The dilemma of teacher's students: Knowledge, objectivity and religious influence : An interview study on personal religiosity, secularization, teacher intermediation and the view of religious freedom in the Swedish school

The Swedish society is characterized by both its reputation of being one of the most secularized countries in the world, but also as a country co-existence of different lifestyles and ethnicities. The school submits to the non-confessional agenda and in the subject of religious education all pupils are taught the same content regardless of personal religion. The thesis of this study has been developed out of an interest as a religious teacher student myself on how personal religion is relatable and practicable to the Swedish school. The study is set to explore and analyze how teacher students in religious education reflect upon their personal religion in relation to their upcoming profession. The pros and cons regard being religious in the Swedish school system and how the debate on freedom of religion is constructed. The results presented is based on eight semi structured interviews that have been the key for producing data by which to research the mentioned proposition. Two theories are used for the purpose of analyzing the results, socialization theory and the post-colonial theory. Within these theories there are huge possibilities to reflect on personal religion, teacher influence and approaches to knowledge within the cultural geographic discourse in Sweden. The results show that personal religion is a complex discourse. Many of the informants mention a fear of being accused of acting confessional or targeted as a less competent and rational teacher when confessing religious belonging. The way the students talk about religion in relation to the school suggests that the secular norm has a huge impact on both teachers and pupils. The secular norm counts as a reflection of the Swedish society and is therefore also viewed as a neutral point of view. When objectivity comes into mention it’s often related to both rationality, true knowledge and with a non-religious co-existence. Therefore, the negative effects of religious teachers, such as influence and subjectivity, are focused on more than the assets. While some argue that the school as an employer in a utopia rather would have only non-religiose teachers the majority of the interviewed students still claims the freedom of religion should be applied at all time, and especially in school. According to the students the freedom of religion is crucial for the democratic values and the vast understanding of others, but they also claim that the school as a whole needs to work more actively with the subject.