scholarly journals Jihadists and Refugees at the Theatre: Global Conflicts in Classroom Practices in Sweden

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin K. Flensner ◽  
Göran Larsson ◽  
Roger Säljö

In democratic societies schools have an obligation to address complex societal issues such as ethnic/religious tensions and social conflicts. The article reports an exploratory study of how theatre plays were used in upper-secondary schools to generate pedagogically relevant platforms for addressing the current Middle East conflicts and their impact on European societies in the context of religious education and civics. The schools are situated in areas with substantive migrant populations of mixed backgrounds, and this has implications for how these issues are understood as a lived experience. In the same classrooms, there were students who had refugee backgrounds, who represented different interpretations of Islam, and religion more generally, and whose families were victims of terrorism. There were also students with strong nationalist views. The study is ethnographic documenting theatre visits and classroom activities in relation to two plays about the Middle East situation. The results show that plays may open up new opportunities for addressing these issues, but that they may also be perceived as normative and generate opposition. An interesting observation is that a play may generate space for students to tell their refugee story in class, which personalized the experience of what it means to be a refugee.

Prismet ◽  
1970 ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Ulrika Svalfors

Denna artikel diskuterar hur ungdomars egna erfarenheter kan användas som en resurs i undervisning för hållbar utveckling inom religionskunskapen. Diskussionen sker mot bakgrund av en intervjustudie bland sistaårselever på fyra gymnasieskolor i Sverige. I dessa intervjuer framkommer det att ungdomar har gedigna erfarenheter av såväl engagemang som makt och uthållighet som är så pass integrerade med ungdomars uppfattningar om sig själva att de kan betraktas som delar av deras livsåskådning. Dessa erfarenheter kan därmed utgöra en resurs i undervisning om hållbar utveckling, vilket blir tydligt i religionskunskapen. Hållbar utveckling är ett tema som kan bidra till att stärka elevernas hermeneutiska förmåga och till mångfald – centralt för religionskunskapen och nödvändigt för en hållbar utveckling.Nyckelord: ungdomar, livsåskådning, religionskunskap, hermeneutisk förmåga, engagemang, makt, uthållighet, utbildning för hållbar utveckling, gymnasieskolan, SverigeThis article discusses how young people's own experiences can be used as a resource for sustainable development education within religious education. The discussion takes place in the light of an interview study among last year's students at four upper secondary schools in Sweden. In these interviews, it appears that young people have a solid experience of commitment as well as power and stamina that are so integrated with their perceptions of themselves that they can be regarded as part of their world view. Hence, these experiences become a resource for education for sustainable development, which become clear in religious education. Sustainable development is a theme that reinforces the students’ hermeneutical competence and contributes to diversity – central for religious education and necessary for sustainable development.Keywords: youth, world view, religious education, hermeneutical competence, commitment, power, stamina, education for sustainable development, upper secondary school, Sweden


Author(s):  
Andrzej Borowski

The effectiveness of teaching the religion depends on the degree of the linguistic efficiency for the sender and for the recipient and by the degree of linguistic awareness of the religion instruction teacher i.e. his knowledge about mechanisms of the linguistic intercommunication. In the religious education transmission it seems essential to be perceiving language of the religious education by pupils. Amongst pupils and religion instruction teachers from primary schools and post-secondary a belief that the new manuals are adapted for the age and the level of the religious knowledge of pupils is dominating, they aren't proposing more serious linguistic problems concerning remarks. This belief results from the low-end acquaintance of the religious /terminology pupil’s/ and of religion instruction teacher’s /conformism/. Pupils of upper secondary schools are more conscious of their gaps in the knowledge of a language religious however the little percentage is only trying to make up for these gaps through the participation in active religious education /especially this beyond the school/.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Flensner

Secularization and diversity are two social features that characterize the contemporary world. The rhetoric of the public debate in a number of countries has become increasingly polarized and characterized by a “we” and “them” thinking that relates a national “we” to a specific religion. This occurs in part as a reaction to the changes in national monocultural paradigms as most communities today are characterized by pluralism regarding lifestyles, religion, language and geographical background. Thus, secularization processes are ongoing while many countries, not least Sweden, are becoming increasingly pluralistic and multi-religious. The school and classrooms are a mirror of the communities they are a part of. The aim of the article is to explore how secularization and increasing pluralism finds expression and interact in the classroom practice of Religious Education. The analysis is based on ethnographic data from classroom observations of Religious Education in four different Swedish upper secondary schools. The results indicate that secularism and non-religious positions are considered a neutral and objective position and that secularism is used as a way to maneuver diversity in the classroom which affects the possibilities of dialogue and understanding.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-202
Author(s):  
Siti Rohmah ◽  
M. Syukri Ismail ◽  
Moh. Anas Kholish ◽  
Mona Novita

Some circles suggest that the phenomenon of intolerance and religious conflict in Indonesia will be reduced by a religious education model dominated by a mono-religious approach. The approach that focuses on deepening the knowledge of all religions is considered to be the cause of the persistence of interfaith stigma and prejudice. However, there are objections from various circles to the concept and application of interreligious education which requires close dialogue and interaction, an appreciative attitude, and openness to adherents of other religions. This article argues that the development of a peaceful and diverse mono-religious education approach is possible. This study employs Mohammed Abu-Nimer's theory as an alternative model of Islamic peace education that is strategic, participatory and practical; it focuses on his experience in conflict areas and in the Islamic education environment, which is often stigmatized conservatively in the Middle East and Africa. This study confirms that monoreligious education provides room for peace education that builds pedagogy of tolerance, diversity and human rights.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Persson ◽  
Ulf Leo ◽  
Inger Arvidsson ◽  
Carita Håkansson ◽  
Kerstin Nilsson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background While poor mental health and psychiatric disorders attributed to stressful work conditions are a public health concern in many countries, the health consequences of the occupational stress experienced by school principals is an understudied issue. Although current data is lacking, some research suggests that principals have a stressful work situation that eventually may lead to burnout and exhaustion disorder, thus negatively affecting the ability of principals to function as leaders. To gauge the situation in Sweden, and as a basis for future preventive actions, we examined to what extent principals displayed signs of exhaustion and whether the prevalence rates of exhaustion differed across school levels, length of work experience as a principal, and gender. Methods Principals (N = 2219; mean age 49 years [SD 7 years]; 78% women) working at least 50% in pre-schools, compulsory schools, upper secondary schools or adult education completed a cross-sectional web survey entailing two validated inventories: The Karolinska Exhaustion Disorder Scale (KEDS) and the Lund University Checklist for Incipient Exhaustion (LUCIE). Data was analysed using traditional non-parametric methods. Gender stratification achieved covariate balance when analysing school level and length of work experience. Results Altogether, 29.0% of the principals met the exhaustion criteria in KEDS. The prevalence rates for the four LUCIE-steps of increasing signs of exhaustion were: no signs of stress, 48.8%; weak signs of stress, 25.6%; clear signs of stress but no exhaustion, 15.4%; possible exhaustion disorder, 10.2%. Compared with male principals, female principals reported more signs of possible exhaustion disorder in both LUCIE and KEDS. School level was not associated with reports of exhaustion symptoms in neither LUCIE nor KEDS. Among male principals, length of work experience was associated with exhaustion symptoms in KEDS. Conclusions A large group of Swedish principals working in pre-schools, compulsory schools, upper secondary schools or adult education displayed a symptomatology of signs of exhaustion that if sustained might lead to poor health. This observation suggests that education authorities, or other relevant stakeholders, ought to take some form of preventive action. However, effective combinations of individual, group, organisational, and/or societal preventive activities remain to be identified and tested.


Author(s):  
Iwona Niewiadomska ◽  
Rafał P. Bartczuk ◽  
Joanna Chwaszcz ◽  
Stanisław Fel ◽  
Weronika Augustynowicz ◽  
...  

Abstract This article explores the question, to what degree religiosity contributes, as a protecting factor against a broad category of socially deviant adolescent and youth behaviours. It also tests the hypothesis that gender plays a moderating role in the relationship between religiosity and problem behaviour. It employs a modified version of the Problem Behaviour Syndrome Measure (PBSM), in concert with Jessor and Jessor’s conceptual work. It also makes use of the Duke Religion Index (DUREL) to assess religiosity. The empirical study deals with a representative group of 960 students of upper-secondary schools in the Lubelskie province, Poland. The results were analyzed using canonical analysis and ANOVA. The achievements of the article are twofold. First, it identifies significant correlations between the different levels of religiosity among youth, and the occurrence and intensification of problem behaviours, particularly in regard to organized activity. Organized and intrinsic religiosity play principal protective roles, while the impact of personal religious practices is less significant. Secondly, while analyzing the moderating role of gender in the relationship between religiosity and the intensity of problem behaviour, it was found that gender does not have a significant interactive impact. An affirmative conclusion was confirmed in only two instances.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sovansophal Kao

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the effects of Cambodia's New Generation Schools (NGS), as compared to their traditional counterparts, in enhancing the seven constructs: (1) science and math achievement, (2) science and math self-efficacy, (3) science and math outcome expectations, (4) attitudes toward science, (5) interactive science and math lessons, (6) support from science and math teachers and (7) encouragement and support in science from family.Design/methodology/approachThe two observations data was collected using self-rated questionnaire from 301 11th graders from five upper secondary schools located in three provinces of Cambodia. Independent sample t-test, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and dependent sample t-test were used to analyze the repeated measures data.FindingsThe study revealed that students from the NGS exhibited statistically higher scores for most constructs, especially for attitudes toward science. However, when controlling for the differences in the first observation data, the significant effects of the three constructs have been neutralized. Moreover, though there was an increase in science activities outside school, there was a negative trajectory in the other two sub-constructs of attitudes toward science and support from science and math teachers, both in NGS and traditional schools.Practical implicationsThese findings point some practical implications for enhancing the effectiveness of the two school types and further research.Originality/valueThere is heavy investment in new form of schools across the world to enhance students' learning and academic achievement in science and math in K-12 and to promote their interest in STEM in higher education. However, there is little document on the effectiveness of this new form of school, particularly in the Cambodian context.


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