Pupils’ Views on Religious Education in a Pluralistic Educational Context

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Religion and Education: A Potpourri of Issues

Abstract

This paper examines Finnish pupils’ views of religious education and worldview diversity in school. The mixed method study 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 compre-hensive schools. Besides the overall description of the pupils’ views, the influence of gender, age group and the place or residence are examined. Many differences were found between the genders, age groups and between the pupils living in the more diverse capital city and the smaller and less diverse smaller city setting. The findings illustrate the need for taking into account the context when implementing teaching in subject areas such as Religious Education and Citizenship Education.

Authors

• Arniika Kuusisto, University of Helsinki

• Arto Juha Viljami Kallioniemi, University of Helsinki