Research topics which group members are involved in:

• International and Comparative studies
• Teaching practices
• Enquiry based, interdisciplinary and in-depth learning.
• Re-Searchers (methodology)
• Worldviews in school and education
• Literacy and RE
• Democracy, Citizenship, Human Rights and religions and Worldviews in Education
• Religion in media and popular culture
• Didactics of excursions
• Islam and Education
• Indigenous Topics and RE
• Action Research
• Controversial Issues in School
• Conspiracy Theories and School
• Initial Schooling in RE

Projects that Home-Team members are involved in:

How are worldviews formed? Exploration in a worldviews inclusive school

Oddrun Marie Hovde Bråten, NTNU og Levi Eidhammer, UiA (ed.) Scientific anthology. This is a developing project.

In a situation where a new national curriculum in Norway emphasizes exploration, and where issues related to religion and worldviews is object to intense scholarly as well as political debate, we see reasons to prepare for exploring in schools, of how worldviews are formed. It is no longer practical in schools to study all organised religions or worldviews in Norway. With this new curriculum we have moved away from the world religions model of teaching, opening for a possibility to explore religion and worldviews in new ways, using more examples than those who have traditionally been represented (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and secular humanism). While Oddrun Bråten has formulated a suggestion that even how worldviews are formed could be studied in schools, particularly focusing on the growing numbers of young people who describe themselves as non-religious, Levi Eidhamar has developed theory regarding how worldviews are formed, with examples from Islam in particular (Bråten 2022, Eidhammer 2021?). While the concept of religion has been much debated, studies of the concept of worldviews shown that this is used with differing meaning, but that this is not equally subject to critical debate. For the purpose of this project we understand worldviews as being either religious, non-religious or even non-binary. They exist in a continuum between that which is clearly religious and that which is clearly secular. Individual’s constructions of worldviews are complex and can combine transcendent and secular elements. With this book we focus on worldview* and argue for renewing of teachings about worldviews in schools and wish to raise a new awareness concerning this topic, including the issue of how worldviews are formed.

*The Norwegian term used is “Livssyn”/ Life views. We comment of course on the meanings of the concepts in the book.

RE-searchers as methods of teaching in Religions, Worldviews and Social studies in school

Innovation in Deep Learning with Social, Religion and Worldviews Studies (InDeep)

The project was based on MOVe, but was developed further into three InDeep Plan B. This is a research project which has a duration of four years, starting in the fall of 2022. The project has working groups that work with the concept of deep learning in social studies and KRLE, interdisciplinarity between KRLE and social studies in schools and in teacher education and even look at contextual factors that help or hinder deep learning in these two subjects. In this project we explore the usefulness of the RE-searchers methodology for such ends, I schools and in teacher education.

Dembra

Dembra offers competence development for schools to prevent anti-Semitism, racism and undemocratic attitudes.

Religious Education at schools in Europe (Rel.-Edu.)

Project (Rel.-Edu.) is a project to collect information on RE in Europe, initiated at the University of Vienna.

Other projects

Aukland, Knut (2024) A methodological turn in RE, British Journal of Religious Education.

Andreassen, Øyvind Soltun & Jonathan Doney (2024) Tensions between inclusion and change in worldview education: can Joe F. Kincheloe’s bricolage help teachers navigate them?, British Journal of Religious Education

Andreassen, Øyvind Soltun og Camilla S. Jørgensen (2021) Et ressursperspektiv på uenighet: Analyse av kjerneelementet Utforsking av religioner og livssyn med ulike metoder | Prismet (uio.no). (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: «A resourceful perspective on disagreement: Analysis of core element Exploring religions and worldviews with different methods». This text is only available in Norwegian).

Andersland, Inge og Oddrun M. H. Bråten (2021) Religion og livssyn som begreper i LK20: Utforsking som strategi for å åpne begrepene | Prismet (uio.no). (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “Religion and Worldviews as concepts in LK20: Exploration as strategy for opening the concepts.”)

Aukland, Knut (2021) Kunnskapsproblemet og utforsking med ulike metoder: Å lære om vis-a-vis å lære hvordan | Prismet (uio.no). (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “The problem of knowledge and exploring with different methods”.)

Britton, T. H. & Jørgensen, C. S. (2019). The Construction of 'religion' during field visits. In Intercultural Education 30(3). 

Bråten, O. M. H. (2015). Three dimensions and four levels: towards a methodology for comparative religious education. British Journal of Religious Education; Volum 37(2) s. 138-152. Taylor & Francis.

Bråten, O. M. H. (2018) Worldviews in Norwegian RE. In K. Sporre, G. Skeie & J. Risteniemi. Challenging Life: Existential Questions as a Resource for Education. Münster, Waxmann.

Bråten, O. M. H. & Everington, J. (2019). Issues in the integration of religious education and worldviews education in an intercultural context. In Intercultural Education. 30(3).

Bråten, Oddrun Marie Hovde & Skeie, Geir (2020). ‘Deep Learning’ in Studies of Religion and Worldviews in Norwegian Schools? The Implications of the National Curriculum Renewal in 2020. In Religions 11(11):579.

Bråten, O. M. H. (2021): Non-binary worldviews in education. In British journal of Religious Education. 44(3).

Bråten, Oddrun Marie Hovde. (2021) The Role of Space and Time: A Comparative Exploration of Religion and Education, Introduction to the Special Issue. Religion & Education. volum 48 (3).

Bråten, Oddrun Marie Hovde. (2021) Comparative perspectives on IRE in Europe. In L. Franken and B. Gent (eds): Islamic religious education in Europe: A comparative study. Routledge. ISBN 9780367353759, p. 245-248.

Domaas, O. E. (2017) Religion og livssyn eller kulturarv og verdier. In A. B. Lund (ed). Mangfold gjennom anerkjennelse og inkludering i skolen. Trondheim: Akademika.

Domaas, O. E. (2019) En anonym minoritet i klasserommet? Kristne elever i skolens religionsfag. Prismet. vol. 70 (1).

Eggen, Renate W. Banschbach. (2022) Indigeneity versus diversity. Human Rights Education Review (HRER). volum 5 (1).

Husebø, Dag; Johannessen, Øystein Lund; Skeie, Geir (2022) Impact of action research in Norwegian religious education. British Journal of Religious Education. ISSN 0141-6200. DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2022.2049207

Jackson, R. (2014). Signposts: Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious worldviews in intercultural education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

Jørgensen, C. S. (2017) Bør ekskursjoner være del av religions- og livssynsundervisningen? In M. van der Lippe & S. Undheim (ed). Religion i skolen: didaktiske perspektiver på religions- og livssynsfaget. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “Should excursions be a part of teachings of religion and worldviews in schools?”)

Korsvoll, N. H. (2020). Kvifor KRLE? Forhandling og forståing av føremåla for det norske religions- og livssynsfaget i læreplan og lærebøker. Nordidactica. ISSN: 2000-9879. 10 (2). s 26 - 47. (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “Why KRLE? Negotiations and understanding of the purpose of the Norwegian school subject KRLE in the National curriculum and in textbooks.”)

Korsvoll, N. H. (2021). A Double Bypass? Tracing How the Aims of Religious Education Are Negotiated Across Different Dimensions of the Curriculum in Norway. In Religion & Education.

Mestad, I. (2014) Å snakke om religion: Elevenes fagspråk i RLE. In K. Fuglseth (ed.). RLE i klemme: Ein studie av det erfarte RLE-faget. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “Talking about religion: Students subject related language in RE”).

Mongstad, Bjarte, Gunvor Wendel, Camilla S. Jørgensen og Rob Freathy (2021) Omtale av undervisningsressurs: UtForskerne: En ny tilnærming til religions- og livssynsundervisning i barneskolen | Prismet (uio.no) (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “Comments to resource for teaching: RE-Searchers: A new approach to teaching religion and worldviews in elementary school”.)

Mårtensson, U. & Eriksen, E.-A. Vongraven (2014) Muslim Society Trondheim: A Local History. Tidsskrift for islamforskning 2014; Volum 8. (1) s. 162-189. NTNU 

Mårtensson, Ulrika; Eriksen, Eli-Anne Vongraven. (2018) Accurate Knowledge: Implications of ‘Lived Islamic Theology’ for the Academic Study of Islamic Disciplines. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. volum 29 (4).

Nestby, D. H. (2019) Hvordan kan KRLE-faget fremstille islams mangfold?. Prismet. vol. 70 (4). This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “How can Islamic plurality be represented in RE in school”).

Skeie, G. (2017) Transforming local places to learning spaces in religious education In: Location, Space and Place in Religious Education (ed] Cok Bakker, Jenny Berglund, Gerdien Bertram-Troost, Hans-Günter Heimbrock, Julia Ipgrave, Robert Jackson, Geir Skeie, Wolfram Weisse, Münster: Waxmann Verlag, 2017, p. 115-130.

Skeie, Geir (2021) Teaching and learning about Islam in educational terms. In L. Franken and B. Gent (eds): Islamic religious education in Europe: A comparative study. Routledge. ISBN 9780367353759. p.254-258.

Skeie, Geir (2020) Religious education research: Does it prepare us for the future. In: Facing the unknown Future: Religion and education on the move. Waxmann Verlag. ISBN 9783830940760. s.47-71.

Skeie, Geir (2020) Identifying the field of research. In Hans Gustafson (ed.): Interreligious studies: Dispatches from an emerging field. Baylor University Press. ISBN 9781481312547. s.24-28.

Skeie, Geir (2021) Fra vitenskapelig forskning til utforsking i skolefag : Hvilke utfordringer står religionsdidaktikken overfor? | Prismet (uio.no) (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “From scientific research to exploratory teaching in school: Which challenges are didactics of religion faced with?”)

Steen-Olsen, T. H. & Eikseth, A. G. (2010) The power of time: teachers' working day - negotiating autonomy and control. European Educational Research Journal (online). vol. 9 (2).

Unstad, Lars. (2022) Fagspesifikk literacy og posisjonering i grunnskolens religions- og livssynsfag – Et bidrag til en kritisk fagspesifikk literacy. Nordidactica. Academic article

Unstad, Lars. (2022) Hvordan skal vi forstå, og hva gjør vi med kjerneelementene i KRLE og Religion og etikk?. Prismet. Academic article

Unstad, L., & Fjørtoft, H. (2021). Texts, readers, and positions: Developing a conceptual tool for teaching disciplinary reading in religious education. Learning and Instruction, 73.

Unstad, L., Jørgensen, C. S., & Fjørtoft, H. (2020). Lesing og skriving i religions- livssynsfaget i den norske grunnskolen. En kartlegging av forskningsfeltet 2005-2018 [Vitenskapelig artikkel]. Nordidactica (1), 153-174. (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “Reading and writing in religion and worldviews subjects in the Norwegian school: Mapping of a field of research 2005-2018”.)

Unstad, L. (2014) I skyggen av storesøster? Om kirkelig mangfold i RLE-undervisningen. In K. Fuglseth (ed.). RLE i klemme: Ein studie av det erfarte RLE-faget. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: In the shadows of big sister? About the plurality of Churches in RE-teaching.)

Unstad, Lars; Fjørtoft, Henning. (2020) Disciplinary literacy in religious education: the role and relevance of reading. British Journal of Religious Education.

Wendel, Gunvor og Bjarte Mongstad (2019) Dybde i læring – MOVe i skolen. I Religion og Livssyn 2/2019. 6972da_c7c3f2f5239d4752af81c261b3d536d8.pdf (religion.no) (This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: “InDepth learning – MOVe in school”).

Wendel, G & Mongstad, B. (2024) Å slippe nysgjerrigheten løs − utforskerne i klasserommet (utdanningsnytt.no). "(This text is only available in Norwegian. Translated title: «A resourceful perspective on disagreement: Analysis of core element Exploring religions and worldviews with different methods»). 

• Associate Professor Inge Andersland, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Associate professor Knut Aukland, OsloMet
• Professor Jenny Berglund, Stockholm University, Sweden
• Professor Marianne Hafnor Bøe, University of Stavanger
• Dr Jonathan Doney, University of Exeter, UK
• Professor Levi Geir Eidhamar, University of Agder
• Associate Professor Judith Everington, Associate Professor, University of Warwick, UK
• Post-doc Leni Franken, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• Research Fellow Giles Freathy, The Learning Institute, Westcountry Schools’ Trust, UK
• Professor Rob Freathy, University of Exeter, UK
• Dr Patricia Hannam, Hampshire County Council, UK
• Pro-Rector Dag Husebø, University of Stavanger and Stockholm University, Sweden
• Professor Robert (Bob) Jackson, University of Warwick, UK, Honorary doctorate NTNU
• Assistant Professor Caroline Klintborg, Stockholm University, Sweden
• Associate Professor Nils Hallvard Korsvoll, University of Agder
• PhD Student Ingvild Mestad, Nord university
• Bjarte Mongstad, Charlottenlund lower secondary school
• PhD Student Adrian Johansen Rinde, University of Stavanger
• Dr Martha Shaw, London South Bank University
• Professor Geir Skeie, University of Stavanger
• Associate Professor Sissel Undheim, University of Bergen
• Associate Professor Marie von der Lippe, University of Bergen
• Gunvor Wendel, Charlottenlund lower secondary school

• NoReFo Norsk Religionspedagogisk Forskerforum/ Norwegian RE Research Forum
• EARLI Religions and Worldviews in EducationReligions and Worldviews in Education
• SIRN Signposts International Research Network
• ISREV International Seminar for Religious Education and Values
• EASR European Association for the Study of Religion
• IAHR International Association for the History of Religion

2023

Webinar: 11. august 2023

About marking of master thesis in RE i Teacher Education

Home Team meeting, 29 August 2023

Seminar 1: InDeep project, 15-16 May 2023

Deep Learning in SS and RW, in theory and practice

Lars Unstad, NTNU with Jacob Maliks, NTNU, Knut Aukland, OsloMet and Nils Hallvard Korsvoll, UiA: Deep Learning in SS and RW according to literature studies. Giles Freathy, Plymouth Majron University (digitally), Enquiry based teaching (the RE-searchers approach) in studies of Religion and Worldviews (RW) in English schools.

Guest lecture: 27 February 2023

Ole Andreas Kvamme, UiO. Ethics and Sustainability.

Mid-term seminar: 27 February 2023

PhD canidate Øyvind S. Andreassen, NTNU. Respondent: Ole A. Kvamme, UiO.
 

2022

Gjesteforelesning: 21 oktober 2022

Martha Shaw, London South Bank University: Hvilken rolle kan Livssyn spille for utdanning for medborgerskap? Livssyn- Literacy som refleksivt engasjement I pluralitet.

Evaluation InDeep: 29.-30 June 2022

Workshop to evaluate a research application and how to proceed. Decision was made to carry on with the project.

Lansering av spesialnummer av Prismet, med focus på kjerneelement 2 I den nye læreplanen for KRLE.

RLE forum: 4 mai 2022

Adrian Johansen Rinde: Forståelse av religion blant elever.

Previous activities