Religious education, multicultural education and Finnish school policy

1
Religious education, multicultural education and
Finnish school policy

• Anna-Leena Riitaoja
• Ph. D . Student
• Department of Applied Sciences of Education
• University of Helsinki, Finland
• anna-leena.riitaoja_at_helsinki.fi
• Conference on Diversity and Global Education
• 25. 26.4.2008

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My background

• Family backgound
• Several different religious contexts (inside
  Christianity and sceularism)
• School otherness stranger in familiar
• As a student teacher
• religion was seen often as a problem
• or seen only in very superficial way
• confusing (not a problem from my point of view)

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My background

• Ph.D .research on multicultural education in
  primary schools in Helsinki
• One of the interesting aspects
• Religious education as a part of multicultural
  education
• Preliminary ideas -gt aim to develope them to an
  article
• Perhaps some empirical material needed
• All comments are welcome

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Theoretical startpoint

• Banks(2001) model of multicultural education

• Extensive model
• Critical viewpoint is important
• To me multicultural education means all
  educational activity which aims to rise to the
  challenges of global world and multicultural
  society

1.Content integration
2. The knowledge construction process
Multicultural education
3. Prejudice Reduction
4. An equity Pedagogy
5. An empowering school culture and social
structure
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Space of religions in multicultural education?

• What is the space of religion in multicultural
  education?
• How a researcher / a teacher understands her own
  religious / non-religious background as a part of
  her identity as a multicultural educator?
• Banks dimension of knowledge construction is
  interesting
• How the position of religion is constructed in
  society and in education?
• Are religions and religious knowledge valuable?

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Religions as diversity

• Religion seen as a form of diversity
• BUT NOT as a frame of reference
• In the ME theory
• not discussed or discussed in a superficial level
  only
• Religions seen in a negative way (Hoosain
  Salili 2006).

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Different forms of diversity and cultural layers

• The layers of culture (Trompenaars
  Hampden-Turner 1997)
• Religion belongs to several layers
• Deepest level basic assumptions meaning of
  life
• If we concentrate only on the external side of
  religion, the meaning of religion as the frame of
  reference is not recognised

explicit artifacts and products
norms and values
basic assumptions, (implicit)
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The ideology behind multicultural education?

• The theory of ME based on Western viewpoint
• religion is not important (Impact of Enlightment)
• Multicultural literacy is dominated by a Western
  paradigm and perspectives (Bokhorst-Heng 2007).
• Western viewpoint is based mainly on liberalism
  (Parekh 2000)
• not accomodative for ethnic or religious
  diversity.
• Separation of public (neutral) and personal
  sphere (Kiwan 2007)

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Secular liberalism

• An ideological viewpoint
• As committed as religions (picture)
• If ones own secular frame of reference is not
  recognised
• possible to understand only the external signs of
  religions
• enables false conceptions about common viewpoint
• unrecognised looking glasses misunderstandings
  (eg. Muhammed cartoons)

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Understanding (other) religions

• Understanding of new / other religious frame of
  reference requires a transformative experience
• Transformative experience is based on learning in
  a deep level a (Mezirow 1991, Taylor 1994,
  Räsänen 2005)
• Religions include aspect of experience -
  spirituality
• Operate with fundamental and transformative
  questions of existence and life
• If religions is to be taken seriously, due
  attention must be given to the transcendent
  aspect of religious experience, practice, belief
  and doctrine. (Wright 2004, 211)
• Religious education has to be critical (Wright
  2004, 214).

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Examples

• A person with a Western secular worldview trying
  to understand the comprehensiveness and holistic
  nature of Islam
• African Christian trying to understand Finnish
  secular Christianity as true Christianity

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Religions as a part of multicultural aducation
and school policy in Finland

• In the Finnish research of multi- / intercultural
  education religions has not had much space
• The Finnish school policy, National Core
  curriculum (2004
• Perusopetuksessa eri oppiaineiden opetus on
  poliittisesti sitoutumatonta ja uskonnollisesti
  tunnustuksetonta.
• In basic education, instruction in the
  different subjects is nondenominational and
  plotically neutral.
• The definition ignores the social and
  ideological context of knowledge construction
  (Banks 2001 Puolimatka 2004). The starting point
  is secular.
• Finnish Christian traditions are seen important
  but the deeper level of cultural religious
  traditions the frame of reference religions
  offer leaves without consideration.

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Schools

• A lot of public and policy discussion about
  festivals having a Christian background
• During the past years eliminating of Christian
  traditions
• Now Christian traditions are a part of Finnish
  cultural tradition
• None of these viewpoints catch the deeper level
  of religions as a frame of reference

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In practice

• For a teacher
• important to recognise her own religious or
  non-religious background
• understanding her own and dealing with other
  frames of reference (eg. Räsänen 2005)
• A certain pluralism is needed when studying
  religions (all views are appreciated and not
  judged).
• Despite the common aspects in all religions,
  there are also differences
• All people, also teachers, come from some frame
  of reference and these can be discussed together
  in school.

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In practice

• The three current aspects to religious education
• Education for Commitment
• Education about Religion
• Open-ended exploration of world views of
  philosophies of life (Hobson Edwards 1999, 19)
• Non-confessional religious education should not
  be only relativistic comparison from the
  viewpoint of secular worldview
• The emotional experiences are important for
  transformative learning also spirituality is
  needed RE
• Spirituality is connected with cultural identity
  and its reflection is an essential part of
  critical multicultural education (Tisdell 2006)
• Critical but also emotional religious education
  as a part of multicultural education gives
  possibilities to understand people with
  different frame of reference

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Thank you!