Kvalitativ forskjellsbehandling i fremstillingen av buddhisme og kristendom i lærebøker for faget Religion og etikk

Abstract

Qualitative unequal treatment in the presentation of Buddhism and Christianity in textbooks for the subject Religion and ethics. This article examines how Religion Education1 textbooks in Norwegian upper secondary school administer and maintain the principle of qualitative equal treatment of religions by analyzing and comparing the presentation of Buddhism and Christianity. Using a discursive approach, this study shows that Buddhism is treated qualitatively different from Christianity in the textbooks for the subject Religion and ethics. The textbooks’ understanding of the national context, the status of the majority religion, and assumptions about religion and culture in general, influence the representation of Buddhism. As textbooks have authoritative status as knowledge base for learning about diverse religions (Andreassen, 2014), and function as an important tool for the evaluation and grading of students, this study can have important consequences for upper secondary school religion education in Norway.