Diverse worldviews education and social inclusion: a comparison between Finnish and Australian approaches to build intercultural and interreligious understanding

Abstract

Ongoing global issues relating to the decline of the popularity of institutional religions, the rise of numbers of non-religious persons, and new models of spirituality in superdiverse societies have resulted in the need to reconceptualise religious diversity as worldviews diversity, and to critically examine increasing calls for the provision of worldviews education in schools. This paper first examines the key concepts of superdiversity and religious complexity in contemporary societies. It then presents an overview of scholarship pertaining to the concepts of worldviews and worldviews education. It next provides case studies of worldview/s education in Finland and Australia, drawing on data of recently completed qualitative and quantitative studies in the two countries. Finally, it concludes with a comparative analysis of the two contexts, and recommendations pertaining to worldviews education as a means of enhancing cross-cultural literacy, positive attitudes to religious diversity and thereby social inclusion.

Finnish teachers’ approaches to personal worldview expressions: A question of professional autonomy and ethics

“…Hence, it has been debated whether the use of a too general worldview concept is relativistic, individualistic and is linked to the concept of ideology (Ubani 2021). The concept is much debated especially in the religious and worldview education context (Cooling, Bowie, and Panjwani 2020;Lipiäinen, Halahoff, Mansouri, andBouma 2020), andBråten (2021) has recently placed the concept of worldviews in an educational context more broadly. A worldview is understood in this study following descriptions of it as 'a vision of life' and 'a way of life' (Valk and Tosun 2016), and it has been divided into organised/institutional, and personal/private dimensions.…”

A critical reflection on the Commission on Religious Education’s proposed National Entitlement to Religion and Worldviews in England and Wales

“…Research into how RE might respond to social diversities better is becoming a prevailing trend internationally (Gunnarsson, 2020;Lipiäinen et al, 2020;Sierra-Huedo & Fernández Romero, 2020;Ubani et al 2020).…”

“…Also Cooling, 2020. The need for RE to reclaim relevancy in response to the combination of secularisation and diversity in societies is picked up by Lipiäinen et al (2020) and Shaw (2020). For CoRE Religion and Worldviews has two interlaced strands; a novel approach to representing religious and non-religious traditions, and activating this approach in curriculum design and teaching.…”

“…Personal development-sometimes associated with moral and spiritual developmentand social development, normally associated with intercultural and interreligious understanding, are commonly expected instrumental purposes of RE and worldviews education internationally and nationally (Cooling, 2020;Lipiäinen et al, 2020). Orchard (2020) observes how Hand's (2004) 'socialisation justification' for RE has in more recent literature been reframed as 'religious literacy', itself a contested term.…”

Leading school with diverse worldviews: Finnish principals’ perceptions

“…These dimensions are, for example, power positions in Finnish society as well as the social context, including the historical, intellectual and political context and the effects that they have on individuals' identities and worldviews (Collins and Bilge 2016). Moreover, the emphasis on individuals' rights and the importance of defining and improving their own worldviews concerns schools and creates a need to understand more the lived realities that worldviews have in the school context (see Lipiäinen et al 2020b). Our own study focuses on identifying worldviews and worldview actualisations, including its complex and lived realities.…”