Arniika Kuusisto

Moral Foundation of the Kindergarten Teacher’s Educational Approach: Self-Reflection Facilitated Educator Response to Pluralism in Educational Context

This paper investigates the moral foundation of Kindergarten teachers’ educational approach from the perspective of sensitivity towards religions and other worldviews. As a context for the examination, the paper presents the current situation of the Finnish multi-faith kindergartens through the empirical mixed method data gathered from five day care centres in the capital Helsinki area. The findings illustrate that at present, the multitude of religions and other worldviews in the increasingly diverse Kindergarten context causes continuous negotiations among the staff on both the educational practices and in the teachers’ educational partnership with families. In particular, there is a lot of uncertainty of how—if at all—education on religions and worldviews should be implemented in the multicultural, multi-faith kindergarten. Some of the staff members have difficulties in encountering religious diversity in a positive or neutral light, as religions are often seen through limitations to everyday practicalities and educational contents. It is argued that in order to develop a constructive, worldview sensitive educator response to pluralism, and thus to encourage the development in the moral foundation of the teachers’ work, the teachers would need supported opportunities for dialoguous self-reflection. To support this, working models for intercultural and inter-faith sensitivity are suggested.

Thinking Multicultural Education "Otherwise"--From a Secularist Construction towards a Plurality of Epistemologies and Worldviews.

This article examines educational, political and philosophical perspectives on the concepts of worldview and religion in the context of multicultural education. Using a postcolonial and post-structural approach combined with theories that analyse the politics of secularism, we attempt to pinpoint key perspectives in the recognition of worldviews in the current discourse on liberal multiculturalism. We suggest that the liberal-secular foundation of multicultural education is blind to practices, which, while supposedly based on political neutrality, are discriminating and ‘Othering’ towards religions and non-Western worldviews. Through theoretical and contextual analysis, we aim to deconstruct the ‘Otherness’ of religious worldviews at the epistemic level.

Transmitting religious values in adventist home education

This article explores the process of value transmission, particularly in Adventist home education, based on a study of the religious home education experienced by young Seventh-day Adventist adults in their childhood (Kuusisto, 2000). The main aim was to find the conditions that support the successful transmission of parental values to the next generation. The method was both qualitative and quantitative, as the data were assembled with in-depth interviews (n=10) and supplemented with a survey (n=106). The most significant factors in transmitting values that stand out in the data are democratic relationship between parents and children, parental example, encouraging children to do their own thinking, and positive experiences of both religion and the social dimension of the religious community. Education that is either too severe or too permissive appears to lead to unsuccessful value transmitting.

Gender variance in interreligious sensitivity among Finnish pupils

This paper examines gender variance in the interreligious sensitivity among Finnish children and youth using a non-probability sample of 1000 Finnish lower secondary school pupils representing the age group 12–16. The data were gathered in three geographical locations: the capital city of Helsinki area, and two smaller municipalities in other parts of the country. The pupils’ self-reported attitudes towards interreligious sensitivity were measured using the Interreligious Sensitivity Scale. The results showed significant variation between the genders in the pupils’ interreligious sensitivity. Also geographical variance (city of residence) and pupils’ religious affiliation influenced their interreligious sensitivity.

Discussing School Celebrations from an Intercultural Perspective--A Study in the Finnish Context.

The increased diversity in pupils’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds in schools creates urgent demands for the organization of school celebrations in many countries. Celebrations represent the cultural values of the society and it is important to find out how various traditions are expressed in them. This study examines teachers’ and other educational staff members’ perceptions of Finnish culture, Lutheran religiosity, and intercultural education relating to Christmas, Independence Day, and end-of-term celebrations in Finnish schools. The data of this paper consists of 12 thematic interviews, and participation in two school festivals. The interview data were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. The analysis of this study shows that festivals are perceived as important parts of education and they can help to create a sense of national or cultural community. However, the intercultural potential of school celebrations is often not put to its full use. There exists an urgent need to create new ways of carrying out celebrations in multicultural school communities so that they would be meaningful for all students.

Pupils’ views of religious education in a pluralistic educational context

This article examines Finnish pupils’ views of religious education (RE) in a pluralistic educational context. The focus is on pupils’ views of the aims and different approaches to RE in a multi-faith school. The study utilised a mixed method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data. It employed a survey (n=1301) and interviews (n=38) of pupils from grade levels 3, 6, and 9 (age groups 9–10, 12–13, 15–16) in Finnish comprehensive schools located in Helsinki and Pori. This article focuses on the data sets from the sixth and ninth grades. Besides the overall description of the pupils’ views, the influence of gender, age group and the place or residence were examined. Many differences were found between the genders, age groups and between the pupils living in the more diverse capital city and those growing up in a smaller and less diverse town context. In presenting the findings, statistical analyses are presented together with some interview extracts.

Analytical and Methodological Considerations for the Use of Social Categories in Identity Research

This paper examines the limitations of measuring identities as based on pre-selected categories, such as ‘immigrant’ or ‘Third Culture Kid’, within which the individuals are placed according to particular criteria. Simplified, etic categories fail to mirror the complex identifications of the contemporary individual and strengthen essentialism related to ethnicities, cultures and religions. This paper discusses the problematic related to categorization at both analytical and methodological levels. The need for critical reflection on the use of social categories to portray identities is highlighted in general. The adequacy of surveys to measure and examine identities is questioned in particular. This paper illustrates the need to approach identities from emic-etic perspectives and multiple angles in order to grasp a more multilayered view into the complex nature of identity. KEywoRDS Emic, Essentialism, Etic, Identity, Identity Measures, Power, Social Categories, Stereotypes, Survey Method, Terminology, Youth

Examining Religious Education in Finland from a Human Rights Perspective

Religious Education (hereinafter RE) has a strong potential for promoting human rights. Consequently, it is essential to consider the human rights perspective when pondering the aims, content, and practical organisation of RE. Additionally, the issue of human rights is vital in considerations related to the place of religion in the public sphere, such as the various contexts of institutional education: kindergartens, preschools and schools. Moreover, it is important from the perspective of religious minorities in particular to consider the negotiations and clashes of values encountered by children and young people whose family socialisation differs significantly from the dominant value hegemony in the social context of schools (Kuusisto 2010, 2011a). Different interpretations of religious freedom and the right to religious education are important considerations for RE. However, the complex interplay of ‘public’ and ‘private’ must be reconsidered when analysing human rights issues related to religion. Furthermore, the framework of a child’s right to religion versus that of parents’ right to education according to worldview must be scrutinised.

Examining the Researcher’s Position Through its Interaction with Methodological and Ethical Particularities of Religion and Gender

This chapter examines the researcher’s position through its interaction with the methodological and ethical considerations of the research process. The examination is based on two studies, each of which considers growing-up processes within one religious minority community in Finland: Kuusisto’s study (2011) on the experiences of growing up in affiliation with Seventh-day Adventism, and Rantala’s ongoing study of the processes of the subjectification of women within the Conservative Laestadians, a Laestadian movement that is part of the Finnish Lutheran Church.

How Is Interreligious Sensitivity Related to Finnish Pupils' Religiousness Profiles?.

This paper examines, through a non-probability sample of 451 Finnish lower secondary-school pupils belonging to the 15- to 16-year-old age group, how interreligious sensitivity is related to religiousness profiles of Finnish youth. The data were gathered in two geographical locations: Helsinki, Finland’s capital, and a smaller municipality in the western part of Finland. The pupils’ self-reported attitudes to interreligious sensitivity were measured using the Interreligious Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire IRRSSQ. The four religiousness profiles identified were strongly religious, culturally religious, personally religious and non-religious. The profiles were related to pupils’ interreligious sensitivity. The non-religious group’s interreligious sensitivity differed from the other profiles, as these pupils were more in denial and less at the level of acceptance. The results of the study are discussed in the context of the Finnish religious landscape.