The Inclusion of Minority Religious Education in the Finnish Comprehensive School

A Teacher and Teacher Coordinator Perspective

Abstract

The Finnish education system offers faith-specific religious education throughout the comprehensive school. Today separate minority religious classes are offered parallel to the majority Lutheran and secular ethics education. The purpose of this study is to investigate how minority RE teachers and teacher coordinators view the inclusion of minority religious education in the school culture. Teacher and coordinator perspectives are investigated through an interview study with 23 religion teachers and 3 teacher coordinators in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The results show that teachers and coordinators experienced education as gaining stronger acceptance and equality in the school culture. However, issues of exclusion and discrimination emerged which raise questions on the viability of the current system of RE. The study argues for a need to improve structural issues in education as well as increased teacher participation and dialogue in the school culture.