Pupils and worldview expression in an integrative classroom context

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore pupil perspectives on religions and worldviews in a mutual integrative space of religious and worldview education in a Finnish context. Analysing group interview data (N = 38) gathered from lower secondary school pupils attending mutual classes of religious and worldview education, the article explores how religious and non-religious worldviews can be explored in order to enhance subjectification in worldview education. The findings indicate that for pupils, the heterogeneity and lived dimensions reflected in personal worldviews, and questions relating to meaning, emotion and individuality in worldviews, are at the forefront in learning from religions and worldviews. The experiences of the pupils indicate that the concepts employed in religious and worldview education concerning religions and worldview phenomena should be examined critically in the light of the personal meaning making level of the pupils themselves.

Leading school with diverse worldviews: Finnish principals’ perceptions

“…The list of identified worldviews in this study confirms the complexity, plurality and diversity of worldviews. Previous research shows that especially young people have complex, albeit shallow (Åhs, Poulter, and Kallioniemi 2019;Kuusisto and Kallioniemi 2017), dynamic, and non-linear worldviews (Helve 2015). It is certainly difficult to identify something which is not clear to the pupils themselves, and therefore plurality itself has been emphasised in our study.…”

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

“…These kinds of complex, albeit shallow, worldviews have been observed especially among young people (Åhs, Poulter, and Kallioniemi 2019b;Beyer 2013;Halafoff and Gobey 2018;Helve 2015;Jackson 2017;Kallioniemi 2014, 2017;Singleton et al 2019). The nature of young people's worldviews has been described as 'mosaic' (Kuusisto and Kallioniemi 2017, 97) or 'hybrid' (Halafoff and Gobey 2018, 273-275), with both terms referring to increased complexity and fluidity.…”

Finnish and Turkish Student Teachers’ Views on Virtual Worldview Dialogue

“…22 A lived religion refers to the ways in which religions are manifested in the ordinary lives of communities, groups and individuals. Åhs, Poulter, & Kallioniemi 23 have also applied the concept to a worldview as a similar lived entity. Just like the lived notion of religion, the lived worldview emphasizes the heterogeneousness and diverse individual interpretations in which worldviews are carried out in daily practices, rituals, habits, moral choices, etc.…”

“…Therefore, we see it as fundamental to create educational interventions to overcome these boundaries between the religious in religion and the non-religiosity of secular worldview. 34…”