H. K. Sødal. 4th ed. 65 – 76. Kristiansand: Høyskoleforlaget. Skeie, G. 2011. Teachers and researchers cooperating to develop new knowledge for religious education. PANORAMA International Journal of Comparative Religious Education and Values 23, 92 – 105. Skoglund, R. I. 2008. Helklassesamtaler om livsspørsm”l. En kvalitativ studie i KRL-faget p” sm”skoletrinnet. Doktorgradsavhandling. Trondheim: NTNU. Skrefsrud, T.-A. 2011. æ være lærer i interkulturell kontekst. Om dialogens betydning ofr lærerkompetansen. PhD, NTNU, Trondheim. Telhaug, A. O. 1982. Norsk skoleutvikling etter 1945. Oslo: Didakta Norsk Forlag. Telhaug, A. O., and O. A. Medi”s. 2003. Grunnskolen som nasjonsbygger: fra statspietisme til nyliberalisme. Oslo: Abstrakt forlag.

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Telhaug, A. O., O. A. Medi”s, and P. Aasen. 2006. The Nordic Model in Education: Education as part of the political system in the last 50 years. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 50, no. 3: 245 – 283. The Royal Ministry of Education, R. a. C. A. 1997. Core curriculum for primary, secondary and adult education in Norway. Retrieved from http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/ smk/aktuelt/taler_og_artikler/statsministeren/statsminister_jens_stoltenberg/2011/ tale-ved-statsminister-jens-stoltenberg-.html?id=651789. Thorkildsen, D. 2012. The Role of the Church in Contemporary Norway : Changed Relations between State and Church. Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte 25, 271 – 292. Tønnessen, L. K. B. 2011. Norsk utdanningshistorie. En innføring med vekt p” grunnskolens utvikling. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. Vestøl, J. M. 2005. Relasjon og norm i etikkdidaktikken. Moralsk/etisk verktøybruk I spennet mellom elevtekster og fagdidaktiske framstillinger. Phd-avh., Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo, Det utdanningsvitenskapelige fakultet. Want, A. v. d., C. Bakker, I. t. Avest, and J. Everington, eds. 2009. Teachers responding to Religious Diversity in Europe. Researching Biography and Pedagogy. Münster : Waxmann. Winje, G. 2008. Lærebøkene i KRL – hva har skjedd p” ti ”r? Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift 109, no. 1: 72 – 87. Winsnes, O. G. 1988. E’ du rel’giøs, eller – ? om konseptualisering og metodologi i empirisk religionsforskning. Trondheim: Det historisk-filosofiske fakultet, Den allmennvitenskapelige høgskolen, Universitetet i Trondheim. Østberg, S. 2003. Pakistani children in Norway : Islamic nurture in a secular context. Leeds: Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds.

Christina Osbeck and Geir Skeie

Religious Education at Schools in Sweden

The possibility of making neutral statements is disputed and, instead, texts are regarded as situated. While reading and evaluating a text, the reader must therefore be given the possibility of taking the position of the author into account. Therefore, as our fellow authors in this anthology have done, we begin with a few words about our own backgrounds.1 Both of us have worked in teacher education and RE for quite a long time in Sweden and Norway. Osbeck is a senior lecturer, associate professor, at Gothenburg University and Skeie is a professor at Stockholm University. We are both on the steering committee of the National Association for Religious Education Research in Sweden and cooperate in a national research school for teachers of RE, based at Karlstad University. Osbeck has worked at Karlstad University for many years and has lately been working with research concerning social studies and religious education in compulsory school for children aged 10 – 12 years. She wrote her dissertation about the life understanding of teenagers and how bullying can be understood as a teaching tool among peers in order to shape a collective and “correct” life understanding, i. e. an understanding of how life works and of what gives life meaning and value. Osbeck has been active in making RE research available to teachers, both as an editor of the RE teachers’ journal in Sweden, “Religion & Livsfr”gor”, and for the Swedish National Agency of Education. Skeie has taught in teacher education and been involved in doctoral studies in the field of religious education for many years in Norway. He finished his theoretical study of the philosophy of religious education in 1998. After that he has also carried out empirical research, focusing on practice development and action research in particular. In addition to leading research projects in Norway and Sweden, he has cooperated extensively with researchers in other European

1 We thank colleagues who have helped us, including Björn Falkevall and Sven G. Hartman and, but they cannot be held responsible for the end result.

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countries, including the REDCo project.2 His main post since 2010 has been in Stockholm, but he also holds a position at the University of Stavanger, Norway.

1.

Socio-religious background

Swedish society has historically been characterised as being rather homogenous in terms of religious affiliation. One example of this is that, until 1951, it was in principle not permissible for Swedish citizens to terminate their membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden without becoming a member of another religious community. Even if it is quite different today, the Church of Sweden still dominates the religious scene and has a unique position in terms of legislation. About 79 % of the population – all together 9,6 million inhabitants – belongs to an organised religion and approximately 70 % are members of the Church of Sweden (P. Pettersson 2011).3 The Free Churches, which grew rapidly in the late 19th century, have today about 4 % of the total population as members. Islam is the largest non-Christian tradition with registered participation in organised enterprises at about 110,000 people. This is a slightly more than the number of Roman Catholics in Sweden (101,000) and slightly less than membership of the Orthodox or Eastern Churches (131,000). In 2009, Jewish communities had about 8,400 members/registered participants (The Swedish Commission for Government Support to Faith Communities and the Church of Sweden 2011). The actual number of persons with cultural links to a nonChristian religion has expanded greatly over the last 40 years due to immigration (including refugees). Estimates show that, in about 1970, the number of Muslim adherents was about 10,000 while this had increased to between 250,000 and 400,000 by the year 2,000, depending on the method of estimation used (Ouis 2011, 237). Another frequent characterisation of Sweden is that it is one of the most secular countries in the world. This is also partly correct, depending on how one defines “secular”. According to sociologists of religion, the influence of established religious institutions has gradually lost ground. The number of persons visiting religious services is also low, with about five percent of the inhabitants over 15 years-old doing so weekly. In Europe, only surveys from the Czech Republic have indicated a lower degree of participation (T. Pettersson 2011). On 2 Religion in Education. A contribution to Dialogue or a factor of Conflict in transforming societies of European Countries. EU funded FP6 project 2006 – 2009. 3 The statistics of Pettersson refer to data from 2009 SST (the Swedish Commission for Government Support to Faith Communities) and the Church of Sweden 2010. The proportion of inhabitants belonging to the Church of Sweden seems to be decreasing, however. Today, the percentage of membership is 68 (The Church of Sweden 2013).

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the other hand, an increased trust in religious institutions has been registered since the 1980s, and the number of people who often wonder about life questions is rising (T. Pettersson 2011, 36). Despite the low weekly attendance at services, it is quite common for people to participate in religious life rites. This partly contradictory pattern, with low service attendance and high life rites participation, is shared with other Nordic countries and is sometimes referred to as “the Nordic paradox” (Bäckström, Edgardh Beckman and Pettersson 2004).

2.

Legal Frameworks of RE and the relationship between religious communities and the state

Swedish schooling is governed by an Education Act, passed by parliament, (“Riksdagen”), and the curriculum, which draws on the Education Act is decided on by the government. This is also the case concerning the main parts of syllabuses.4 In the current curriculum of 2011, the syllabuses are divided into three different sections: aims, core content and knowledge requirements. Of these three sections, the government is responsible for the first two and the Swedish National Agency for Education for the third; knowledge requirements (Skolverket 2013a). Compulsory schooling, on which we focus in this article, is mandatory from the age of 7 to 16. The school system is managed by objectives which means that municipalities, primarily, are responsible for the enterprise, following certain objectives set and controlled by the state. There are also so-called “independent schools”, which constitute about 16 % of the total number of schools, including faith-based schools at about one per cent (Skolverket 2012a). No matter who organises the school, with only a few exceptions they all have to follow the same general framework. The current system can be interpreted as both rather decentralised, since so many of the everyday decisions are made by the heads of the schools, but also as quite centralised, since the control functions are rather extended and managed by the state on a national level. Control is exercised by two different agencies. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate checks that the municipalities or independent schools comply with legislation whereas the Swedish National Agency for Education has a broader responsibility, working with longterm statistics, evaluations and national school development, such as helping teachers to have continuous and close contact with research (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2010). 4 By “syllabus” we refer to the description of the specific subject area within the framework of the general curriculum. The syllabus contains aims, core content and knowledge requirements. The ‘curriculum’ covers the entire school teaching and learning.

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Religious education in Swedish upper secondary school consists of one obligatory course, often taught in the third and last year of study, the content mainly covering world religions and beliefs as well as ethics. In order to deepen knowledge there is an emphasis on contemporary religion and world-views, on the relationship between religion and science, and on intersectionality theory. All these issues are expected to be raised in relation to questions of identity. While several of the challenges we refer to in this chapter are also relevant for the upper secondary school, there has been much less research and less debate about this level of study. A national evaluation of teaching and learning in RE at upper secondary level in 2011 generally gave positive results (Skolinspektionen 2012). Critical remarks were made regarding lack of attention to students’ own perspectives and, in particular, to those with negative attitudes to the subject. A lack of planned development of teaching and learning was also noted. The National Agency for Education also has a responsibility for national knowledge assessments which, in compulsory schooling, are carried out through tests for children of 9, 12 and 15. These tests, developed in cooperation with universities, are set in most school subjects (including religious education for children 12 and 15) and are supposed to draw directly on the knowledge requirements found in the syllabuses, i. e. what also is called “learning outcomes”. In turn, the requirements are related to the abilities stated in the aim section and core content of the syllabuses. In RE, the abilities are: to analyse religions and other outlooks on life, to analyse how religions affect and are affected by society, to reflect upon life issues and identity, to reason and discuss moral issues and values based on ethical concepts and models and, also, to search for information about religions and other outlooks on life and to evaluate the relevance and credibility of such sources. The core content of the subject has four headings: “Religions and other outlooks on life”, “Religion and society”, “Identity and life issues” and “Ethics” (National Agency for Education 2011, 178 – 180). After nine years of compulsory schooling, pupils will have had about 220 lessons in RE, meaning slightly more than one lesson once a fortnight, or 0.6 lessons per week (Skolverket 2011).

3.

Developments in the country’s education policies

When compulsory schooling was introduced in 1842, teaching in the Evangelical Lutheran Christian tradition was an important part of whole-school activities. School was looked upon as a preparation for confirmation (Alm¦n 2000b, 75). Gradually, broader knowledge was considered relevant for all citizens and became more important. In 1919, Martin Luther’s catechism was abandoned as teaching material and, from that year, school teaching in Sweden lost its Lu-

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theran confessional character, even though it had a general Christian basis (Cöster 1986, 107; Hartman 2010, 28). These and other historical issues have been investigated in a historical perspective, but not to a large extent (Algotsson 1975, Larsson 2006). In 1962, big changes were carried through in the Swedish compulsory school system. First, the school system was transformed so that it was no longer possible to choose between different kinds of education. All children had to attend the same school system (Richardson 2004, 122). Second, teaching of the school subject “Knowledge of Christianity” was to be carried out in an objective and informative way. It should not only provide information about Christianity and other (non-Christian) religions but also “develop knowledge about the movements that have questioned the truth of religious convictions” (Ecklesiastikdepartementet 1962, 1336). As a consequence of this new direction, the title of the subject also changed: the 1969 curriculum used the heading “Knowledge of Religions”. The subject had the two aims of “learning about” and “learning from” religion (cf. Grimmitt 1987), and this has largely been the character of the subject since that time (see below). After World War II, many of those reporting about the development of the Swedish school system have stressed a child-centred education with used democratic working methods (see e. g. Hartman 2012; Friman et al. 1985; Richardson 2004). Moving away from authoritarian ways of teaching was considered a goal in itself. Thus, working methods became more important and basic knowledge less so. As the previous parallel school system with its two main tracks of different kinds of education was phased out in the beginning of the sixties, turning into one system for all, those espousing progressive education considered it to be a great victory. The aims and visions of the new compulsory school system could be understood as “a school for all” focussing on “the common good” (Hartman 2012, 81). This progressive education policy was met with increasing criticism critique in public debate and, particularly in the last twenty years, the focus of this debate has been on declining school achievement and increasing differences between pupils. The reasons for this negative development have been disputed. One, especially argued by liberals and conservatives, has been that the school has lost sight of its central aim, namely, teaching and learning basic knowledge. From this perspective, schools have been depicted as social democratic, progressive and ‘woolly’ institutions in which anything goes. A similar critique has also come from other political positions, including researchers of a more leftist strand. They have argued that those pupils who primarily have access to basic knowledge through school are the biggest losers when school gives priority to know-how-to-get information, focusing on working methods and personal de-

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velopment rather than knowledge. This decreases the possibility of these pupils using the school as an instrument for social mobility (see e. g. Frykman 1998). The decreasing achievement levels of Swedish schools have connected with large system changes in education over the last twenty years. Among the most important of these changes have been the decentralising of educational authority, the removal of centralised bureaucracy, and the development of independent schools. This decentralisation has meant that municipalities were given more responsibility for primary, secondary and upper secondary education and also became the employer of teachers. From the start, this was strongly criticised by the teachers themselves who saw an increased focus on local school development and organisation instead of trust in them as independent professionals and experts in their subjects (Ringarp 2008). Also, economic differences between municipalities became more crucial for the conditions of schools. The closing down of the central national control and development-directed agency for education (“Skolöverstyrelsen”) meant that certain types of practicerelated research suffered and also that control institutions for safeguarding quality in teaching material were disbanded. Finally, a total change in policy towards independent schools at the beginning of the 80s had already considerably affected the landscape of Swedish schools, and continues to do so (see below). Today, the government struggles to improve the poor achievement documented by national and international testing and also with how to compensate for the weaknesses of a decentralised system, thus trying to regain control. This has led to the gradual rebuilding of parts of the former state educational bureaucracy. One method has been to require a certificate for teaching issued by the National Agency for Education. Amongst other things, the certification makes clear in which subject and for what age-group a teacher can work. A successful probationary year is also required (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2012). Another measure is national knowledge assessment tests. We do not know what these changes will mean for RE. It has been an ongoing issue that teachers without sufficient education in the subject have taught RE. It has also been noted several times how the subject, due to the practice of placing it within the interdisciplinary field of Social Studies, has tended to be forgotten and has therefore not received the required lesson hours. With national tests also introduced in RE, such issues cannot go unnoticed any longer. On the other hand, we know that more teaching hours and increased achievement do not necessary mean more meaningful and relevant teaching and learning (cf. Conroy, Lundie and Baumfield 2012). The discussion is complex and perspectives should be seen as dialectical rather than dualistic. The choice cannot simply be between a democratic school for all with healthy pupils and a school providing basic knowledge of a high standard: there is a need for both. It is important to

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keep in mind the question which Sven Hartman formulated (with the help of Matthew’s Gospel): “What will it profit a school if it achieves the best in the whole world, but forfeits its soul?” (2012, 128, translation by Osbeck/Skeie). But, in a society that strives for greater equality, social justice, respect for the uniqueness of each person as well as human dignity, school must make provision for all souls to speak and to be heard. In this process, school must also provide recognised means which among others mean basic knowledge.

4.

Role of religiously sponsored schools, including changes and developments, legal relationships

When the possibility of running schools with an independent responsible authority was created at the beginning of the nineties, the intention was not to support segregation of any kind. The arguments were more about increased positive competition, diversity and the possibility for children and parents to choose the education best suited to them. It was argued that an equal education does not have to mean similar in all respects (Francia 2007). The free choice of school was seen as opening more opportunities for parents and children in deprived areas. The reform could thereby counteract differences in the quality of school provision due to segregation in life outside of school. Market logic was also present in the arguments for the new policy by claiming that competition would force the municipalities to increase the priority of education including development of better practice. Before 1992, the only possibility for non-public schools teaching at the compulsory level (grades 1 – 9) to gain public support was if they had an alternative pedagogy such as Montessori or Valdorf (Richardson 2004, 169). Despite this, three faith-based schools also existed in Sweden before the nineties: two Christian and one Jewish (Sporre, in press). In 1992 the new law for funding of schools with an independent responsible authority came into force and from 2011 independent schools received the same funding as ordinary public schools.5 From this point, they were allowed to make profit, but not to charge parents for tuition. This arrangement, through which schools with education providers not belonging to the public sector get 100 % funding , is rather unusual in an international perspective (cf. Sporre, in print). Among other things, it means that a faith-based school in Sweden does not need to be financed by a religious community. In order to get public funding, the independent school must apply to and be evaluated and approved by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. The municipality shall also give its pronounce5 See: http://www.skolinspektionen.se/sv/tillstandsprovning/starta-fristaende-skola/bidragtill-fristaende-skolor/

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ment (Skolinspektionen 2012), which does not always go in the same direction as the national authority (Gustavsson 2007). The number of independent schools at compulsory schooling level has gradually increased from 217 schools in the academic year 1994/1995 (Richardsson 2004, 171) to 790 in 2012/2013 (Skolverket 2013b). The number of confessional schools has also expanded, though not as much. In the academic year 1994/1995, there were 45 such schools (Richardsson) rising to 69 in the year 2012/2013 (Skolverket). In the Education Act of 2010, the wording that regulated in what way independent schools could be confessional was sharpened. The law distinguished between “education” (“utbildning”) and “teaching” (“undervisning”) and stated that education could be confessional, but not the teaching. Teaching is defined as “goal-steered processes which, under the leadership of a teacher, aims at development and learning through acquiring and developing knowledge and values” (Skolverket, 2012b, translation by Osbeck/Skeie). Education is understood as a wider concept which can include activities at breaks, outings etc. and in a confessional school it can mean activities outside teaching that include devotion, praying or other deepening perspectives based on a certain confession. That teaching must be non-confessional means that it must rest on a scientific basis and be conducted in a versatile and matter-of-fact manner. No education is allowed to contradict the fundamental values of the curriculum and confessional elements cannot be compulsory. There must be openness to divergent opinions, tolerance and possibilities for personal standpoints to be adopted. The debate about independent schools has been continuous since the introduction of this policy in the nineties. The same is the case with faith-based schools. In summaries of arguments for and against faith-based schools, many opinions seem to recur (Johansson 1999; Berglund 2007; Sporre in press). One point of view is that perspectives are deeply related to the question of how one understands public and private spheres, and how education and religion is understood in relation to this (cf. Englund 1996; 107; Berglund and Larsson 2011, 11; Roth 2011). One argument in favour of faith-based school has been that these schools are better in satisfying the particular needs of certain groups, particularly since factors of religion, language, culture and ethnicity often seem to be intertwined (e. g. Peste 2007). We know that there has been dissatisfaction with the way in which some municipality schools have handled religion-related practical issues. Interviews with parents in Muslim schools show that municipal schools sometimes have not offered adequate possibilities for following rules about food, clothing, prayers, nakedness, and fasting. Negative attitudes towards Islam have also been voiced, pupils have had difficulties in making themselves understood, and there has been a lack of discipline in the classroom (Berglund 2007, 91). Such experiences have led some families to choose a Muslim school

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instead of the local municipal one (e. g. Johansson 1999; Berglund and Larsson 2007; Berglund 2007, 96). Another argument in favour of faith-based schools is that religious identity has better possibilities for developing in a faith-based school. If this is seen as an the overarching issue, other issues are subordinated to it, e. g. how strong children’s religious identity has to be in order to participate in multi-religious education (Peste 2011), and if specialised knowledge of a tradition is a prerequisite for responding independently to the tradition later on (Hyr¦n 2013). One may also ask whether integration is better developed in a context where the task of integration is on the agenda explicitly, i. e. the understanding of being a Swedish Muslim (Berglund 2007; Berglund 2009, Johansson 1999). Finally, visually representing diversity, especially religious diversity, can be seen as a goal in itself, which is exactly what the presence of faithbased schools does. The most common argument against faith-based schools and even independent schools in general, is that they contribute to segregation and undermine the notion of compulsory schooling as a melting pot where everybody and every perspective meet and learn to get along together (Johansson 1999; Sporre, in press; Roth 2007). This position can in itself be understood as originating from “the logic of Swedish integration”, understood as “one school for all” (Alm¦n 1999, 2000b). Other objections have been that, compared to public schools, the teaching generally may be of poorer quality, an idea related to the point of view that some faith-based schools can have a concentration of pupils with socio-economic or other difficulties. Also, worries are related to the possibility that the fundamental values of a religious tradition might contradict the fundamental values of Swedish society as expressed in the curriculum. Here, the discussions have been of different kinds. As reported by Roth (2011), some have put forward general and rather vague claims regarding possible human rights violations such as child abuse, intolerance and manipulation. These kinds of claims statement have been criticised e. g. for drawing on a notion that religious people are different from, or worse than, other kinds of people (Peste 2011). But, this critique has also been more specific, identifying certain traits within religious traditions which might be problematic. Here, the questions of authority versus individual autonomy have been researched by discussing children’s rights vis-—-vis parental rights (Gerle 1999; Sporre, in press). It is possible to interpret some of the new wording of the Education Act 2011 and its official interpretations (Skolverket 2012b) as a way of counteracting some of the problematic issues raised in public debate: “Basic democratic values and human rights which are fundamental to school values apply equally to those which are confessional in character.” (Skolverket 2012b, 5, translation Osbeck/ Skeie). This seems to imply that there is a danger of confessional schools not conforming with democracy and human rights. Another strategy has been to

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make the formerly mentioned distinction between education and teaching. It will be interesting to see whether this distinction turns out to be more fuzzy in practice than in a written document. One can imagine that the distinction may even be interpreted as a threat against the very heart of the educational idea of a faith based-school, e. g. the vision that the religious tradition should permeate every aspect of life. According to the headmaster Yvonne Löfgren, the reason for the school to exist and to develop an education is a wish that there shall be schools in which fundamental Christian values shape the teaching, so that, among others, a Christian comprehensive view of human beings as spirit, body and soul will inspire the children to a good selfimage. (Aldrin 2007, 166 f).

5.

Conceptions and tasks of RE

Even if the knowledge field and school subject internationally is referred to as ‘religious education’ (RE), the actual name of the school subject in Sweden is better translated as “knowledge of religion”. This has been the name since 1969 with the exception of the curriculum of 1980 which had the extensive headline “Life questions and existential questions of human beings; knowledge of religion”. Even in this period, the short name (knowledge of religion) was often used. Despite consistency in terms of name, the title can be misleading in more than one sense. First, it can be understood as meaning that the subject is more dominated by an informative and detached perspective than it actually has been. Second, it may give the idea that world religions are the only objects of learning. In reality, ethics, world-views and life questions have been important parts of the subject content all along. In order to understand Swedish RE, it is important to remember that this objective and pluralistic subject was shaped in the sixties, a period when Swedish society still had little experience of religious plurality, but a strong presence of what today would be termed a “secularist” critique of religion. Ingemar Hedenius – professor in practical philosophy in Uppsala 1947 – 73 – was particularly influential in raising a debate about religion, life views, faith and science (Lindfeldt 2003, 46 ff.; Skogar 1993, 234). To have a focus on “life questions” in religious education can be seen as a response to this debate, since it suggested that there could be common ground for teaching about religion. The idea was that all people struggle with the “eternal questions” but they may find different answers. With a focus on life questions and seeing religious education as dealing with existential questions, the introduction to worldviews and religions was given a universal, anthropological underpinning, which did not have to rely on any postulates about the origin of religion. This approach was also consistent

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with the non-authoritarian and non-dogmatic perspectives permeating national education after World War II and fitted well with the child-oriented pedagogy of the times (Dahlin 1998, 47). Even if the life-questions approach dominated RE debate for many years, it was never fully developed into a comprehensive programme and was not codified in a distinct text which captured a possible “Swedish” model of RE. In retrospect, this is surprising and is an issue for closer investigation. Instead, much Swedish RE discourse has been in dialogue with English RE and, in some cases, developments in both countries appeared parallel. This said, it is up for discussion whether a life questions approach really permeated Swedish RE practice and discourse. Empirical studies over a long period, both at the beginning of the change and quite recently, have shown that pupils tend to be interested in life questions but not that much in RE (Skolöverstyrelsen, 1969; Jönsson and Liljefors Persson 2006). The life questions approach has also received critical comment. The main objection has been that this perspective can give a twisted understanding both of what a religious tradition is and how life questions aise. If life questions emanate from a person’s sociocultural context (e. g. Säljö, 2000), this means that religious traditions are not only or primarily answers, but can rather be seen as sources of life questions (e. g. Alm¦n 2000a, 181; Dahlin 1989, 28; Dahlin 1998, 49; Grimmitt 1987, 138 f.; Hull 1998, 38). If traditions are seen only as being answers, the life interpretation process risks being made shallow or instrumental, the individual’s relation to religions being depicted as that of making rational choices between products (Benktson 1986, 13; Jackson 1997, 130). It has also been argued that many religious individuals believe that wondering do not necessarily have final answers and that their own process of reflection can therefore be seen as a goal in itself and can be experienced as being meaningful (cf. Alm¦n 2000a, 182; Dahlin 1998, 51; Selander 1993, 62). So, what is the status of life questions in the syllabus of today? In the current syllabus, life questions (“livsfr”gor”) or “life issues” as the official English translation runs, is one of four focused themes in the core content. A widespread interpretation is that the subject has become more descriptively-analytically oriented, with less emphasis on existential perspectives than before. The Swedish RE curriculum expert, Sven-æke Selander, has described this change as a move from focusing ultimate questions, ethics, and reflection towards a focus on society, knowledge, and analysis (2011). According to the core content, it is the depictions of life questions that are the focus of teaching, not the life questions of pupils themselves: “How different life issues, such as what is important in life and what it means to be a good friend, are depicted in popular culture” (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2011, 178). The shift towards a more descriptive, analytical perspective is most pronounced in the

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“knowledge requirements” and “core content” sections. In the section about aims, however, one can still find sentences that stress the importance of personal involvement and interpretation.

d

Teaching should encourage pupils to reflect upon various issues concerning life, their identity and their ethical attitudes. In this way, teaching should create the conditions for pupils to develop a personal attitude to life and an understanding of how they and others are thinking and living. […] Pupils should, in addition, be equipped to analyse and determine their standpoint on ethical and moral questions. […] It should also contribute to pupils developing their capacity to act responsibly in relation to them selves and their surroundings. (176)

In summary, it can be said that the RE syllabus still stresses both a ‘learning about’ and a ‘learning from’ perspective. How this change is interpreted depends partly on how different parts of the syllabus are balanced and partly on how this is seen in the context of the curriculum at large.

6.

Practice and reality of RE in different schools

In order to get a picture of achievement levels in RE, the government has recently established national testing as in other school subjects which have a longer tradition of this. This practice also has links back to the national evaluations that began in the 1990s and in which RE was a part. The last national evaluation of RE in primary and secondary education was conducted in 2003 (Jönsson and Liljefors-Persson 2006), and took as its starting point the divisions of the RE syllabus at that time (The Swedish National Agency for Education 1999). The three areas of knowledge, similar to those of today, were: “Issues concerning life and its interpretation”, “Ethics” and “Belief and tradition”. The evaluation showed how pupils generally were very interested in life questions and were regularly thinking about issues of life. The three most frequent life questions concerned the world and its future, the meaning of life, and what happens when one dies. These life questions were often or sometimes part of the thinking of 78, 69 and 70 % of the respondents respectively. At the same time, life questions did not seem to be much on the teaching agenda. Less than 40 % of the pupils stated that they had discussed these three most popular life questions during lessons. Concerning the meaning of life, about 42 % of the respondents stated that they wanted to discuss the issue in class but only 20 % maintained that they had done so. Regarding questions related to the knowledge area “belief and tradition”, knowledge about Christian festivals was better than festivals in Islam. About

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90 % of the respondents were able to connect Easter and Christmas with Christianity while about 65 % could link Ramadan with Islam. 13 % gave correct answers concerning the meaning of Ramadan and 7 % of the respondents gave the right answer when asked to give an example of a religious story that showed how one is supposed to act towards other people. In order to measure ethical competence, pupils were given tasks where they had to value different alternatives and give reasons for their answers. The authors were especially interested in their values in relation to democratic values stated in the overall curriculum. One finding was that solidarity seemed to be a value of less importance for the respondents of 2003 than it was for the respondents of 1992 (see e. g., 37, 41). Another finding was that it was difficult for pupils to argue in relation to ethical issues. This was in line with previous evaluations which showed that it was harder for pupils to give reasons for a statement than it was to make an utterance in favour of democratic values (Skolverket 1993, 174). The general impression coming from the evaluation was not very satisfactory and seemed to indicate that a significant amount of teaching was not up to standard.

7.

Observations on alternative subjects / learning areas like ethics, philosophy etc.

While ethics and, to some extent philosophy, are included in the primary and secondary subject of RE, the importance of values are also emphasised in general education policy. The fundamental values promoted are formulated as “the inviolability of human life, individual freedom and integrity, the equal value of all people, equality between women and men, and solidarity with the weak and vulnerable” (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2011, 9). Much discussion about Swedish school policy, curriculum and practice take these values as the starting point in that they are expected to permeate educational practice and the school as a community. For schools, it is sometimes difficult to document how they are promoting values. This is one of many reasons for the development over the last 10 – 15 years of more distinct lesson-based work with issues related to values, through “life competencies education” (also called “life skills education”, in Swedish; “livskunskap”) (Lööf 2011, Aldenmyr 2014). This covers a multitude of educational practices from creative arts to meditation and mindfulness training, anti-bullying programmes, drugs and alcohol education, sex education and other programmes overlapping with health education, such as those for improving mental health or pastoral care for students. Many of these manual-based programmes are supplied by external providers, including both

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commercial and research-based ones. Some also have religious connotations, mainly in relation to Buddhism and also, to some extent, Hinduism. Similar programmes exist in many countries and are spreading internationally. Nevertheless, the Swedish situation is probably special in the sense that much of this has been put under the same umbrella label of “livskunskap” which, up to very recently, seems to have been nationally known and practiced, and therefore understood. The justification for the introduction of “livskunskap” is mainly drawn from the foundational values, but also from health education and, more generally, by reference to personal growth and the improvement of social relations in the classroom. The relevance of this for religious education is that many of the issues touched on by “livskunskap” can also be seen as relevant for religious education, but the two are hardly ever discussed in relation to each other. It is also interesting that the quasi-subject of “livskunskap” has such an influence in spite of no acknowledged knowledge base, no curriculum and hardly any designated teacher training in academic institutions. The actual practicing of “livskunskap” has gradually been investigated through research and one critical perspective has drawn on the international debate about the “therapeutisation of education”, arguing that ethical and political issues are being replaced by an individualistic health perspective (Aldenmyr 2012). The slowly growing research into these issues in Sweden, as well associated public debate, may have relevance for other countries in years to come. It raises issues about the place and role of values in education, the role of external providers of services dealing with core aims of the school, and the use of “religious techniques” like meditation and yoga in socially and culturally diverse classrooms, and so on.

8.

Dealing with religious diversity

There is a clear intention in Swedish schools that the entire educational enterprise, as well as teaching in specific subject areas, should contribute to an understanding of Sweden as a diverse society. An internationalist perspective is expected to permeate all teaching, through which pupils become “able to understand” their “own reality in a global context” as well as developing “an understanding of cultural diversity within the country” (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2011, 12). The curriculum also states that, “The school is a social and cultural meeting place with both the opportunity and the responsibility to strengthen this ability [i.e. to understand and empathise with the values and conditions of others] among all who work there.” (9). The syllabus of religious education also stresses that, “In today’s society, characterised by diversity,

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knowledge of religions and other outlooks on life is important in creating mutual understanding between people.” (176). The kinds of challenge that this creates in practice can be different, depending on the context in which cultural and religious meetings take place. Sometimes, the ability of teachers to find workable solutions is criticised for being too generous, thereby being unprofessional: regarding physical education, for instance, (Högdin 2007; Sjögren 2011). Certain issues get more attention than others, as when the Swedish National Agency of Education criticised a school for having a general prohibition against headwear. This affected the possibility of wearing headscarves and the National Agency for Education made it clear that the law did not allow schools to prohibit headscarves altogether. But, even so, it was stated that there are cases when certain clothing is legally prohibited – even if the clothing is of an ethnic or religious character – namely, if the clothing would significantly interfere with communication between teacher and pupil, or would be a safety risk (e. g. in laboratories) (Skolverket 2012c). The ambition of educating towards an understanding of Sweden as a diverse and multi-religious society is challenged by the fact that different local communities are not diverse to the same degree. Because of geographical and socioeconomic segregation there are many schools in which Swedish society appears to pupils as being more mono-cultural and mono-religious than multi-cultural and multi-religious. This creates certain challenges for the RE teacher about how to work with a religiously plural educational model. The difficulty can be observed in almost all mono-religious classes where at least two overarching phenomena have been identified; namely, physical representation and the “wethem divide” (Osbeck 2012). The persons physically present in the classroom as well as local contextualisation of RE belong to the first category. The actual presence of persons affects the hegemonic speech genre of the classroom, to which, for instance, the way of constructing certain understandings of “we” and “them” belongs. The habit of talking about non-Christian religions as “other” religions to which other people relate, does not help to develop a sense of Sweden as a multi-religious society. When it comes to creating multi-religious awareness, the wish to be as concrete as possible and to place teaching as close as possible to pupils’ experiences, will appear as a challenge in almost all monoreligious areas. In addition to this, other more specific phenomena have been pointed out which make the ambition of creating multi-religious awareness difficult: like pupils’ pre-understanding, teaching traditions, and the nature of teaching material. Pupils’ previous knowledge of non-Christian religions may be limited, but the teacher may also think that their knowledge is more limited than it actually is. The kinds of question which a teacher asks may also be formulated in a way that suggests lack of knowledge rather than understanding. When the teacher

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presupposes lack of knowledge, he or she contributes to constructing a notion of non-Christian religions as distanced and unfamiliar. Teaching traditions may also contribute to this. World religions have often not been part of the taught RE curriculum until the sixth grade, i. e. for 12-year-olds. Also, world religions may sometimes have been included in work on a global world in geography which, in turn, masks Sweden as a multi-religious country. Even teaching material, like text books and films, can have a character that contributes to this, as when: outdated textbooks do not show a multi-religious society ; present religions as separate, thereby not showing the phenomenon of inter-religious meetings; phenomenological presentations provide insufficient contextualisation; and when presentations of non-Christian traditions picture these as located outside Sweden. All these elements contribute to making the image of Sweden as a multireligious society unclear, irrespective of the Swedish model of RE which stresses the importance of a pluralistic form of RE.

9.

Religion in schools outside of RE

A consequence of the fact that Swedish state schools are non-confessional is that no religious activities can be organised by the school, either in RE classrooms or elsewhere.6 Since the Swedish school has been non-confessional, at least since 1962, it might come as a surprise to learn that certain more or less religious activities have been going on for quite some time, almost without objection. Traditionally, the last meeting of a school before summer has taken place in the local Church of Sweden church. This ceremony has often been led by a priest and includes elements that are part of regular church services. There has also been a tradition in many schools of letting the local parish invite the school to a service just before Advent or another main Christian festival. Only in the last few years have such practices been a focus of public debate and the Swedish National Agency for Education has made clear that these practises are not in line with the non-confessional character of a school (e. g. Skolverket 2012d). An end of a term gathering can take place in a church, but only if religious elements such as “praying, blessing or expressions of the creed” do not occur (Skolverket 2012d). In some cases when schools have still continued with ceremonies of a religious kind, the school has been reported to the Swedish Schools Inspectorate which has criticised municipalities for not fol6 That religious activity is not allowed in schools does not mean that pupils do not meet discussions about religion in places other than RE classrooms. We know that religion is a quite often a theme in natural sciences, especially in learning about evolutionary theory (von Brömssen 2012; Olsson 2012) and also in conversations between pupils (von Brömssen 2003, 2012).

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lowing the regulations. A review of specific cases which have been criticised (e. g. Skolinspektionen 2011) shows that the inspectorate’s demarcation line between a general (school) ceremony and religious worship has had to be drawn in each separate case. It may be that some acts are not in themselves seen as religious but, in combination with others, can be considered as giving the ceremony a religious character. In some cases, representatives of the local churches have reacted negatively to these new conditions for cooperation with schools since they see approved versions of the ceremony as not having any meaningful place in a church context and making it, therefore, impossible for them to fulfil their professional duties (see e. g. Hindersson 2012; Sverker 2013). The discussions regarding schools having Advent celebrations seem to have sharpened the problems even more since the reason for gathering was, in itself, already religious, i. e. related to Christianity.7 When the Swedish National Agency for Education stated that it is only possible to have an Advent gathering if the priest does not communicate any religious message, the paradox became apparent. One curriculum-based argument that has been used is that the Advent festival is relevant to the school because pupils should be socialised into becoming responsible and well-functioning citizens: “In partnership with the home, the school should promote the all-round personal development of pupils into active, creative, competent and responsible individuals and citizens. […] In a deeper sense education and upbringing involve developing and passing on a cultural heritage – values, traditions, language, knowledge – from one generation to the next. […] The school has the task of imparting fundamental values and promoting pupils’ learning in order to prepare them to live and work in society.” (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2011, 11). National holidays are supposed to bring the whole population together, not only in an informative way but also practically and experientially. What surfaces in this case is that Swedish holidays are, to a large extent, based on the Christian tradition. The dilemma of the school resides in its obligation to socialise into national traditions and competences which are to a certain extent confessional, while, at the same time, not being confessional. It may well be that this points towards a deeper dilemma in Swedish society itself, with references back to the homoge7 The temperature of the debate increased significantly just before Advent 2012 when the new guidelines, declarations of the meaning of school law, were published (Skolverket 2012d). The leaders of the Swedish National Agency wrote an article which was published in the largest Swedish newspaper (Ekström and Aggebo 2012). The headline, presumably written by the editor of the newspaper, was “God is not allowed to be present when a school gather in a church”. The article, together with the interpretations of school law, created much debate and a petition was gathered which collected over 80,000 names. The first sentence of the petition was “A church without God is unthinkable”. The petition demanded an investigation and rewriting of school law. The Minister of Education has now given directions about how such a review is to be carried out (Gudmundhs 2012; Dagens Nyheter 2012).

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nous religious character of the nation’s past. A practical solution to such problems is to have only secular holidays or to institute a more diverse calendar of holidays. This is sometimes suggested, but has not received much support in public debate (see e. g. Olsson 2011; Weiderud 2011). Irrespective of how this is resolved, it shows how difficult it is to draw strict demarcation lines between the “religious” and the “secular” in school as well as in society at large. On-going church presence in schools While representatives of the state, schools and religious communities – mainly the Church of Sweden – discuss traditional and rather limited forms of cooperation, there are local attempts to expand cooperation. The intention of the Church of Sweden can be seen as an expression of both Christian diaconical and missionary ethos (Svenska kyrkan 2013), but the offer to cooperate can also be interpreted as a resource for schools. A priest cooperating with a school, for instance: can be a guest in lessons in order to answer questions; can offer themedays with a focus, for instance, on body and soul, diversity and dialogue, equality, human rights, ethics, respect and responsibility ; can offer individual dialogue with personnel and pupils as well as working with the school’s crisis group or health team (Davidsson 2008). It might be difficult, though, for religious groups with less resources than the Church of Sweden to cooperate to the same degree. From the perspective of pupils and parents, this may cause some imbalance. It is not uncommon, for instance, for a priest to be part of a local school’s crisis team, but representatives of other traditions are seldom to be found in such groups. In light of the strict regulations concerning end-of-term services being non-religious, this may seem a little strange.

10.

Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, priorities issues

There have traditionally been two different routes into teacher education for compulsory school level (grades 1 – 9). Teacher education for children between seven and 12 years-old has its roots in profession-oriented teaching training colleges while teacher education for older children had its roots in subjectoriented university education. In earlier times, it was even possible to gain access to the former without examination passes from gymnasium (upper secondary level). Nevertheless, the achievement level necessary to gain admission to teacher education was generally high, students having very good grades and going through special tests for assessing individual talent. As part of educational reforms at the end of the 1970s, teaching training

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colleges were placed under the university umbrella. At the end of the 1980s, the two different traditions were brought even closer together in a new system of overlapping teacher education for compulsory school levels. The two main alternatives were called “lower level teacher” (preparation for teaching in grades 1 – 7) and “higher level teacher” (preparation for teaching in grades 4 – 9). This reform led to a situation in which teachers were less specialised in teaching at a certain age level, while the subject skills of “the lower level teacher” were meant to be improved. For teachers teaching in grade 7 – 9, the reform also led to a decrease in subject skills. In earlier school years, the reform was supposed to mean more subject knowledge (mathematics /natural science or Swedish/social sciences) but, since the change was not combined with a school reform, the newly-trained teachers for younger children had, in many cases, to work with all subject areas despite their more specialised and subject-oriented teacher education (cf. e. g. Hartman 2012). In practice, then, this could mean a general lessening of subject skills within the school system. During the last twenty years, further school reforms have led to more specialisation regarding age and subject (in higher grades). Teacher education is now closer to the way in which schools organise their division of labour. The recent regulations concerning teacher certification have led to a further requirement after the formal examination has been taken: the successful completion of a probationary year (The Swedish National Agency for Education 2012). The new framework has been created in order to improve teaching quality in schools as well as the status of being a teacher. Despite these policies, still too few people apply for teacher education in relation to the demand and the admission grades from the gymnasium now seem to be almost as low as they could be (Örstadius 2013). All teacher education, regardless of its intended age group, is today made up of the following three elements: studies in subjects and didactics of those subjects, general educational studies, and practical education (in-service training), mostly carried out in schools. The overarching aim is to gain the knowledge and abilities that are required in order to work independently as a teacher at the relevant level of compulsory schooling. This is expected to include knowledge of the state of research and developmental work relevant for the work as a teacher, as well as knowledge of research theory and methods as such (Svensk författningssamling 1993, 100). The new Education Act of 2010 emphasised that the teaching should be founded on a combination of a “scientific basis and reliable experience“ (Svensk författningssamling 2010, 800), a formulation that has drawn much attention. To have a degree for teaching younger children in pre-school classes (6 yearsold, one year duration) and in grades 1 – 3 (7 – 9-years old), the current model demands that one needs to have taken an educational course designed for this

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age group. This course lasts for four years. 2.25 of these years are directed to subject studies in which the study-time for some subjects has been guaranteed. This means that the time available for a study of RE can be about six full weeks at the most. In practice, this is seldom the case. At the university of Gothenburg, for instance, the four “Social Study subjects” (religion, history, geography and civics) share ten weeks in all. If you specialise at school grades 4 – 6 (10 – 12 yearsold), you choose whether you want to direct your studies towards natural science, social science or practical-aesthetic subjects. These specialised studies last for a semester (20 weeks). If students choose to specialise in social studies, it is likely that they or will study RE for about five full weeks. Students who are going to work with pupils in grades 7 – 9 (13 – 15 years-old) have a longer educational course, lasting four and a half years in all. They specialise in three subjects which are subsequently studied for 1.5 years, 0.75 years and 0.75 years. This framework is not the only tool that shapes education and, since the regulation is rather loose concerning teacher education, the variation can be great. There is currently no survey available of how teacher education in Sweden is conducted in practice. It would be interesting to know more about, for instance, what the content of RE studies is and what the balance between subject studies and subject didactical studies looks like. It would also be interesting to know more about the question of how the balance between research based knowledge and knowledge based on reliable practical experience is managed in the different universities. When launching the new system of teacher education in 2011, the Ministry of Education took steps to gain more control. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education was given the task of reviewing each course that the universities planned to put on for teacher education in order to see whether they were of the required quality. The process was quite rigorous in that only 32 of 59 applications for conducting teacher education (up to school year 6) were approved in the first round. This can be taken as an illustration of how parallel processes are on-going at different levels in education. There is a drive to raise achievement in Swedish schools through more central control of what has become a quite decentralised Swedish educational system.

11.

Empirical research concerning RE

While there is much material regarding the purpose of the Swedish subject of RE, the practice of the subject is much less well documented, there being a particular lack of empirical classroom research. An analytic description of Swedish RE research can differentiate this along a timeline-based series of phases: some research pays attention to activities that can be described as “before” an imag-

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ined learning process, other research focuses on what is going on “in” learning processes and, finally, some research on what is happening “after” (Osbeck 2006). The “before”-research focuses on things like planning processes and prerequisites for learning, while research focusing on the teaching and learning process itself (“in”) refers to on-going processes such as classroom communication. Finally, the research with its main emphasis on issues arising “after” the learning process refers to questions about outcomes, effects and, more generally, evaluative processes of different kinds. Applying this analytical differentiation, it becomes clear that Swedish RE research has mainly focused on phenomena relating to the “before” learning processes phase. Research texts have frequently concentrated on the aim of the subject or the existential perspectives of pupils, though some text-book studies do also exist. On the other hand, there are few evaluative studies, relating to the “after” -learning processes phase. This analysis makes it clear that the main lacuna is related to empirical studies of the teaching and learning process itself. In recent years, studies of pupils seem to have decreased while a few teacher studies and studies of teacher training have taken place (Osbeck 2009; Osbeck and Pettersson 2009; Falkevall 2010). A few studies of on-going learning processes relating to RE have been conducted, though, unfortunately, not explicitly regarding teaching and learning of RE in the compulsory years of schooling (Risenfors 2011; Berglund 2009). Texts dealing with the aims and tasks of RE seem to have an even stronger position than before and many expert texts on special issues have relevance for RE teachers (Osbeck and Lied 2012). A recent and promising development is the establishment of a national research school, including RE teachers, located at Karlstad University. The aim is to enable teachers to write dissertations about RE practice and this will in subsequent years produce more research-based knowledge about the practical realities of RE in Sweden. Other dissertational projects with a similar aim are also on-going. Even if we have little direct knowledge drawn from RE classrooms, there is some research paying attention to utterances about classroom activities. One aspect relates to the distinction between learning-about religion and learningfrom religion that was part of a European questionnaire in which a number of Swedish teachers participated. The study showed that 95 % of the Swedish teachers backed up the item in favour of learning “about” perspectives of RE and 49 % backed up the item in favour of learning “from” perspectives of RE (Osbeck and Pettersson 2009). The Swedish respondents differed from the general pattern which included both confessional and non-confessional teachers in altogether 16 European countries (Riegel and Ziebertz 2009), by showing greater support for learning “about” and less for learning “from”. The average of the study was 80 % for “about” and 78 % for “from”. There are also other studies showing that

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the learning-about perspective has dominated in Swedish schools for a long time (Skolverket 1993, 54 f.). In two recent RE classroom studies, there is one obvious similarity (Osbeck and Lied 2011; Kittelmann Flensner 2013). Both studies show that the thrust of the teaching and the specialist content that the teacher brings to the lesson seem to have only moderate importance for learning compared to the influence of overarching discourses or speech genres present in the classroom. This can be assumed to have a considerable impact on the understanding of religion as a phenomenon. According to these studies, a hegemonic perspective is established through secularist and modernist discourse (Kittelmann Flensner). From this perspective, religion is considered irrational and outdated. Religion as an overarching object of learning becomes a phenomenon that is easy to make fun of and something that one does not really have to take seriously (Osbeck and Lied). This is supported by interviews with pupils who consider themselves to be religious. These pupils indirectly blame the teachers for allowing such a hegemonic perspective to dominate, arguing that the teachers present a historical, outdated, stereotypical and extreme image of their tradition which they do not feel comfortable with (Holmqvist Lidh 2013). It is a rather thin description of practice that comes out of this limited research into Swedish practice in RE and there is therefore a clear need for more classroom research in order to enrich this picture. Because of this, one has to draw on the evaluations of the National Agency, presented earlier, in order to get some impression of what is going on. From these eavluations, one can see that pupils are still interested in life questions but that RE is not a particularly popular subject. The amount of pupils’ knowledge which syllabuses state should exist does not seem to be there. One conclusion, emanating from a range of factors, is that teaching and learning are governed by many more factors than syllabuses.

12.

Desiderata and challenges for RE in a European context

We have decided to comment on some aspects of the Swedish RE model by making a comparison with a number of English approaches. In Sweden, as in England, the phenomenology of religion has been of significant influence. Teaching based on this tradition has often been related to Ninan Smart’s “dimensions” of religion, i. e. the doctrinal, mythological, ethical, ritual, experiential and institutional. The possibility of comparing religions can be understood as drawing on a perception where religions are understood to have such a clear core that it is meaningful to compare one religion to another ; also that they have certain features or dimensions in common. Statements in the

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knowledge requirements of the Swedish RE syllabus which state that the pupil, in order to demonstrate good knowledge, should show “the relationship between key ideas, documents and concrete religious expressions and actions within the religions” and also reason “about the similarities and differences within and between some religions and other outlooks on life” (grade 9) can be seen as relating to Smart’s thesis of dimensions of religion which, taken together, give a meta-perspective of what religion as a phenomenon actually is. A frequent critique of this perspective is that it tends to conflate differences both between and within religions: by presenting an understanding of the functions of myths as being the same in all traditions, for instance. Concepts that have been used for comparison between religions have also been criticised for being shaped from a Western Christian perspective and, therefore, risk giving a misleading notion of eastern traditions, for instance. Such criticisms have emanated from both England and Sweden (cf. e. g. von Brömssen 2003, 45; Härenstam 2000, 127; Jackson 1997, 110). A key aspect of the influential interpretive approach, developed by Robert Jackson, is the challenge to the perception of religions as uniform entireties (including internally). In this approach, the different levels of tradition, groups/ communities, and individuals, are highlighted. The pupil is expected to become aware of the different interpretations found within the same religion and, therefore, the question of “representation” becomes central. In order to learn from the differences in representation, the processes of “interpretation” and “reflexivity” also become vital. Such a perspective, in which variation is central, seems to be rather sparsely represented in the Swedish RE syllabus, however. One can trace it partly in the general aims section, in the central content for pupils between 13 – 16 (“Varying interpretations and practices in world religions in today’s society”, 179) and also in the knowledge requirement of this age group, as quoted above. In the sections for younger children, though, this perspective is lacking. In line with his critique of liberal RE, Andrew Wright has espoused an approach called “religious literacy” or “critical religious education”. Another description could perhaps be “ontologically testing approach” since a central trait of the religious literacy stressed in this approach is about being critical in examining or testing the core of religions, namely their ontological understanding (truth claims). From this position, an important task of RE is to make divergent religious perspectives visible as different truth claims and then to take them seriously. Through revealing differences, real encounters are possible (Wright 2004). In relation to Wright’s approach, the importance of showing differences has also been argued for from a learning perspective in that one’s understanding of a phenomenon is sharpened through contrasts, i. e. clarifying what the phenomenon is not (Hella and Wright 2008). The Swedish RE syllabus does not

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mention truth claims but conflicts is a theme present in the aim section and the central content section, thus only applying to pupils 13 – 16 years-old. “Teaching should in a balanced way illuminate the role that religions can play in society, both in the pursuit of peace and resolving conflicts, in order to promote social cohesion and as a cause of segregation.” (176)

Conflicts and opportunities in secular and pluralistic societies, such as over issues concerning freedom of religious expression, sexuality and views on gender equality. (179) Among well-known approaches to RE in England which have had an international outreach, we also have those in which the existential dimension is more pronounced. The previously mentioned dual aim of the subject, “learning about” and “learning from” religion – a distinction launched by Michael Grimmitt (1987), shows that both an orienting and a life-interpretative dimension of the subject can be considered vital. The “learning from” dimension is also stressed in the interpretive approach through the concept of “edification”. In Grimmitt’s own human development approach, he clearly gave priority to the “learning from” perspective, regarding the study of religions as instrumental to the aim of pupils’ human development, existential growth and life-understanding. A long step further in this direction was adopted by Clive and Jane Erricker who placed almost exclusive priority on the life stories of pupils: it cannot be taken for granted that content from religious traditions will contribute to the development of pupils’ life interpretations and so these processes need to be placed at the centre. As discussed above, both the “learning about” and “learning from” dimensions of the subject have been regarded as important in Swedish RE although development over the years seems to have placed more emphasis on the “learning about” dimension, at least in syllabuses. In relation to the perspective of Erricker and Erricker, one can add that the Swedish syllabus stresses that other material besides religious can be used for life-interpretation; popular culture, for instance. As has been shown in earlier sections, the field of knowledge covered in Swedish RE is broad. In addition to a focus on religions, a central part of the subject today is about life questions, philosophies of life and ethics. From the comparison with approaches in English RE, one can see that Swedish RE has been influenced by the phenomenological tradition, the existential tradition and the interpretive approach, but less so by the truth claims approach.

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Further information

In conclusion; what kind of meta-story of RE in Swedish schools comes through our descriptions of the contexts and conditions of the subject, broader and narrower, today and in previous times? Because of new directions adopted in the sixties, the subject of RE was expected to be neutral, plural and objective, which, at that time, was rare and, from an international perspective, was therefore an interesting feature. The didactical solution was grounded in the concept and the perspective of life questions, existential questions which all were expected to share, although they might find different answers. Other educational tasks in the curriculum of 1969 were solved by paying attention to pupils’ questions and the reform can be understood as embedded in child-centered curriculum thinking. If the idea that the character of Swedish RE was rooted in the progressivist pedagogical movements of the sixties is plausible, this raises questions about interpretations of the status of the subject today. Can a subject based on pupils’ questions survive general school reforms which focus on a stated curriculum, knowledge requirements and tighter control: a situation in which education tends to be more about the product than the process? Since knowledge requirements and attainment targets tend to affect school practice more than general formulations of aims in a curriculum document, it can be said that the pupils’ expected engagement with life questions today may look more like a film reviewer’s than that of an engaged person: “Pupils can also apply simple/developed/well developed and balanced reasoning about how life issues are depicted in different contexts…” (The National Agency for Education 2011, 185) (School year 6). If this judgement is correct, the life-questions approach seems to have developed far beyond its origin. The future developments of the subject are, of course, related to political goals and directions but also to how teachers, the subject professionals, formulate and develop RE. This might be done within the context of the FLR, the association of religious education teachers, (www.flr.se). It is hoped that the forum of researchers in religious education (in which the authors of this chapter are active) will have some influence, too. What research in direct terms means and should mean in relation to political processes is a disputed theme, but it is fair to say that research did contribute significantly to the shaping of the life questions approach of Swedish RE. This may be a challenge to us researchers of today not only to deliver information, but also to trace patterns, make interpretations accessible and visible, and sometimes even set the agenda.

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Skolverket. 2013a. Vad styr verksamheten? http://www.skolverket.se/skolformer/karta-overutbildningssystemet/grundskoleutbildning/grundskola/vad-styr-verksamheten-1.190428 Skolverket. 2013b. Skolor och elever i grundskolan läs”r 2012/13. http://www.skolverket.se/ statistik-och-utvardering/statistik/grundskola/skolor-och-elever Skolöverstyrelsen. 1969. Ton”ringen och livsfr”gorna: elevattityder och undervisningen i livs”sk”dning och etik p” grundskolans högstadium: elevundersökningar och metodiska förslag av en arbetsgrupp inom skolöverstyrelsen. Stockholm: SÖ-förlag. The Swedish National Agency for Education. 1999. Curriculum for the compulsory school system, the pre-school class and the leisure-time centre: Lpo 94. Stockholm: The Swedish National Agency for Education. The Swedish National Agency for Education. 2010. A presentation: The Swedish National Agency for Education supervises and provides support for better schooling. http:// www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/visa-enskild-publikation?_xurl_=http%3 A%2F%2Fww w5.skolverket.se%2Fwtpub%2Fws%2Fskolbok%2Fwpubext%2Ftrycksak%2FRecord%3Fk %3D2492 The Swedish National Agency for Education. 2011. Curriculum for the compulsory school system, the pre-school class and the leisure-time centre 2011. http://www.skolverket.se/omskolverket/2.7778/in_english/publications?_xurl_=http%3A%2F%2Fwww5.skolverket.se% 2Fwtpub%2Fws%2Fskolbok%2Fwpubext%2Ftrycksak%2FRecord%3Bjsessionid%3D8461 FFCDA5373A46A25B128C627B120E%3Fupp%3D0%26m%3D9%26w%3DNATIVE%2528 %2527AMNE%2B%253D%2B%2527%2527Engelskspr%25E5kigt%2Bmaterial%2527%25 27%2527%2529%26order%3Dnative%2528%2527dateweb%252FDescend% 2527%2529 The Swedish National Agency for Education. 2012. Teachers registration. http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/2.7778/in_english/teachers-registration/teachers-registration1.180946 The Swedish Commission for Government Support to Faith Communities and the Church of Sweden. 2011. Statistik 2011. http://www.sst.a.se/statistik/statistik2011.4.4bf439da1355ecafdd2243b.html Sporre, Karin. In press. Value conflicts and faith based schools – in contemporary Sweden. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society. Svensk författningssamling. 1993. Högskoleförordning. SFS 1993:100. http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/Dokument-Lagar/Lagar/Svenskforfattningssamling/Hogskoleforordning-199310 0_sfs-1993 – 100/ Svensk författningssamling. 2010. Skollag. 2010:800. http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/DokumentLagar/Lagar/Svenskforfattningssamling/Skollag-2010800_sfs-2010 – 800/ Svenska kyrkan. 2013. Kyrkoordningen. http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/default.aspx?id =637938 Sverker, J. 2013. Prästen ville välsigna – d” flydde skolorna. Dagen, June 11. http://www.dagen.se/nyheter/prasten-ville-valsigna-da-flydde-skolorna/ Säljö, R. 2000. Lärande i praktiken: ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Stockholm: Prisma. Weiderud, P. 2011. Gör Eid al-Fitr till svensk nationell helgdag. Svenska Dagbladet, August 29. Wright, A. 2004a. Hospitality and the voice of the other: confronting the economy of violence through religious education. Paper presented at the 14th conference of the International seminar on religious education and values, Philadelphia, USA. Örstadius, K. 2013. Nästan vem som helst kan bli lärare. Dagens Nyheter, Mars 27.

Contributors

Oddrun Br”ten PhD, has taught religion and education since 1996, at SørTrøndelag University College, Trondheim since 1998. She has a PhD in Education from the University of Warwick on the topic of international comparative studies in religious education, published by Waxman as Towards a Methodology for Comparative Studies: A study of England and Norway. She also has an interest in practise focused classroom studies, and is member of several networks and seminars, including ISREV. Mette Buchardt PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Learning and Philosophy at Aalborg University, Denmark. She is a trained Theologian (BA; MA) specialising in the history of dogmas, church and theology and holds a PhD in educational theory, both degrees from the University of Copenhagen where she has also been a PostDoc fellow and an Assistant Professor. Also she has worked as a college professor in teachers education. Buchardt’s research centres on the history and sociology of curriculum and education, including the practised curriculum and classroom research and she has been involved in international research projects on e. g. the history and present of the Nordic welfare state model. Laima Geikina Dr.paed., has taught education and religion within teacher training at University of Latvia (1994 – 1995), received degree in Pedagogy (Religious pedagogy) at University of Latvia (2007), presently candidate for doctor’s degree of Theology at University of Latvia. She has a position as lecturer (2001 – 2010), then as an associated professor (2010 – 2013), and presently as professor in Faculty of Theology, University of Latvia. She has a position as a guest professor in Riga Graduate School of Law. She has involved in several international networks as TRES, ICCS, EFTRE, NELCEE and as associated member in ISREV. Her research interests are relating with broad spectra of practical theology, especially religious education.

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Contributors

Gunnar J. Gunnarsson PhD, is a senior lecturer at the University of Iceland, School of Education. He has taught religion and education within teacher the education in Iceland for many years, first at the Iceland University of Education and then, after it merged with the University of Iceland in 2008, at the School of Education. He has written textbooks in religious education for the lower secondary school in Iceland. He has also been active in Nordic and international cooperation. His research interests are young people’s life views and values and religious education in a multicultural society. Christina Osbeck PhD, is Associate Professor in Religious Education and Senior Lecturer in Social Studies Education at the Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and Professional Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden. She has been working with RE research and teacher education since 1993 at Karlstad University and started in Gothenburg 2013. Her dissertation, delivered in 2006, focusses on pupils’ life interpretations and how bullying is working as a shaping and homogenizing tool of life interpretations. Since then she has been working with several research projects concerning among others RE teachers’ perceptions of their subject and how 12-year-old pupils develop RE knowledge during one academic year in relation to the teaching. Rita Giedre˙ Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ Dr., works at Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Department of the Catholic religion as religious education didactic lecturer, Catholic religion FP and methodological recommendations author. She has an extensive experience of teaching in schools and for the past 15 years has been a university lecturer and tutor in the theory and practice of Religious Studies; didactics of religious education, empirical studies of religious education, and pastoral catechesis. She received her doctorate in 2012 for her thesis on “The Expression of Existential Thinking in the religious education of gymnasium students of 12 – 13 grade”. Dr. Rugevicˇiu¯te˙ also works in the Lithuanian National Catechetical Centre coordinating RE strategies in Lithuania. She is an expert with the Ministry of Education in RE section, and she is in steering research committee of the religious education in schools. Olga Schihalejev Dr.theol, is a senior lecturer in religious education at Tartu University (2012-), a researcher in the religious studies group in the Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory (2009-) and a researcher in CARDIPS research project at Södertörn university (2013 – 2015). She worked on the EC Framework 6 project REDCo (2006 – 2009) and researched how religion is perceived by young people in a secular context. She has worked as a teacher of RE and has written several teaching-learning resources. Her main fields of interest are research on adolescents, their attitudes to religion and religious diversity, how

Contributors

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young people’s beliefs and commitments are expressed in different discourses of school, family, religious communities and the youth culture. Geir Skeie PhD, has taught religion and education mainly within teacher training at Nordland University (1984 – 1998) and presently at University of Stavanger (1998-), Norway. Since 2008 he has also been holding a position as guest professor and later full professor in religious education at Stockholm University, Sweden. He has been active in Nordic cooperation and involved in international research and development in the field, contributing to the European REDCo project and several international networks, including ISREV. His research interests are theory and practice of religious education and the overlapping field between religion and other school subjects. Kirsi Tirri Dr., is a Professor of Education and Research Director at the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is the Chair of Doctoral Programme SEDUCE (School, Education, Culture and Society). She is also a visiting scholar with the Stanford Center on Adolescence, USA. Tirri has been a Professor of Religious Education at the University of Helsinki for the years 2002 – 2010. She has also been the President of ECHA (European Council for High Ability) for the years 2008 – 2012 and the President of the SIG International Studies at AERA (American Educational Research Association) for the years 2010 – 2013. Her research interests include school pedagogy, moral and religious education, gifted education, teacher education and cross-cultural studies. She serves in 13 Editorial Boards of educational journals. She has led the Finnish team in many national and international research projects. You can read more of her work from the www-page: http://www.helsinki.fi/~ktirri. Martin Ubani Dr., is a Professor of Religious Education at the Schools of Theology & Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, University of Eastern Finland. He has published and co-published several books and scientific articles. His research interests include religion and education, spiritual education and teacher education. More information can be found from his webpage: https://wiki.uef.fi/x/rwCJAQ.