ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on Finnish ninth grade pupils’ perceptions on worldview div... more ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on Finnish ninth grade pupils’ perceptions on worldview diversity and Religious Education (RE). The data were gathered by using a mixed methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Worldview diversity has a long history in Finnish society. Yet this has only really been acknowledged in recent years, when increased immigration introduced issues related to the diversity of cultures and religions into the public debate. The most heated discussion has concerned the position of religions and other worldviews in the public sphere. Further, RE and Ethics instruction, in particular their contents and teaching arrangements, have aroused strong emotions. This article examines how pupils in Finnish comprehensive schools perceive worldview diversity and worldview education and discusses the Finnish model of worldview education in general.
This article examines the career paths of Finnish Religious Education (RE) teachers who were born... more This article examines the career paths of Finnish Religious Education (RE) teachers who were born in the 1930s, through a retrospective, self-autobiographical life history approach. The material reported here is a part of wider data of mainly written narratives (N = 62) from RE teachers who recount their career trajectories. In these career-focused life histories, the teachers outline their own professionalism as embedded in changing sociohistorical contexts, where to a great extent they tell about the active development of the school and the teaching of their particular subject to answer to the changing needs and challenges. Some teachers have, along with their teaching, also been actively involved in different communities or associations. Many of the Religious Education teachers here reflect on their career paths in relation to their profession as a teacher and often also with double qualifications as pastor trained theologians. At times, this constructs a possibility for tension ...
The increased diversity in pupils’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds in schools creates urgent dema... more 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.
This article examines Finnish pupils’ views of religious education (RE) in a pluralistic educatio... more 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.
Keywords: religious education (RE); diversity; pluralism; school; children; youth
ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on Finnish ninth grade pupils’ perceptions on worldview div... more ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on Finnish ninth grade pupils’ perceptions on worldview diversity and Religious Education (RE). The data were gathered by using a mixed methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Worldview diversity has a long history in Finnish society. Yet this has only really been acknowledged in recent years, when increased immigration introduced issues related to the diversity of cultures and religions into the public debate. The most heated discussion has concerned the position of religions and other worldviews in the public sphere. Further, RE and Ethics instruction, in particular their contents and teaching arrangements, have aroused strong emotions. This article examines how pupils in Finnish comprehensive schools perceive worldview diversity and worldview education and discusses the Finnish model of worldview education in general.
This article examines the career paths of Finnish Religious Education (RE) teachers who were born... more This article examines the career paths of Finnish Religious Education (RE) teachers who were born in the 1930s, through a retrospective, self-autobiographical life history approach. The material reported here is a part of wider data of mainly written narratives (N = 62) from RE teachers who recount their career trajectories. In these career-focused life histories, the teachers outline their own professionalism as embedded in changing sociohistorical contexts, where to a great extent they tell about the active development of the school and the teaching of their particular subject to answer to the changing needs and challenges. Some teachers have, along with their teaching, also been actively involved in different communities or associations. Many of the Religious Education teachers here reflect on their career paths in relation to their profession as a teacher and often also with double qualifications as pastor trained theologians. At times, this constructs a possibility for tension ...
The increased diversity in pupils’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds in schools creates urgent dema... more 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.
This article examines Finnish pupils’ views of religious education (RE) in a pluralistic educatio... more 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.
Keywords: religious education (RE); diversity; pluralism; school; children; youth
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Papers by Arto Kallioniemi
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.
Keywords: religious education (RE); diversity; pluralism; school; children; youth
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.
Keywords: religious education (RE); diversity; pluralism; school; children; youth