Making minority faith (in)visible through religious education: parents’ experiences of the identification of their children’s Orthodox identity in Finnish public schools

Abstract

The focus of this article is on parents' experiences with and perceptions of their children's religious education (RE). The data consist of letters from 41 parents of Finnish Orthodox children and youth. In the letters, the parents describe their understanding of minority religious upbringing and how it is affected by different factors like RE. RE is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, and it is taught in groups consisting of children with the same religious backgrounds. The main questions in this article are (1) how do the parents view the arrangements for Orthodox RE to make their children's minority religious affiliation visible at school, and (2) what is the effect of RE on the formation of their children's minority identity? The analyses show that parents perceive RE as an important factor in their children's identity formation. Despite the sometimes inadequate arrangements for Orthodox RE in school, the parents are mostly happy with the subject and with their children's RE teachers. RE makes the minority religious affiliation of Orthodox children both visible and invisible: their difference from the majority is exposed, but minority RE classes often take place outside of regular school hours and even outside of school premises.

‘When somebody tells you who you are’

“…Minorites appreciate RE in their own religious tradition at school, with their own groups and their own teachers (Metso 2019;Rissanen 2014Rissanen , 2019Rissanen , 2021Zilliacus 2014). According to the narratives collected for this article the minorities experience their own RE as helping to diminish internalized oppression and assimilation.…”

O ensino religioso na perspectiva de pais e alunos da escola pública

“…Para tanto, desenvolvem-se programas de inclusão das demandas minoritárias, a exemplo de grupos religiosos ortodoxos, ao mesmo tempo em que procura dar voz e visibilidade nas escolas a estes grupos, tornando-os mais visíveis suas crenças e fortalecendo a suas identidades. Assim, as aulas de educação religiosa nas escolas da Finlândia poder ser organizadas fora do horário regular dos estabelecidos no planejamento curricular, ou mesmo, fora das instituições escolares (METSO, 2019).…”

“…O sistema educacional finlandês, por exemplo, procurou reafirmar as identidades discentes ao dar maior visibilidade às suas crenças e/ou religiosidades (STEFANO, 2017). Considerado um dos melhores sistemas educacionais, na Finlândia a educação religiosa procurava incluir a população minoritária, tornando-a mais visíveis suas crenças (METSO, 2019).…”

Looking for Hidden Notebooks: Analysing Social Exclusion Experienced by Teachers of Minority Religions in Finnish Schools

“…Moreover, children from these families of foreign language speakers often choose to join minority Religious Education (RE) groups in School (Okulov 2021). Furthermore, research shows that both students and parents of minorities appreciate education of their religion (Aikonen 2012;Metso 2019;Rissanen, Tirri & Kuusisto 2015;Zilliacus 2014). Today, there are 14 curricula for minority religions approved by the National Agency for Education in Finland (Opetushallitus 2021).…”

“…Although previous research has been conducted on a range of religious minorities in schools in Finland (Zilliacus 2014), the studies usually tend to focus on one specific religious minority, either Orthodox Christian or Islam (Aikonen 2012;Metso 2019;Rissanen 2014Rissanen , 2018Rissanen, Tirri & Kuusisto 2015). Although Rissanen et al (2020) have written about Religious Education (RE) and the importance of religious literacy more broadly, they also mainly focus on Islamic Religious Education.…”