The problems and the perspectives of modern religious education in Swedish primary schools
Vol 8, Issue 3, 2023, Article identifier:
VIEWS - 701 (Abstract) 351 (PDF)
Abstract
Primary school religious education is important and understudied in modern educational practice. Classes on religious education are used to impart knowledge to pupils about the world’s main religions. Knowledge about specific religions, or how to collaborate with representatives of different religions, is mostly absent. Unfortunately, teachers of religious education often do not use their classes as a tool for their students’ moral and spiritual development. It is also one of the problems for Swedish schools and it has to be solved because Sweden is a very multicultural country with representatives of many religions; and one of the tasks of modern schools is to show how to be tolerant of others. This research aims to highlight problems and develop ways of teaching religious education in primary schools through theoretical literature analysis on the research topic. Also, we provide didactic exercises which teachers can use during religion lessons to diversify them and make it more accessible to students.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
1. Sinakou E, Donche V, Petegem PV. Action-orientation in education for sustainable development: Teachers’ interests and instructional practices. Journal of Cleaner Production 2022; 370: 133469. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133469
2. Evans N, Inwood H, Christie B, Ärlemalm-Hagsér E. Comparing education for sustainable development in initial teacher education across four countries. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 2021; 22(6): 1351–1372. doi: 10.1108/IJSHE-07-2020-0254
3. Singer-Brodowskia M, Brock A, Etzkorna N, Otte I. Monitoring of education for sustainable development in Germany—Insights from early childhood education, school and higher education. Environmental Education Research 2019; 25(4): 492–507. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2018.1440380
4. Svalfors U. Education for sustainable development and multidimensional implementation. A study of implementations of sustainable development in education with the curriculum of upper secondary school in Sweden as an example. Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education 2017; 8: 114–126. doi: 10.1515/dcse-2017-0020
5. Fredriksson U, Kusanagi KN, Gougoulakis P, et al. A comparative study of curriculums for education for sustainable development (ESD) in Sweden and Japan. Sustainability 2020; 12(3): 1123. doi: 10.3390/su12031123
6. Schneider J, Schaal S. Location-based smartphone games in the context of environmental education and education for sustainable development: Fostering connectedness to nature with Geogames. Environmental Education Research 2018; 24(11): 1597–1610. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2017.1383360
7. Timma JM, Bartha M. Making education for sustainable development happen in elementary schools: The role of teachers. Environmental Education Research 2021; 27(1): 50–66. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2020.1813256
8. Spiropoulou D, Antonakaki T, Kontaxaki S, Bouras S. Primary teachers’ literacy and attitudes on education for sustainable development. Journal of Science Education and Technology 2007; 16: 443–450. doi: 10.1007/s10956-007-9061-7
9. Cars M, West EE. Education for sustainable society: Attainments and good practices in Sweden during the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD). Environment Development Sustainable 2015; 17: 1–21. doi: 10.1007/s10668-014-9537-6
10. Sund P, Gerickeb N. Teaching contributions from secondary school subject areas to education for sustainable development—A comparative study of science, social science and language teachers. Environmental Education Research 2020; 26(6): 772–794. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2020.1754341
11. Lagerdahl B, Mossberg J. Guidelines and support for sustainable development in primary schools (Swedish). Available online: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A19265&dswid=-5574 (accessed on 10 July 2023).
12. Ideland M, Johansson M, Ekelund N, et al. Research circle on learning for sustainable development: Inspiration and reflection on how to integrate sustainability perspectives in different school subjects (Swedish). Available online: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1420409&dswid=-3969 (accessed on 10 July 2023).
13. McCreery E. Preparing primary school teachers to teach religious education. British Journal of Religious Education 2005; 27(3): 265–277. doi: 10.1080/01416200500141421
14. Wickström J. Our ancestors were pagans—Nordic antiquity as a myth in the educational texts of Swedish primary schools up to 1919 (Swedish). Available online: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:172355/FULLTEXT01.pdfRolf (accessed on 10 July 2023).
15. Jahnke F. The altar of tolerance and considerate avoidance (Swedish). Available online: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1529779/FULLTEXT01.pdf (accessed on 10 July 2023).
16. Crain SD. From university to high school: Teaching religion and science in a new context. Religion & Education 1999; 26(2): 48–54. doi: 10.1080/15507394.1999.11000903
17. Crain SD. From university to high school: Teaching religion and science in a new context. Religion & Education 1999; 26(2): 48–54. doi: 10.1080/15507394.1999.11000903
18. Hartwick JMM. Teacher prayerfulness: Identifying public school teachers who connect their spiritual and religious lives with their professional lives. Religion & Education 2015; 42(1): 54–80. doi: 10.1080/15507394.2014.856745
19. Kortt MA, Drew J. Does religion influence educational attainment? Religion & Education 2019; 46(4): 458–481. doi: 10.1080/15507394.2018.1541694
20. Puskás T, Andersson A. Keeping education non-confessional while teaching children about religion. Religion & Education 2019; 46(3): 382–399. doi: 10.1080/15507394.2019.1590940
21. Jackson R. Postscript on dialogue and inclusive religious education: The ReDi studies in a European context. Religion & Education 2019; 46(1): 130–146. doi: 10.1080/15507394.2019.1577708
22. Sitompul E. Learning motivation Christian religion education students. Areopagus 2019; 17(1): 42–46. doi: 10.46965/ja.v17i1.235
23. Rosniati H, Mahyudin R. A study of religion education method with multicultural insight. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342845960_A_STUDY_OF_RELIGION_EDUCATION_METHOD_WITH_MULTICULTURAL_INSIGHT (accessed on 10 July 2023).
24. Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class, and School-age Educare 2011. Available online: https://www.skolverket.se/download/18.31c292d516e7445866a218f/1576654682907/pdf3984.pdf (accessed on 10 July 2023).
25. Berglund J. Swedish religion education: Objective but marinated in Lutheran Protestantism? Temenos 2013; 49(2): 165–184. doi: 10.33356/temenos.9545
26. Fleming N, Mills C. Helping Students Understand How They Learn. Magma Publications; 1992.
27. Poth RD. What are VARK learning styles? Available online: https://blog.definedlearning.com/blog/what-are-vark-learning-styles#:~:text=VARK%20learning%20styles%20are%20visual,read%2Fwrite%2C%20and%20kinesthetic (accessed on 4 October 2022).
28. Mcleod S. Kolb’s learning styles and experiential learning cycle. Available online: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html (accessed on 4 October 2022).
29. Bell M. A five-step cycle to improve learning in your classroom. Available online: https://www.routledge.com/blog/article/the-5-steps-of-the-learning-cycle# (accessed on 4 October 2022).
30. Krulj JR, Vidoslavjevic ST, Mladenovic NR. John Amos Comenius—The teacher of nations and the founder of didactic principles. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347049953_John_Amos_Comenius_The_teacher_of_nations_and_the_founder_of_didactic_principles (accessed on 22 August 2022).
31. Available online: http://urweb.roehampton.ac.uk/digital-collection/froebel-archive/great-didactic/index.html (accessed on 22 August 2022).
32. Locke J. A letter concerning toleration. Available online: https://books.google.se/books?id=S5cDAAAAQAAJ&printsec= frontcover&hl=sv&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed on 22 August 2022).
33. Bellers J. An epistle to friends, concerning the education of children. Available online: https://books.google.se/books?id=V71jAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=sv&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed on 22 August 2022).
34. Rousseau JJ. Emile: Or on Education. Bloom A (editor and translator). Basic Books; 1979.
35. Pestalozzi JH. Letters on early education. Available online: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t75t44m94&view=1up&seq=9&skin=2021 (accessed on 22 August 2022).
36. Seligman ERA. Owen and the Christian socialists. Available online: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2138969#metadata_info_tab_contents (accessed on 22 August 2022).
37. Ahmetoğlu E, Ildiz GI. The Friedrich Froebel Approach. Recent Researches in Education. Cambridge Scholars Publishing; 2018. pp. 355–366.
38. Chorna V. Art Therapy Exercises for Children of Primary School Age and Children with Special Educational Needs. Odnorog Publishing; 2020.
39. Khanam A, Iqbal Z, Kalsoom Q. Effect of religious education on the moral development of children. International Journal of Management (IJM) 2020; 11(11): 2314–2329. doi: 10.34218/IJM.11.11.2020.215
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v8i3.1686
(701 Abstract Views, 351 PDF Downloads)
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2023 Viktoriia Chorna
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/