TA 5/2009 (114. vuosikerta)

The Importance of the Teacher’s Religious Conviction in School Teaching and Religious Education — The article discusses how important a teacher’s religious conviction is in school teaching, particularly religious education. Sources used include Finnish textbooks in pedagogics and the pedagogics of religion from the late 19th century to the 2000s. The study shows that both in primary school and secondary school, ‘faith of the heart’ on part of the teacher was a commonly held ideal until the turn of the 20th century, but with the enactment of the Freedom of Religion Act, this ideal disappeared from the official regulations concerning both school teaching in general and religious education in particular. In the pedagogy of religion, however, the ideal remained a key factor up until the 1970s. This was due mainly to the influence of Martti H. Haavio, whose view was that an RE teacher was a witness of God and a proponent of His word. The personality of the teacher continues to be an important element in the teaching process, but there are no longer any set conditions for the teacher’s religious conviction.

Current Topics in Religious Education in Schools and RE Subject-teacher Training — The article first discusses current topics in religious education in Europe and presents major themes therein. It then goes on to discuss religious education and its development in Finland, followed by a focus on the profession of an RE subject teacher and the training for this profession. The article highlights key issues in subject-teacher training in RE and observes how the profession could be developed.

Value Questions for Religious Education and RE Teachers in Development of Comprehensive School — In the 1960s, religious education was evaluated largely in the legislative process of setting up the comprehensive school system, and also in public debate. The political left felt that confessional religion should be left out of comprehensive school. The key issue was how confessional religious education should be understood. While one side of the debate was willing to seek alternative solutions, RE teachers and the Lutheran Church favoured the confessional religion model. After numerous discussions and committee work, the confessional religion model was adopted in the comprehensive school curriculum. Several studies have been conducted concerning this process, but unofficial data and the personal feelings of the teachers were not recorded at the time. It is not clear whether the issues debated in committee and in the legislative process were the same ones that were important for a teacher at the classroom level. What is evident is that RE teachers were strongly in favour of confessional religious education during this process.

The European RE Teacher — The article discusses the profession of RE teacher in Fin-land and in Europe. The empirical material was gained as part of the TRES project (Teaching Religion in a Multicultural European society). A survey was broadly circulated among RE teachers in sixteen countries in the TRES network in winter 2007 (N = 3408), and 163 Finnish RE teachers were among the respondents. The article describes the views of these Finnish teachers on religious education and compares these to the views of teachers in other European countries concerning the status of religion and RE in Europe. The findings show that teachers on the whole take a positive attitude towards multiculturalism. Finnish RE teachers consider that the status of religion in schools is good and emphasize its social significance. They seem to choose their teaching methods largely on a pedagogical basis, with regard to the class level in question.

Challenges for Equality in Religious and Ethics Education: Religious Education for Small Groups and Ethics Teaching in Finland — In the last few decades, Finnish society has become culturally pluralist, and religious education in schools has broadened from the Evangelical-Lutheran and Orthodox to include RE for ‘small groups’. With the increase in the number of areligious students, the number of participants in ethics classes is also constantly growing. This article discusses Finnish developments in RE for small groups and ethics teaching, work on the curriculum and the teacher training situation. It also discusses how well the principle of equality in education is achieved within the current law and practice in Finland.