This article presents some of the theoretical and methodological considerations in studying religious and cultural diversity in Finnish, Swedish and Estonian comprehensive schools. The perspective arises from our experiences of carrying out an international comparative research project looking at pupils´perspectives to diversity in the educational settings and their wider everyday environments.  The data were gathered in diverse comprehensive school contexts across Sweden, Estonia and Finland. The article illustrates several important issues that are often lacking in the studies in this area and need to be accounted for when examining cultural and religious diversity in the schools and the everyday lives of children and youth.

The presentation discusses how different models of learning religion promote respect for the right to freedom of religion or belief. Three different models of learning about religion are offered in Estonian schools: there are schools with no Religious Education, others have inclusive Religious Education, and there are also religiously-oriented schools with a confessional approach to teaching religion. The article draws on data of the research done in the framework of REDCo project (the main project 2006-2009, replicative study in 2012) and also CARDIPS project (2014). The research projects studied students' views about how they see religion in education. The samples consist of students from different Estonian regions and different experience of learning about religions. Their attitudes to two questions are studied. First, how do students differ in their own attitudes about the need to respect a person who is of a different religion? Second, what do young people think about religious freedoms in the school context? The results of the study call out for discussion of practicing religious freedom in school and practices what may best contribute to a tolerant society.

Research project "Cultural and religious diversity in primary school" investigates the pupil’s experience of cultural and religious diversity in selected schools from Sweden and Estonia,  structural factors on that experience and the effect of variation in age and family tradition. The countries represent different experiences of cultural and religious diversity.

The research applies mixed methods approach. Surveys are carried out with both quantitative and qualitative components. Questionnaire data from pupils (special questionnaires for 3rd, 6th and 9th grade, it is 9-10, 12-13 and 15-16 year old pupils) is supplemented with interviews of a small number of the pupils, their teachers and parents.

The paper analyses 3rd graders drawings about what makes them happy. The dawings were part  of the questionnaire about cultural and religious diversity in their everyday experience and at school. The paper answers the question, what values can be found in drawings of boys and girls aged 9-10 from different religious and ethnic backgrounds in two different countries.

In religious education we can distinguish between different models what resemble also countries’ geo-political, religious and educational tradition. Estonia situates in the crossroads of east and west and its turbulent history has influenced also its religious education (RE). During last hundred years political and religious landscape of the country has altered, also RE in schools has undergone several cataclysms. How could RE in today’s Estonia be classified?

The article explores the historical developments in religious landscape of Estonia by outlining its most significant changes in last hundred years and focusing more on religious outlook of Estonian people today. The fourth wave of European Values Study (2008-2009) provides comparative data for Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway), Estonia and its neighbours with shared past from south and east (Russia, Latvia and Lithuania).

Estonian tradition of RE will be explored in its historical context. Then the changes in the concepts, aims and contents of RE during the last 23 years will be investigated by analysing RE syllabi of 1997 and 2010 and changes in the legislation. The results answer the question, is there shift from post-socialist model of RE to Nordic one in Estonian RE?

Estonia has been one of the most secularised countries in Europe according to several researches. Young people affiliate themselves with organised religion even less than older cohorts. My paper looks behind the curtains of secularised mentality. What do young people in Estonia believe? Paper draws on the different researches, such as European Values Study, EUU 2010 (On Life, Faith and Religious Life) and the research project „Religion in Education – A contribution to Dialogue or a factor of Conflict in transforming societies of European Countries“ (REDCo) Funded by the European Commission within the framework of the FP6.

The results reveal multi-layered and non-linear relation between young people’s affiliation and their beliefs. How far the views of non-affiliated could be classified as ‘secular’ or young people with Christian affiliation share Christian beliefs? What are the contextual factors what may contribute to such beliefs? The question of how research can take into consideration seemingly hectic and inconsistent religious views will be explored.

The paper uses the tools of sociology of religion and relates its findings to pedagogy. Estonia may be called a natural laboratory of RE in a secular context (Neill&Schihalejev 2012). Here one can find a lot of schools without a distinctive subject for learning religion. The other schools have an optional RE in primary schools learning stories from different religious traditions, predominantly Christian ones. There are also schools where students in upper grades learn about different world religions. Several religious schools offer Christian religious education for pupils of different religious and non-religious backgrounds. This makes possible to compare the attitudes of young people with different experience of RE.

The paper focuses on the Estonian REDCo data (n=573) pupils (age group 14-17) but compares the results to these got in REDCo quantitative study in 2008 (n=1208). The questions, both from REDCo II sample and REDCoI sample, what make up the biggest distinctions between these different groups will be examined in the paper: how pupils assess their experience of education about religion and how they deal with religious diversity. The findings will be related to other relevant researches done in Estonia (Census 2011, Jõks et al 2010 etc) and analysed using the Communities of Learning model, in which a classroom is understood as a set of cultural contexts where dialogues permit the analysis of context and also shape it (Ligorio 2010). The findings are discussed also in relation to recent policies to RE in Estonia.

References

Census 2011 (2013) http://www.stat.ee/rel2011

Jõks, Eerik; Kilemit, Liina; Rentel, Anu; Teder, Tauno (2012, Eds.). Astu alla rahva hulka: artikleid ja arutlusi Eesti elanikkonna vaimulaadist (230 - 248). Tallinn: Eesti Kirikute Nõukogu

Ligorio, M. Beatrice  (2010) Dialogical Relationship between Identity and Learning,  Culture & Psychology March 2010 16: 93-107,

Neill, Sean; Schihalejev, Olga (2012). Influences on students’ views on religions and education in England and Estonia. Jackson, Robert (Ed.). Religion, Education, Dialogue and Conflict Perspectives on Religious Education Research (118 - 132). London: Routledge