Interreligious dialogue in schools: beyond asymmetry and categorisation?

Abstract

Interreligious dialogue is a central objective in European and UNESCO policy and research documents, in which educational institutions are seen as central places for dialogue. In this article, we discuss this type of dialogue under the conditions of asymmetry and categorisation in two Finnish schools. Finnish education has often been lauded for its successful implementation of equity and equality by the thousands of 'pedagogical tourists' who visit the country's schools to witness the so-called miracle of Finnish education due to Finland's excellent results in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. Through theoretically informed reading of ethnographic data, we examine how Self and Other are constructed in everyday encounters in school and how religions, religious groups and individuals become regarded as Others. We also ask whether the aims of interreligious dialogue in schools represent a viable way to learn about each other and to increase mutual understanding. The theoretical and methodological approaches derive from post-colonial, post-structural and related feminist theories as well as from recent research on intercultural education and communication.Uskontojenvälistä dialogia pidetään keskeisenä tavoitteena monissa eurooppalaisissa ja UNESCOn poliittisissa dokumenteissa ja tutkimusasiakirjoissa, joissa koulutusinstituutiot esitetään näissä usein keskeisiksi dialogin paikoiksi. Artikkelissamme tarkastelemme arjen kohtaamisiin liittyvää uskontodialogia sekä kohtaamisissa läsnä olevaa epäsymme-triaa ja kategorisointia kahdessa suomalaisessa koulussa. Suomalaisten koulutusjärjestel-män yhdenvertaisuutta ja tasa-arvoisuutta ovat kehuneet ne tuhannet 'koulutusturistit', jotka ovat vierailleet Suomen kouluissa tutustumassa OECD: n Programme for international student assessment (PISA) -arvioinnin erinomaisiin tuloksiin perustuvaan suomalaisen koulutuksen menestystarinaan. Tarkastelemme etnografista aineistoamme teoriasta ammentavan etnografisen luennan avulla analysoiden sitä, kuinka itse ja toinen rakentuvat koulun arjen kohtaamisissa ja kuinka uskontoja, uskonnollisia ryhmiä ja yksilöitä pidetään toisina. Pohdimme, pystyykö kouluihin sijoittuva uskontodialogi edistämään tavoitteidensa mukaisesti keskinäistä oppimista ja lisäämään keskinäistä ymmärtämistä. Artikkelimme teoreettiset ja metodologiset näkökulmat perustuvat jälkikoloniaalisiin ja jälkistrukturalistisiin feministisiin teoretisointeihin sekä viimeaikaiseen interkulttuurisen kasvatuksen ja vuorovaikutuksen tutkimukseen.

Thinking multicultural education ‘otherwise’ – from a secularist construction towards a plurality of epistemologies and worldviews

“…The construction of categories and representations is a way of using power (Riitaoja and Dervin 2014). The distinction between religious and secular maintains a situation where only religions, especially those with visible differences from the secular mainstream, are seen as having a value-laden stance.…”

“…By worldview we refer to both personal and group beliefs as well as to the wider systems of knowledge (epistemologies) that frame what can be known and how presentations of the Self and the 'Other' are constructed. However, we recognise the diversity within each group or tradition; hence, neither should groups be considered monolithic and static categories nor should related identities be viewed as essentialist items but rather as open, flexible and contextually changing ways of looking at the world (see also Holliday 2011;Dervin and Korpela 2013;Gillespie, Howarth, and Cornish 2012;Riitaoja and Dervin 2014). Focusing on the recognition of religious worldviews in the public space, we illustrate how the Western debate on religion represents a wider form of 'epistemic ethnocentrism' (Mignolo 2009), where some worldviews, knowledges (Andreotti 2010b) and stances are considered neutral, objective and public, in fact 'non-places', while other value-laden ways of looking at the world are seen as subjective, private positions and are committed to a 'tradition' (King 2009;Mignolo 2009).…”

“…Nevertheless, such a starting point contains an inherent asymmetry between the religious majority and minorities. Moreover, discussions on how the problem-oriented aim of integrating religious minorities may contribute to 'Othering' and how integration may work as a tool for domesticating 'the Other' are lacking (Riitaoja and Dervin 2014).…”

El Diálogo Interreligioso como Herramienta para Desactivar el Prejuicio

“…Diversos autores nos indican que en diferentes países, como Finlandia o Noruega, aparece un doble discurso respecto a los grupos y tradiciones religiosas donde la religión mayoritaria no se cuestiona (Riitaoja & Dervin, 2014). Se crea una jerarquía entre las diferentes tradiciones lo cual se refleja de nuevo en aspectos como la indumentaria.…”

“…Esta jerarquía va desde los fineses de religión mayoritaria, a los conversos y finalmente los fineses extranjeros. En este contexto, el diálogo intercultural se convierte en un medio para asimilar a las personas estudiantes de minorías étnicas, religiosas y culturales, forzándoles a renunciar a su identidad (Riitaoja & Dervin, 2014).…”