Scout leaders and Christian religious education : a focus group study about the reflections of scout leaders on Christian religious education in the Scout Movement of the United Methodist Church in Norway

The problem question of this master thesis is: what reflections do scout leaders in the United Methodist Church scout movement in Norway have on Christian education of scouts? The problem question is investigated through a qualitative method building on focus group interviews with scout leaders. The results are measured against the theory of education about didactic models, and theory of the content and methods of education. The findings can be divided into overarching reflections, reflections related to the content of education and the methods of education. The overarching reflections includes reflections on that scouting has a low-threshold approach where preaching is toned down. The content of Christian education ranges from a major focus on ethics and morale to a major focus on both ethics and morale as well as contemporary Christianity. In the methods of education the reflections ranges from not having any worship to having worship. Both groups have scout services as a part of the work. The findings indicate that it can be useful for scout leaders and congregation to speak about the goal of working with scout issues and the content and methods of Christian education, to ensure that the scouts will receive such a broad education in Christianity as possible