Religious Education in Secularist Kindergartens? Pedagogical Leaders on Religion in Norwegian Ecec

Bibliographic Data

ID3298337
AuthorsOlav Hovdelien (0000-0003-0921-5721, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, corresponding author), Helje Kringlebotn Sødal (University of Agder)
Year2022
Volume13
Issue3
Pages202
Publication date2022-02-26
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel13030202
OpenAlexW4214619910
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited13

According to the legal framework, religion forms a certain part of Norwegian early childhood education in publicly owned kindergartens. As the only Scandinavian country where this is the case, the object clause (statement of purpose) for Norwegian kindergartens defines basic values in the Christian and humanist heritage and tradition as the value foundation for the institution. In this article we explore the impact of the processes of secularization and pluralization on the pedagogical content of early childhood education, and how some pedagogical leaders understand the religious elements. Empirically, the article is partly based on qualitative interviews targeting seven public kindergartens in the counties of Oslo and Agder, and partly on interpretations of their planning documents, of which many are publicly available. The pedagogical staff express loyalty to the legal framework regulating early childhood education but seem to be more concerned with religious diversity and religious minorities than with majority religion and religion as an expression of Christian heritage and traditions

Humanism · Institution · Loyalty · Norwegian · Pedagogy · Political science · Religious education · Secularization · Social science · Sociology · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Theology, and Education · Religious Education and Schools

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