From citizens of God’s kingdom to ethically responsible cosmopolitans: religious education as a form of civic education

Authors

• Saila Poulter Tampereen yliopisto

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the role of religious education in citizenship building in Finnish school history from the beginning of the 20th century until today. Through the analysis of pedagogical and curricula texts on Lutheran religious education this study claims that religious education has had a key role in educating citizens. The close connection between the religious, moral and civic purposes of education has not completely disappeared over the course of 100 years, but has changed profoundly. The image of an obedient Lutheran Finn has changed to a more individual project: morals, conviction and citizenship are now the realms of subjectivity. Today citizenship is interpreted strongly in global terms; thus, religious education emphasizes the individual responsibility of people close and far.