"There is beauty in diversity" : Kenyan teacher educators' religious and worldview competence

Kenya’s education system and Kenyan teachers are confronted with growing diversity in classrooms and the hierarchies that come along with it (Möllendorff 2022). As role models for future teachers, a lot of responsibility is placed on the shoulders of Kenyan teacher educators to train pre-service competent to face these challenges and become reflective professionals (see Moloney & Turunen 2019). Religious diversity and religious freedom, in particular, have been a very discussed topic during the last decade. Religious and worldview competence, thus, becomes necessary for teachers. This competence concerns attitudes, knowledge, and skills for encountering and interacting with religious and worldview diversity. The aim of this research is to investigate the religious and worldview competence of the teacher trainers who participated in the TOTEMK-project’s fourth training during winter 2022-2023. My goal is to find out what knowledge, attitudes, and skills in relation to religious and worldview competence the studied teacher trainers have. Additionally, I am interested in finding out how the TOT4 training lectures and materials speak to the model of religious and worldview competence and if the teacher educators share more views related to the theme after the training. The theoretical framework is based on studies addressing religious and intercultural competence. Following Darla Deardorff’s (2006) model of intercultural competence and other studies about religious and worldview competence, I adapted a new model of religious and worldview competence to support the research. The study was conducted following case study strategy (see Yin 2009). The research data was gathered by two questionnaires. The materials of the TOTEMK-training were also used as qualitative data. The data analysis methods were thematic analysis and participant observation. The data reveals that the studied teacher trainers had a lot to say in relation to religious and worldview diversity and they were aware of the issues concerning the theme already prior to the training. Based on the findings, the interlocutors have a good overall knowledge of religious and worldview diversity. The findings suggest that their attitudes generally are quite positive towards religious and worldview diversity, while some interlocutors expressed reserved attitudes towards certain religions and worldviews. Some of the participants were able to express having important skills in relation to religious and worldview competence. According to the analysis, the training presentations reflected well on the model of religious and worldview competence. Based on the teacher trainers’ self reporting, the training enhanced their awareness of religious and worldview diversity and awoke new views concerning the theme. In the future, the findings of the study could be used to create a more profound study for a longer period of time and combining together different versatile study methods such as observation, interviews and self-reporting