Saila Poulter

Encountering Worldviews: Pupil Perspectives on Integrative Worldview Education in a Finnish Secondary School Context

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to explore pupils’ views on integrative worldview education that encompasses pupils from both religious and non-religious backgrounds.1 The research material consists of surveys (n = 174) and pupil interviews (n = 40), which are analyzed with a mixed methods approach. The theoretical basis of this study are the concepts of worldview, safe place, dialogue and lived religion. The results of this study indicate that pupils find the integrative religious education class a safe place to learn about worldviews and encounter others. This study suggests that the removal of pupils’ physical separation on the basis of worldview has a significant positive impact on the experiences of adolescents.

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.

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.

Preparing for the world of diverse worldviews: parental and school stakeholder views on integrative worldview education in a Finnish context

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore integrative worldview education as a platform for learning from worldviews in a diverse cultural context. This is done by exploring integrative worldview education in a Finnish secondary school context by examining the views of school stakeholders. The stakeholders examined in this article consist of 174 parents of the pupils and a total of six teachers and head teachers from two different lower secondary schools in Helsinki. We use the concept of learning from worldviews to examine the possibilities of the integrative classroom to facilitate learning from both personal and organised worldviews. The results indicate that the stakeholders view integrative worldview education as an important tool for widening the worldview of the pupil. Although the stakeholders view the sensitivity of the teacher as paramount in teaching an integrative classroom, integrative worldview education is also seen as important in offering tools for forging mutual understandings in an ever more complex world of worldviews.

From citizenship of God’s Kingdom to liberal individualism? A critical historical analysis of Finnish religious education

The aim of this paper is to explore the history of Finnish religious education (RE) from the perspective of civic education. The research is based on a historical and content analysis of the data, which consist of written pedagogical and curricular material on Lutheran RE from the last 150 years. The analysis, which employs the Foucauldian concept of governmentality to explore the changes in the relationship between citizenship and religion, morality and power, demonstrates that RE has been a powerful tool in shaping civic identities throughout its history. However, the justifications for RE have differed markedly according to the social conditions of the day. This study further claims that liberalisation and individualisation are the main ideological and moral concepts that describe the change in the notion of citizenship. The main contribution of this analysis is to address the importance of understanding how the formation of civic identity is always shaped by historical and ideological currents and particularly how the externally controlling power of the nation state has been replaced by less visible ways of governing the liberal subject.

Teacher discourse constructing different social positions of pupils in Finnish separative and integrative religious education

Abstract This article examines social practices within classroom discourse in two different Finnish religious educational contexts. The article critically observes the construction of certain positions and identities as part of the school discourse and the inclusive vs exclusive practices of language. The research material consists of classroom observations and staff interviews from two separate studies. The first study investigates two cases in separative religious education (RE), Islamic and Lutheran. The second study deals with integrative practices of RE. In this study, discourse analysis as a methodological tool is used to examine discursive practices in RE lessons. The study will explore the following question: What kinds of subjectivities are constructed through teachers’ discursive practices in separative and integrative RE? The study will demonstrate that teachers use scientific language to underline the objective nature of RE and use the language of belonging to engage their pupils on a personal level. The former ends up silencing the religious stance, while the latter often excludes those who do not share those specific experiences. The findings reveal some challenges in developing inclusive teaching.

Estonian and Finnish Pupils’ Experiences of Religious Issues and Views on the Place of Religion in School

ABSTRACT The study is part of the REDCo II study. The results are based on a survey study completed by 988 pupils in Finland (n = 406) and Estonia (n = 582). The main research questions were What experiences do Estonian and Finnish pupils have regarding religious issues at school? What conceptions do Estonian and Finnish pupils have regarding the role of religion at school? And to what extent do different background factors (country, gender and age) explain different experiences and conceptions? The quantitative data was analyzed using basic statistical analysis, including means, standard deviations and t-tests.