Vad ska religionsämnet vara bra för? : En undersökning angående elevers uppfattning om religion och religionsundervisning från ett interkulturellt perspektiv

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the lower secondary school teaching in religion leads to a positive understanding and openness, concerning different religions and cultures. We want to study how pupils in grade eight and nine in two lower secondary schools in a multicultural community comprehend different religions. Since we choose a pupils perspective we decided to do a questionnaire to get a wide ground. As a complement we interviewed twelve pupils and also did observations during their religion classes. During our study we focused on three different themes. These themes are the abrahamitic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) Hinduism & Buddhism and attitudes to religion. Our theoretical point of view is the intercultural perspective. Therefore we have studied government’s documents and propositions about intercultural education and we have also used an anthology by Pirjo Lahdenperä called Interkulturell pedagogik i teori och praktik (2004). We aim to investigate if the teaching in religion is compatible with the intercultural education. The thesis reveals that there are lots of prejudices among the pupils in these two schools. We think that it is important that the teaching in religion must focus not only at the Christianity in younger ages. The subject must contain other religions like Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism in much earlier age. Otherwise the pupils will create their own picture of the different religions through media. The Swedish governments goals about school (LPO 94) and the document about the teaching in religion (kursplanen i religionskunskap) both can, according to us, be used as tools for intercultural education. The problem is that the teachers do not know how to use these tools. The methods of intercultural education must be clearer and the teachers more conscious. Before that happens, we can not state that the education is totally intercultural. We have a big challenge in front of us when we finally will step out on the labour market