Struggling for relevance: exploring editors’ perceived importance and value of religious education in school

Dag Øivind Østereng

(Trykt i British Journal of Religious Education, 13.8.2024)

This article, situated in the field of didactics of religion, explores the comprehension of religious education (RE) by the editors of Elevkanalen, a subsidiary of TV2, Norway’s most significant commercial public broadcaster. They are a unique media enterprise that provides educational resources for primary and lower secondary schools and is designated by themselves as a school publisher. The study applies interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyse the data collected through semi-structured interviews with the editors. The findings reveal that the editors’ approach to RE is based primarily on topical content or current issues rather than traditional subject-specific matter. The underlying justification lies in the query of how a given topic or issue can be rendered relevant within the context of RE. The editors are struggling for relevance and advocating interdisciplinarity, and the article discusses these findings by utilising relevance theory, Goodlad and Su’s curriculum theory, and Klafki’s didactical formation (Bildung) theory.

Les artikkelen her: Struggling for relevance: exploring editors’ perceived importance and value of religious education in school (tandfonline.com)