Balancing Differences through Highlighting the Common: Religious Education Teachers’ Perceptions of the Diversity of Islam in Islamic Religious Education in Finnish State Schools

Abstract

Muslims are Finland’s largest and fastest-growing religious minority. In Finnish state schools, the number of pupils studying Islamic religious education (IRE) has almost doubled in a decade, and IRE has its own national curriculum, which is based on the general principles of Islam. Pupils are diverse in terms of their languages, cultures, ethnicities and in their religious and worldview backgrounds, religious diversity being reflected in the religious education curriculum content in which the diversity of Islam is addressed. In this study, we examine the diversity of Islam in IRE. The research results are based on interviews with IRE teachers (N = 17) working in comprehensive schools in the capital region of Finland, and we use data-driven content analysis to explore teachers’ perceptions. This study shows that IRE teachers use balancing pedagogical tools in order to deal with the diversity of Islam. According to the findings of our study, dealing with this diversity in religious education requires a dialogicity that both highlights and blurs differences related to diversity. Religion-related dialogue in IRE provides an arena for a balanced discussion about religious differences as well as what they have in common.