Objektiv verklighetsbeskrivning eller motverkande av traditionella könsroller? : Hur två grundläggande värden inom skolans uppdrag och värdegrund kan stå i konflikt med varandra i läroböcker i religionskunskap.

The aim of this paper is to examine how authors of textbooks used in religious education in Swedish schools cope with the two following aspects: 1) How to objectively and accurately describe the various religious traditions that are included in what is commonly understood as the five major world religions and their patriarchal patterns; and 2) How to avoid reproducing traditional gender roles, which is part of the central values fundamental to the Swedish school system stipulated by the government. In order to do so, three textbooks were examined, using both a qualitative text analysis, and a quantitative picture analysis. The research questions asked include how the authors portray men’s and women’s religiosity, whether men are seen as the neutral norm, and what message the pictures chosen to accompany the texts portray to the reader. Theories concerning the male primacy and androcentric tendencies in the descriptions of religious traditions developed by researchers Yvonne Hirdman and Jeanette Sky were used in order to analyze the results. The results of the study show that two main approaches for how the authors have handled the seemingly contradictory objectives can be distinguished. The first approach is in line with the goal of an objective and detailed description of the different religious traditions and their patriarchal tendencies, as the authors include an account of the different roles assigned to people according to gender. The other approach focuses more on the general values portrayed by the religions, in which both men and women can be included, connected to central values of the Swedish schools. However, they might do so at the expense of portraying a complete picture, thus obscuring the predicaments of the gender hierarchies