Published: 2016-11-13

THE PLACE OF CHRISTIANism IN SWEDISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS: HISTORICAL OUTLINE AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL DISCOURSE

Ewa Teodorowicz-Hellman
Pedagogical Forum
Section: Articles and essays
https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2014.1.04

Abstract

The author shows how the place for Christian religions in Swedish elementary school curricula has changed over time. The presented analysis reveals that religious education classes have evolved from lessons devoted to Luther’s teachings to lessons about world religions and ethical issues. It appears that religious education classes in their present form, including their teaching content, are the result of Sweden’s advanced laicization and secularization, but also, to a large extent, the result of Swedish society’s shift towards multiculturalism and relativism of values. Faith is becoming more and more an individual and private issue in Sweden. The social discourse on religious traditions as an element of the activity of contemporary Swedish schools presented in the paper indicates how certain organizations are attempting to eliminate Christian elements from the education of the young generation, often without realizing that they constitute an inherent element of Swedish culture.

Keywords:

Sweden, Swedish school, religion in school, religion in Sweden, Christian religions, impartiality in religious education, ethics

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Citation rules

Teodorowicz-Hellman, E. (2016). THE PLACE OF CHRISTIANism IN SWEDISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS: HISTORICAL OUTLINE AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL DISCOURSE. Pedagogical Forum, 4(1), 55–72. https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2014.1.04

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