Contextualising dialogue, secularisation and pluralism

"Dialogue", "secularisation" and "pluralism" have been key concepts in international discussions concerning religion, public space and education for the past decades. National educational systems face new challenges in negotiating with the multitude of civic identities and memberships. This volume enriches and complements the discussion concerning religion in education by contextualising the respective phenomena in the current Finnish educational policy and practice, as well as by compiling empirical and theoretical observations. This localised approach provides an interesting case for the analysis in many ways. The volume at hand discusses how these changes of secularisation and pluralisation in a religious landscape create new conditions for understanding educational dialogue amidst diversity.

Auteur
Kristiina Holm (EdD, MTh) is a lecturer and teacher trainer in religious education, secular ethics education and psychology in the Normal Lyceum of Helsinki, a teacher training school of the University of Helsinki. Her academic background is in theology, psychology and educational sciences. Holm's research interests include especially intercultural, interreligious and ethical sensitivities together with religious and secular ethics education in school contexts. Arto Kallioniemi Th.D, Professor of Religious Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. He holds the UNESCO Chair on "Values, Dialogue and Human Rights". He has published extensively on contextual and comparative studies on religious education and multicultural education. He is currently principal investigator in several research and developmental projects concerning diversity of worldview in education, such as "Cultures and Worldview in Basic Education" and "Diverse Languages and Religions in School". Anuleena Kimanen, PhD, is a post-doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki. The studies presented in this chapter were for the most part conducted in affiliation with the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the university. Her research focuses on religious education, especially from the perspectives of pupils, as well as interfaith competencies. Elina Kuusisto works as an Associate Professor at the University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and as a Senior Researcher at the University of Tallinn, Estonia. She holds a Title of Docent at the University of Helsinki and serves as a Coordinator of EARLI SIG 19 Religions and Worldviews in Education. She is studying moral education, religious education and teacher education, with a special interest on ethical sensitivity, purpose in life and growth mindSet. Pia-Maria Niemi, PhD, works as a full-time university lecturer and teacher educator in the field of Religious and Ethics Education at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. Niemi's research interests focus on intercultural and inter-worldview education, Subject teacher training and sense of membership in schools. Niemi also has a Subject teacher qualification in religion and psychology. Saila Poulter, PhD, University Lecturer in Religious Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. Her research interests concern citizenship, worldview studies, integrated religious education and intercultural issues on religion. She is currently developing worldview education in Finnish early childhood education and care, and is a project leader in the "Creating Spaces for Diversity of Worldviews in Early Childhood Education" project. Inkeri Rissanen, PhD, is a University Lecturer in Multicultural education at Tampere University, Faculty of Education and Culture. Rissanen's academic background is in theology and educational science. Her areas of expertise are multicultural education, religious education and Islamic religious education. Recently, Rissanen has conducted research on educators' intercultural competences and mindSets, as well as on the inclusion of Muslims in Finnish schools. Tuula Sakaranaho is Professor of the Study of Religions at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests include governance of religious diversity, religious freedom, Islam, religious education and Islamic RE, in a European context. Martin Ubani is a Professor of Religious Education at the School of Theology and the School of Applied Science of Education and Teacher Education at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). His research interests include religion and education, spiritual education, RE teacher education and classroom research. Harriet Zilliacus, PhD, is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research interests lie in intercultural and worldview education. Her recent research includes a comparative study of discourses on students' cultural identities in Finnish and Swedish comprehensive school curricula. She has been a member of the Nordic Centre of Excellence Justice through Education in the Nordic Countries (JustEd) (2013-2018) and is currently a researcher in the Nordic Centre of Excellence Quality in Nordic Teaching (QUINT) (2018-2022) within NordForsk.

Texte du rabat

"Dialogue", "secularisation" and "pluralism" have been key concepts in international discussions concerning religion, public space and education for the past decades. Due to increasingly intense intercultural and transnational movements, national educational systems face new challenges in negotiating with the multitude of civic identities and memberships, those being also related to religions and worldviews. The purpose of this volume is to enrich and complement the discussion concerning religion in education by contextualising the respective phenomena in the current Finnish educational policy and practice, as well as by drawing together empirical and theoretical observations from several case analyses. Even though international comparative studies are integral for the development of knowledge on religion and education, this localised approach concentrating on the Finnish education system provides an interesting case for the analysis in many ways: The Finnish society is rather slowly becoming diverse and plural, whereas the processes of secularisation have recently been quite rapid. The volume at hand discusses how these changes of secularisation and pluralisation in a religious landscape create new conditions for understanding educational dialogue amidst diversity.