A sense of belonging : A qualitative interview study on interculturality in religious education for grades 4-6
Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This qualitative study is interested in how religion teachers can promote inclusion and multiculturalism in the classroom. It focuses on finding out which strategies teachers use for an intercultural approach, which strategies work and which don't. The study is based on a teacher's perspective and has consisted of interviews with 5 different religion teachers in Växjö, Sweden. The results of the survey show that teachers use the strategies: comparisons between religions, venn diagrams, role plays, discussions, stories from different people, field trips, stories from sacred texts, inclusion of students' thoughts and reflections in teaching and source criticism. In addition to the teachers' responses, we also found from the literature that reading literature and integrating native language teachers into teaching are success factors for an intercultural approach. To the question of why the strategies do not work, we have seen that students who find it difficult to broaden their perspective and students who find it difficult to hold discussions are a challenge for an intercultural approach. Another aspect that we have observed as a challenge for an intercultural approach is religious literacy and students' varying levels of knowledge in religion. One way to reduce the distance between students' knowledge levels is to work with life issues that are of common interest to all students. The conclusion of the study is that focusing only on similarities between religions can be misleading and have possible consequences. Teaching should be experiential and innovative to include all students in the classroom. It is also important to have an awareness that students have varying religious literacy, in order to be able to make qualitative choices in religious education.
Source: DiVA (Linnaeus University)
Authors: Forssmed, Molly, Janbert, Frida
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7043165920