Yfantis & Nikolaos Maggioros (toim.), IRENE Innovative Religious Education NETwork: Educating to the Religious Diversity, 2023
Religious education, its place in the school system of society, the teaching objectives, and the ... more Religious education, its place in the school system of society, the teaching objectives, and the content of the curricula oriented towards achieving them vary between European school systems. This variability is further enhanced by the model of religious education and the legal status of the different religions in each country. As a result, minority faiths face challenges in terms of how pupils are taught their own religion in school as part of their educational curriculum. On the other hand, it is also important that members of minority faiths are not forced to participate in the teaching of a religion other than their own. It is therefore important that the school's worldview education curriculum takes account of religious and world view diversity in a way that respects diversity, considering the UN´s The Rights of the Child. Similarly, religious education must consider equal freedom of religion in practice. Properly interpreted, it notices the right to be toughed about one´s own religion and not just the right not to be toughed religious topics in an educational setting. In Finland, religious education is provided in accordance with the pupil's religious denomination
Yfantis & Nikolaos Maggioros (toim.), IRENE - Innovative Religious Education NETwork - Educating to the Religious Diversity, 2023
Uskonnonopetus, sen asema yhteiskunnan koulujärjestelmässä, opetustavoitteet ja niiden saavuttami... more Uskonnonopetus, sen asema yhteiskunnan koulujärjestelmässä, opetustavoitteet ja niiden saavuttamiseen tähtäävien opetussuunnitelmien sisältö vaihtelevat Euroopan koulujärjestelmien välillä. Tätä vaihtelua lisäävät vielä uskonnonopetuksen malli ja eri uskontojen oikeudellinen asema kussakin maassa. Tämän seurauksena vähemmistöuskonnot kohtaavat haasteita sen suhteen, miten oppilaille opetetaan heidän omaa uskontoaan koulussa osana opetussuunnitelmaa. Toisaalta on myös tärkeää, että vähemmistöuskontojen jäseniä ei pakoteta osallistumaan muun kuin oman uskontonsa opetukseen. Siksi on tärkeää, että koulun elämänkatsomustiedon opetussuunnitelmassa otetaan huomioon uskonnollinen ja elämänkatsomuksellinen moninaisuus tavalla, joka kunnioittaa moninaisuutta ja ottaa huomioon YK:n lapsen oikeudet. Samoin uskonnonopetuksessa on otettava huomioon yhtäläinen uskonnonvapaus käytännössä. Oikein tulkittuna se tarkoittaa oikeutta saada kuulla omasta uskonnostaan eikä vain oikeutta olla kuulematta uskonnollisia aiheita opetusympäristössä. Suomessa uskonnonopetusta annetaan oppilaan uskontokunnan mukaisesti.
2o Panhellenio Synedrio me Diethni Symmetoxi. Oi …, 2000
... 1999-2000 (classes 1 to 6). About those totally ten teachers six are Primary Schools teachers... more ... 1999-2000 (classes 1 to 6). About those totally ten teachers six are Primary Schools teachers ... that we just deliver models for religion behaviour in and for virtual reality and ... Therefore the task of developing an Internet-based learning environment for Orthodox religion education is ...
ociety Since 1996 the Finnish Ministry of Education has put into practice a program called "... more ociety Since 1996 the Finnish Ministry of Education has put into practice a program called "Finland as an Information Society ". The main targets are to increase the benefits of the new information technology in communication and education, to adopt it in networking between different kinds of institutions, i.e. schools, and to raise the level of education and research by applying information technology. This program is organised by the Finnish National Board of Education, and the first part will end at the end of 1999. The evaluation of this development work shows that the benefit of the educational technology in universities and other educational establishments has varied considerably. It is estimated that 1/5 of the teaching staff extensively apply the new technology to support teaching. Almost all pupils, students and teachers would be willing to use more new technology in their studies and teaching than they use now. The pedagogical use of information and communication...
This article examines the views of parents and guardians of pupils involved in Orthodox religious... more This article examines the views of parents and guardians of pupils involved in Orthodox religious education (ORE) and the teachers who teach them about the models of religious education. During the latest decade in Finland, there has been an ongoing debate about the model of religious education in public education. The core issue in this debate has been a model to offer only one, common religious education for Christians, non-Christians, and pupils without any religious affiliation. How the parents, guardians, and teachers of orthodox pupils have faced this is the purpose of this article to give an answer. As background, the article begins with an introduction to religious denominations in Finland, the development of the legal basis for ORE, and the stages of ORE curricula in public education.
Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksiseen uskonnonopetukseen osallistuvien
lasten ja nuorten... more Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksiseen uskonnonopetukseen osallistuvien lasten ja nuorten vanhempien ja huoltajien sekä heitä opettavien opettajien näkemyksiä mediassa käytyyn keskusteluun sekä uskonnon eri oppimäärien että elämänkatsomustiedon opetuksesta katsomusopetuksen malleissa. Asiasta ei ole tätä ennen esitetty näin laajaan selvitykseen perustuvaa vähemmistöuskonnon edustajien näkemystä. Tutkimuksen taustalla on enemmistön tilannetta mukaileva mediakeskustelu katsomusopetuksen malleista. Syksyllä 2019 opetusministeri toi esille ehdotuksen elämänkatsomustiedon mahdollistamisesta kaikille katsomuksesta riippumatta. Vuoden 2020 alussa Ylen raportoimassa selvityksessä perusasteen uskonnonopetus pohjautuisi kaikille katsomuksille tarjottavalle yhteiselle oppiaineelle. Se painottuisi maailmanuskontojen opetukselle. Jo näitä ennen vuonna 2009 oli keskusteluun nostettu kaikille yhteiseksi oppiaineeksi uskontotieto.
Ελληνική περιοδική έκδοση για τη Θρησκευτική Εκπαίδευση Greek Journal of Religious Education ΘΕ Ε G JRΕ, 2021
This article focuses on how relevant the guardians of children and young people and their teacher... more This article focuses on how relevant the guardians of children and young people and their teachers of the Orthodox Religion consider the contents of pupils´ own religious education. The study is based on the key contents and some sub contents close to them for the Orthodox religious education in the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in Finland (2014). The background to the study is a review of related studies and an overview of the evolution of the nature of the curricula in terms of objectives and content. The data was collected in February 2020 through an electronic questionnaire with mainly closed questions, but also including open ones, and was answered by 372 people. Based on the results, it seems that guardians and teachers no longer consider the main focus of Orthodox religious education to be on strengthening pupils’ Orthodox identity, but to inform the pupils of their own religion. Attitudes to this and other learning contents vary according to respondents’ background variables.
In March 2020, schools switched to distance learning due to the COVID-19
pandemic. This was a com... more In March 2020, schools switched to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a completely new pedagogical implementation in the teaching culture of schools in almost all subjects in both primary and secondary education. The change in pedagogical orientation naturally affected the existing challenging teaching of the Orthodox religion. This article examines the experiences of Orthodox religion subject teachers in implementing technology-centred distance education from the perspective of self-efficacy (Bandura 1977).
According to studies (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio et al. 2021), the use of technology in teaching has been mainly passive in nature for decades. The use of activating cloud applications for processing and producing information in education was limited before the sudden pedagogical change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For almost half of the teachers who responded to the survey (n=32), distance learning was a new pedagogical experience. Despite the challenging situation, the results show that Orthodox religious education teachers’ self-efficacy in distance education was at a good level. They had felt successful in organising their teaching and in implementing effective pedagogical solutions to the situation. However, despite the positive experiences, distance learning was experienced as demanding.
Koronan vuoksi maaliskuussa 2020 kouluissa siirryttiin etäopetukseen. Se oli täysin uusi pedagoginen toteutustapa koulun opetuskulttuurissa lähes kaikissa oppiaineissa sekä perusopetuksessa että lukiossa. Pedagogisen orientaation muutos koski luonnollisesti muutenkin haasteellista ortodoksien uskonnon opetusta. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksisen uskonnon aineenopettajien kokemuksia minäpystyvyyden (Bandura 1977) näkökulmasta teknologiakeskeisen etäopetuksen toteuttamisessa.
Tutkimusten mukaan (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio ym. 2021) teknologian käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vuosikymmenien ajan luonteeltaan pääasiassa passiivista. Aktivoivien, tiedon käsittelyyn ja tuottamiseen liittyvien pilvisovellusten käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vähäistä ennen Covid-19-viruksen aiheuttamaa äkillistä pedagogista muutosta.
Lähes puolelle kyselyyn vastanneille (n=32) opettajille etäopetus oli uusi pedagoginen kokemus. Tulosten perusteella on todettavissa, että ortodoksisen uskonnon opettajien minäpystyvyys oppiaineen etäopetuksessa oli hyvällä tasolla. He olivat kokeneet onnistuneensa opetuksen organisoinnissa ja tilanteen vaatimien toimivien pedagogisten ratkaisujen toteutuksessa. Myönteisistä kokemuksista huolimatta etäopetus oli kuitenkin koettu vaativaksi.
Religious education (RE) in Finland is a compulsory subject, organized according to major denomin... more Religious education (RE) in Finland is a compulsory subject, organized according to major denomination of the pupils in a municipal area. It is called "School's general religious education" and is open for everyone with some exceptions. More than 90 % of the pupils at Finnish schools follow these lessons. At the end of the 1960´s and beginning of the1970´s two big educational renewals took place in Finland. Despite the renewals of the curriculum for comprehensive education in the 1980s the role and nature of the RE in schools faced quite few changes. Still the RE was confessional and church centred but the church were not directly involved in curricula issues or in compiling the Religious Education curricula or textbooks. The curriculum for comprehensive education in 1994 brought a radical change to the meaning and philosophy of curricula in RE.In the National Core Curricula for Basic Education (NCCBE) in 2004, the role and nature of Religious Education changed from "confessional Religious Education" into "Religious Education in accordance with pupils' own religion". First time ever there was given to all religions, Christian and none, the general and shared objectives and contents. The pupils are encouraged in personal reflection on ethical questions. RE instruction supports the pupils' selfknowledge, self-appreciation and to help them build and evaluate his/her identity and worldview. The advocates for a one lesson of "worldviews" are arguing that children in the classroom should have more opportunities for dialogue with people from different religions, both Christian and non-Christian. At schools, we aim to educate pupils in accordance to their own religion to value and respect their own heritage. This means that in the comprehensive education there in no space for the one and same content-based religion lesson for all pupils.
In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minority religion. The members of the Orthodox Church make up... more In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minority religion. The members of the Orthodox Church make up 1% of the total Finnish population of about 5.5 million. The Finnish-speaking Orthodox Church is autonomous and belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Religion teaching is taught in public schools. It is a compulsory subject for the pupils at both at Elementary and Secondary Schools (Lower and Upper). Every school year there are throughout the country about 6000 pupils who are members of the Christian Orthodox Church and they are taught by 300 teachers. Of those 4/5 are part-time teachers (Primary School Teachers) of the religion lessons. Almost every second teacher is working as a full-time primary school teacher (Aikonen 1997). The members of the Orthodox Church are spread out all over Finland because of the Second World War, when about 400 000 Finns had to leave their homes in the area called Carelia and were resettled throughout the country. Most of these people w...
In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in ... more In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in general have been utilized for the purposes of Orthodox Religious Education (R.E) since 1998. Promoting the use of this new media for teaching and learning has happened through the OrtoWeb with its various projects. Nowadays the OrtoWeb can be considered as a national portal for Greek Orthodox Religious Education in Finland in the ICT based environment. The focus is to deliver teaching materials in a digital format, to offer a new method and pedagogical approach for teaching and to promote networking in Orthodox Religious Education among the teachers both nationally and later internationally. Locally the networking among the Orthodox religious teachers has started and orientated on teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge. Renewing teaching methods and learning by applying the possibilities of information technology and the Internet is emphasised. During the year 2001 new project dime...
Type of the work: Other (description: on going project) In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minor... more Type of the work: Other (description: on going project) In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minority religion. The members of the Orthodox Church make up 1% of the total Finnish population of about 5.5 million. The Finnish-speaking Orthodox Church is autonomous and belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Religion teaching is taught in public schools. It is a compulsory subject for the pupils at both at Elementary and Secondary Schools (Lower and Upper). Every school year there are throughout the country about 6000 pupils who are members of the Christian Orthodox Church and they are taught by 300 teachers. Of those 4/5 are part-time teachers (Primary School Teachers) of the religion lessons. Almost every second teacher is working as a full-time primary school teacher (Aikonen 1997). The members of the Orthodox Church are spread out all over Finland because of the Second World War, when about 400 000 Finns had to leave their homes in the area called Carelia and were ...
The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers ... more The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers have adopted the use of technology and Internet-based applications in religious education. I focus on the backgrounds and research tasks, as well as on setting introductory starting points, backgrounds and theoretical viewpoints related to the research topic. Details are given in relation to the research task and core research questions, including some aspects of the questionnaire. The respondent group (N = 532) is also explained. Within the conclusion remarks, I also summarise briefly the preliminary results.
The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers ... more The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers have adopted the use of technology and Internet-based applications in religious education. I focus on the backgrounds and research tasks, as well as on setting introductory starting points, backgrounds and theoretical viewpoints related to the research topic. Details are given in relation to the research task and core research questions, including some aspects of the questionnaire. The respondent group (N = 532) is also explained. Within the conclusion remarks, I also summarise briefly the preliminary results.
The Orthodox Religious Education (ORE) in the 20th century in the Finnish school system has had... more The Orthodox Religious Education (ORE) in the 20th century in the Finnish school system has had a challenging history with several phases. The article covers those from the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the 21st century.
In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in ... more In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in general have been utilized for the purposes of Orthodox Religious Education (R.E) since 1998. Promoting the use of this new media for teaching and learning has happened through the OrtoWeb with its various projects. Nowadays the OrtoWeb can be considered as a national portal for Greek Orthodox Religious Education in Finland in the ICT based environment. The focus is to deliver teaching materials in a digital format, to offer a new method and pedagogical approach for teaching and to promote networking in Orthodox Religious Education among the teachers both nationally and later internationally. Locally the networking among the Orthodox religious teachers has started and orientated on teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge. Renewing teaching methods and learning by applying the possibilities of information technology and the Internet is emphasised. During the year 2001 new project dimension in R.E was taken dealing with Senior High School education over the Internet. The question is about inter orthodox contacts and learning about different Orthodox Churches via the net. This was supposed to be put into practice by producing information into a closed learning environment concerning the Orthodox Churches in Finland, Cyprus and Greece. This paper describes the working plan, the phases and, to some extend, the surprising result of this project.
Yfantis & Nikolaos Maggioros (toim.), IRENE Innovative Religious Education NETwork: Educating to the Religious Diversity, 2023
Religious education, its place in the school system of society, the teaching objectives, and the ... more Religious education, its place in the school system of society, the teaching objectives, and the content of the curricula oriented towards achieving them vary between European school systems. This variability is further enhanced by the model of religious education and the legal status of the different religions in each country. As a result, minority faiths face challenges in terms of how pupils are taught their own religion in school as part of their educational curriculum. On the other hand, it is also important that members of minority faiths are not forced to participate in the teaching of a religion other than their own. It is therefore important that the school's worldview education curriculum takes account of religious and world view diversity in a way that respects diversity, considering the UN´s The Rights of the Child. Similarly, religious education must consider equal freedom of religion in practice. Properly interpreted, it notices the right to be toughed about one´s own religion and not just the right not to be toughed religious topics in an educational setting. In Finland, religious education is provided in accordance with the pupil's religious denomination
Yfantis & Nikolaos Maggioros (toim.), IRENE - Innovative Religious Education NETwork - Educating to the Religious Diversity, 2023
Uskonnonopetus, sen asema yhteiskunnan koulujärjestelmässä, opetustavoitteet ja niiden saavuttami... more Uskonnonopetus, sen asema yhteiskunnan koulujärjestelmässä, opetustavoitteet ja niiden saavuttamiseen tähtäävien opetussuunnitelmien sisältö vaihtelevat Euroopan koulujärjestelmien välillä. Tätä vaihtelua lisäävät vielä uskonnonopetuksen malli ja eri uskontojen oikeudellinen asema kussakin maassa. Tämän seurauksena vähemmistöuskonnot kohtaavat haasteita sen suhteen, miten oppilaille opetetaan heidän omaa uskontoaan koulussa osana opetussuunnitelmaa. Toisaalta on myös tärkeää, että vähemmistöuskontojen jäseniä ei pakoteta osallistumaan muun kuin oman uskontonsa opetukseen. Siksi on tärkeää, että koulun elämänkatsomustiedon opetussuunnitelmassa otetaan huomioon uskonnollinen ja elämänkatsomuksellinen moninaisuus tavalla, joka kunnioittaa moninaisuutta ja ottaa huomioon YK:n lapsen oikeudet. Samoin uskonnonopetuksessa on otettava huomioon yhtäläinen uskonnonvapaus käytännössä. Oikein tulkittuna se tarkoittaa oikeutta saada kuulla omasta uskonnostaan eikä vain oikeutta olla kuulematta uskonnollisia aiheita opetusympäristössä. Suomessa uskonnonopetusta annetaan oppilaan uskontokunnan mukaisesti.
2o Panhellenio Synedrio me Diethni Symmetoxi. Oi …, 2000
... 1999-2000 (classes 1 to 6). About those totally ten teachers six are Primary Schools teachers... more ... 1999-2000 (classes 1 to 6). About those totally ten teachers six are Primary Schools teachers ... that we just deliver models for religion behaviour in and for virtual reality and ... Therefore the task of developing an Internet-based learning environment for Orthodox religion education is ...
ociety Since 1996 the Finnish Ministry of Education has put into practice a program called "... more ociety Since 1996 the Finnish Ministry of Education has put into practice a program called "Finland as an Information Society ". The main targets are to increase the benefits of the new information technology in communication and education, to adopt it in networking between different kinds of institutions, i.e. schools, and to raise the level of education and research by applying information technology. This program is organised by the Finnish National Board of Education, and the first part will end at the end of 1999. The evaluation of this development work shows that the benefit of the educational technology in universities and other educational establishments has varied considerably. It is estimated that 1/5 of the teaching staff extensively apply the new technology to support teaching. Almost all pupils, students and teachers would be willing to use more new technology in their studies and teaching than they use now. The pedagogical use of information and communication...
This article examines the views of parents and guardians of pupils involved in Orthodox religious... more This article examines the views of parents and guardians of pupils involved in Orthodox religious education (ORE) and the teachers who teach them about the models of religious education. During the latest decade in Finland, there has been an ongoing debate about the model of religious education in public education. The core issue in this debate has been a model to offer only one, common religious education for Christians, non-Christians, and pupils without any religious affiliation. How the parents, guardians, and teachers of orthodox pupils have faced this is the purpose of this article to give an answer. As background, the article begins with an introduction to religious denominations in Finland, the development of the legal basis for ORE, and the stages of ORE curricula in public education.
Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksiseen uskonnonopetukseen osallistuvien
lasten ja nuorten... more Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksiseen uskonnonopetukseen osallistuvien lasten ja nuorten vanhempien ja huoltajien sekä heitä opettavien opettajien näkemyksiä mediassa käytyyn keskusteluun sekä uskonnon eri oppimäärien että elämänkatsomustiedon opetuksesta katsomusopetuksen malleissa. Asiasta ei ole tätä ennen esitetty näin laajaan selvitykseen perustuvaa vähemmistöuskonnon edustajien näkemystä. Tutkimuksen taustalla on enemmistön tilannetta mukaileva mediakeskustelu katsomusopetuksen malleista. Syksyllä 2019 opetusministeri toi esille ehdotuksen elämänkatsomustiedon mahdollistamisesta kaikille katsomuksesta riippumatta. Vuoden 2020 alussa Ylen raportoimassa selvityksessä perusasteen uskonnonopetus pohjautuisi kaikille katsomuksille tarjottavalle yhteiselle oppiaineelle. Se painottuisi maailmanuskontojen opetukselle. Jo näitä ennen vuonna 2009 oli keskusteluun nostettu kaikille yhteiseksi oppiaineeksi uskontotieto.
Ελληνική περιοδική έκδοση για τη Θρησκευτική Εκπαίδευση Greek Journal of Religious Education ΘΕ Ε G JRΕ, 2021
This article focuses on how relevant the guardians of children and young people and their teacher... more This article focuses on how relevant the guardians of children and young people and their teachers of the Orthodox Religion consider the contents of pupils´ own religious education. The study is based on the key contents and some sub contents close to them for the Orthodox religious education in the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in Finland (2014). The background to the study is a review of related studies and an overview of the evolution of the nature of the curricula in terms of objectives and content. The data was collected in February 2020 through an electronic questionnaire with mainly closed questions, but also including open ones, and was answered by 372 people. Based on the results, it seems that guardians and teachers no longer consider the main focus of Orthodox religious education to be on strengthening pupils’ Orthodox identity, but to inform the pupils of their own religion. Attitudes to this and other learning contents vary according to respondents’ background variables.
In March 2020, schools switched to distance learning due to the COVID-19
pandemic. This was a com... more In March 2020, schools switched to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a completely new pedagogical implementation in the teaching culture of schools in almost all subjects in both primary and secondary education. The change in pedagogical orientation naturally affected the existing challenging teaching of the Orthodox religion. This article examines the experiences of Orthodox religion subject teachers in implementing technology-centred distance education from the perspective of self-efficacy (Bandura 1977).
According to studies (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio et al. 2021), the use of technology in teaching has been mainly passive in nature for decades. The use of activating cloud applications for processing and producing information in education was limited before the sudden pedagogical change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For almost half of the teachers who responded to the survey (n=32), distance learning was a new pedagogical experience. Despite the challenging situation, the results show that Orthodox religious education teachers’ self-efficacy in distance education was at a good level. They had felt successful in organising their teaching and in implementing effective pedagogical solutions to the situation. However, despite the positive experiences, distance learning was experienced as demanding.
Koronan vuoksi maaliskuussa 2020 kouluissa siirryttiin etäopetukseen. Se oli täysin uusi pedagoginen toteutustapa koulun opetuskulttuurissa lähes kaikissa oppiaineissa sekä perusopetuksessa että lukiossa. Pedagogisen orientaation muutos koski luonnollisesti muutenkin haasteellista ortodoksien uskonnon opetusta. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksisen uskonnon aineenopettajien kokemuksia minäpystyvyyden (Bandura 1977) näkökulmasta teknologiakeskeisen etäopetuksen toteuttamisessa.
Tutkimusten mukaan (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio ym. 2021) teknologian käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vuosikymmenien ajan luonteeltaan pääasiassa passiivista. Aktivoivien, tiedon käsittelyyn ja tuottamiseen liittyvien pilvisovellusten käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vähäistä ennen Covid-19-viruksen aiheuttamaa äkillistä pedagogista muutosta.
Lähes puolelle kyselyyn vastanneille (n=32) opettajille etäopetus oli uusi pedagoginen kokemus. Tulosten perusteella on todettavissa, että ortodoksisen uskonnon opettajien minäpystyvyys oppiaineen etäopetuksessa oli hyvällä tasolla. He olivat kokeneet onnistuneensa opetuksen organisoinnissa ja tilanteen vaatimien toimivien pedagogisten ratkaisujen toteutuksessa. Myönteisistä kokemuksista huolimatta etäopetus oli kuitenkin koettu vaativaksi.
Religious education (RE) in Finland is a compulsory subject, organized according to major denomin... more Religious education (RE) in Finland is a compulsory subject, organized according to major denomination of the pupils in a municipal area. It is called "School's general religious education" and is open for everyone with some exceptions. More than 90 % of the pupils at Finnish schools follow these lessons. At the end of the 1960´s and beginning of the1970´s two big educational renewals took place in Finland. Despite the renewals of the curriculum for comprehensive education in the 1980s the role and nature of the RE in schools faced quite few changes. Still the RE was confessional and church centred but the church were not directly involved in curricula issues or in compiling the Religious Education curricula or textbooks. The curriculum for comprehensive education in 1994 brought a radical change to the meaning and philosophy of curricula in RE.In the National Core Curricula for Basic Education (NCCBE) in 2004, the role and nature of Religious Education changed from "confessional Religious Education" into "Religious Education in accordance with pupils' own religion". First time ever there was given to all religions, Christian and none, the general and shared objectives and contents. The pupils are encouraged in personal reflection on ethical questions. RE instruction supports the pupils' selfknowledge, self-appreciation and to help them build and evaluate his/her identity and worldview. The advocates for a one lesson of "worldviews" are arguing that children in the classroom should have more opportunities for dialogue with people from different religions, both Christian and non-Christian. At schools, we aim to educate pupils in accordance to their own religion to value and respect their own heritage. This means that in the comprehensive education there in no space for the one and same content-based religion lesson for all pupils.
In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minority religion. The members of the Orthodox Church make up... more In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minority religion. The members of the Orthodox Church make up 1% of the total Finnish population of about 5.5 million. The Finnish-speaking Orthodox Church is autonomous and belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Religion teaching is taught in public schools. It is a compulsory subject for the pupils at both at Elementary and Secondary Schools (Lower and Upper). Every school year there are throughout the country about 6000 pupils who are members of the Christian Orthodox Church and they are taught by 300 teachers. Of those 4/5 are part-time teachers (Primary School Teachers) of the religion lessons. Almost every second teacher is working as a full-time primary school teacher (Aikonen 1997). The members of the Orthodox Church are spread out all over Finland because of the Second World War, when about 400 000 Finns had to leave their homes in the area called Carelia and were resettled throughout the country. Most of these people w...
In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in ... more In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in general have been utilized for the purposes of Orthodox Religious Education (R.E) since 1998. Promoting the use of this new media for teaching and learning has happened through the OrtoWeb with its various projects. Nowadays the OrtoWeb can be considered as a national portal for Greek Orthodox Religious Education in Finland in the ICT based environment. The focus is to deliver teaching materials in a digital format, to offer a new method and pedagogical approach for teaching and to promote networking in Orthodox Religious Education among the teachers both nationally and later internationally. Locally the networking among the Orthodox religious teachers has started and orientated on teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge. Renewing teaching methods and learning by applying the possibilities of information technology and the Internet is emphasised. During the year 2001 new project dime...
Type of the work: Other (description: on going project) In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minor... more Type of the work: Other (description: on going project) In Finland the Orthodox Church is a minority religion. The members of the Orthodox Church make up 1% of the total Finnish population of about 5.5 million. The Finnish-speaking Orthodox Church is autonomous and belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Religion teaching is taught in public schools. It is a compulsory subject for the pupils at both at Elementary and Secondary Schools (Lower and Upper). Every school year there are throughout the country about 6000 pupils who are members of the Christian Orthodox Church and they are taught by 300 teachers. Of those 4/5 are part-time teachers (Primary School Teachers) of the religion lessons. Almost every second teacher is working as a full-time primary school teacher (Aikonen 1997). The members of the Orthodox Church are spread out all over Finland because of the Second World War, when about 400 000 Finns had to leave their homes in the area called Carelia and were ...
The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers ... more The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers have adopted the use of technology and Internet-based applications in religious education. I focus on the backgrounds and research tasks, as well as on setting introductory starting points, backgrounds and theoretical viewpoints related to the research topic. Details are given in relation to the research task and core research questions, including some aspects of the questionnaire. The respondent group (N = 532) is also explained. Within the conclusion remarks, I also summarise briefly the preliminary results.
The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers ... more The purpose of this article is to describe the ongoing research project of how religion teachers have adopted the use of technology and Internet-based applications in religious education. I focus on the backgrounds and research tasks, as well as on setting introductory starting points, backgrounds and theoretical viewpoints related to the research topic. Details are given in relation to the research task and core research questions, including some aspects of the questionnaire. The respondent group (N = 532) is also explained. Within the conclusion remarks, I also summarise briefly the preliminary results.
The Orthodox Religious Education (ORE) in the 20th century in the Finnish school system has had... more The Orthodox Religious Education (ORE) in the 20th century in the Finnish school system has had a challenging history with several phases. The article covers those from the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the 21st century.
In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in ... more In the Finnish public schools the Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in general have been utilized for the purposes of Orthodox Religious Education (R.E) since 1998. Promoting the use of this new media for teaching and learning has happened through the OrtoWeb with its various projects. Nowadays the OrtoWeb can be considered as a national portal for Greek Orthodox Religious Education in Finland in the ICT based environment. The focus is to deliver teaching materials in a digital format, to offer a new method and pedagogical approach for teaching and to promote networking in Orthodox Religious Education among the teachers both nationally and later internationally. Locally the networking among the Orthodox religious teachers has started and orientated on teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge. Renewing teaching methods and learning by applying the possibilities of information technology and the Internet is emphasised. During the year 2001 new project dimension in R.E was taken dealing with Senior High School education over the Internet. The question is about inter orthodox contacts and learning about different Orthodox Churches via the net. This was supposed to be put into practice by producing information into a closed learning environment concerning the Orthodox Churches in Finland, Cyprus and Greece. This paper describes the working plan, the phases and, to some extend, the surprising result of this project.
Uploads
Papers by Risto Aikonen
European school systems. This variability is further enhanced by the model of religious
education and the legal status of the different religions in each country. As a result,
minority faiths face challenges in terms of how pupils are taught their own religion in
school as part of their educational curriculum. On the other hand, it is also important
that members of minority faiths are not forced to participate in the teaching of a religion
other than their own. It is therefore important that the school's worldview education
curriculum takes account of religious and world view diversity in a way that respects
diversity, considering the UN´s The Rights of the Child. Similarly, religious education must
consider equal freedom of religion in practice. Properly interpreted, it notices the right
to be toughed about one´s own religion and not just the right not to be toughed religious
topics in an educational setting. In Finland, religious education is provided in
accordance with the pupil's religious denomination
välillä. Tätä vaihtelua lisäävät vielä uskonnonopetuksen malli ja eri uskontojen oikeudellinen asema kussakin maassa. Tämän seurauksena vähemmistöuskonnot kohtaavat haasteita sen suhteen, miten
oppilaille opetetaan heidän omaa uskontoaan koulussa osana opetussuunnitelmaa. Toisaalta on
myös tärkeää, että vähemmistöuskontojen jäseniä ei pakoteta osallistumaan muun kuin oman
uskontonsa opetukseen. Siksi on tärkeää, että koulun elämänkatsomustiedon opetussuunnitelmassa
otetaan huomioon uskonnollinen ja elämänkatsomuksellinen moninaisuus tavalla, joka kunnioittaa
moninaisuutta ja ottaa huomioon YK:n lapsen oikeudet. Samoin uskonnonopetuksessa on otettava
huomioon yhtäläinen uskonnonvapaus käytännössä. Oikein tulkittuna se tarkoittaa oikeutta saada
kuulla omasta uskonnostaan eikä vain oikeutta olla kuulematta uskonnollisia aiheita
opetusympäristössä. Suomessa uskonnonopetusta annetaan oppilaan uskontokunnan mukaisesti.
lasten ja nuorten vanhempien ja huoltajien sekä heitä opettavien
opettajien näkemyksiä mediassa käytyyn keskusteluun sekä uskonnon eri
oppimäärien että elämänkatsomustiedon opetuksesta katsomusopetuksen
malleissa. Asiasta ei ole tätä ennen esitetty näin laajaan selvitykseen perustuvaa
vähemmistöuskonnon edustajien näkemystä.
Tutkimuksen taustalla on enemmistön tilannetta mukaileva mediakeskustelu
katsomusopetuksen malleista. Syksyllä 2019 opetusministeri
toi esille ehdotuksen elämänkatsomustiedon mahdollistamisesta kaikille
katsomuksesta riippumatta. Vuoden 2020 alussa Ylen raportoimassa selvityksessä perusasteen uskonnonopetus pohjautuisi kaikille katsomuksille tarjottavalle yhteiselle oppiaineelle. Se painottuisi maailmanuskontojen opetukselle. Jo näitä ennen vuonna 2009 oli keskusteluun nostettu kaikille yhteiseksi oppiaineeksi uskontotieto.
pandemic. This was a completely new pedagogical implementation in the teaching culture of schools in almost all subjects in both primary and secondary education. The change in pedagogical orientation naturally affected the existing challenging teaching of the Orthodox religion. This article examines the experiences of Orthodox religion subject teachers in implementing technology-centred distance
education from the perspective of self-efficacy (Bandura 1977).
According to studies (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio et al. 2021), the use of technology in teaching has been mainly passive in nature for decades. The use of activating cloud applications for processing and producing information in education was limited before the sudden pedagogical change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For almost half of the teachers who responded to the survey (n=32), distance learning was a new pedagogical experience. Despite the challenging situation, the results show that Orthodox religious education teachers’ self-efficacy in distance education was at a good level. They had felt successful in organising their teaching and in implementing effective pedagogical solutions to the situation. However, despite the positive experiences, distance learning was experienced as demanding.
Koronan vuoksi maaliskuussa 2020 kouluissa siirryttiin etäopetukseen. Se oli täysin uusi pedagoginen toteutustapa koulun opetuskulttuurissa lähes kaikissa oppiaineissa sekä perusopetuksessa että lukiossa. Pedagogisen orientaation muutos koski luonnollisesti muutenkin haasteellista ortodoksien uskonnon opetusta. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksisen uskonnon aineenopettajien kokemuksia minäpystyvyyden (Bandura 1977) näkökulmasta teknologiakeskeisen etäopetuksen
toteuttamisessa.
Tutkimusten mukaan (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio ym. 2021) teknologian
käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vuosikymmenien ajan luonteeltaan pääasiassa passiivista. Aktivoivien, tiedon käsittelyyn ja tuottamiseen liittyvien pilvisovellusten käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vähäistä ennen Covid-19-viruksen aiheuttamaa äkillistä pedagogista muutosta.
Lähes puolelle kyselyyn vastanneille (n=32) opettajille etäopetus oli uusi pedagoginen kokemus. Tulosten perusteella on todettavissa, että ortodoksisen uskonnon opettajien minäpystyvyys oppiaineen etäopetuksessa oli hyvällä tasolla. He olivat kokeneet onnistuneensa opetuksen organisoinnissa ja tilanteen vaatimien toimivien pedagogisten ratkaisujen toteutuksessa. Myönteisistä kokemuksista huolimatta etäopetus oli kuitenkin koettu vaativaksi.
European school systems. This variability is further enhanced by the model of religious
education and the legal status of the different religions in each country. As a result,
minority faiths face challenges in terms of how pupils are taught their own religion in
school as part of their educational curriculum. On the other hand, it is also important
that members of minority faiths are not forced to participate in the teaching of a religion
other than their own. It is therefore important that the school's worldview education
curriculum takes account of religious and world view diversity in a way that respects
diversity, considering the UN´s The Rights of the Child. Similarly, religious education must
consider equal freedom of religion in practice. Properly interpreted, it notices the right
to be toughed about one´s own religion and not just the right not to be toughed religious
topics in an educational setting. In Finland, religious education is provided in
accordance with the pupil's religious denomination
välillä. Tätä vaihtelua lisäävät vielä uskonnonopetuksen malli ja eri uskontojen oikeudellinen asema kussakin maassa. Tämän seurauksena vähemmistöuskonnot kohtaavat haasteita sen suhteen, miten
oppilaille opetetaan heidän omaa uskontoaan koulussa osana opetussuunnitelmaa. Toisaalta on
myös tärkeää, että vähemmistöuskontojen jäseniä ei pakoteta osallistumaan muun kuin oman
uskontonsa opetukseen. Siksi on tärkeää, että koulun elämänkatsomustiedon opetussuunnitelmassa
otetaan huomioon uskonnollinen ja elämänkatsomuksellinen moninaisuus tavalla, joka kunnioittaa
moninaisuutta ja ottaa huomioon YK:n lapsen oikeudet. Samoin uskonnonopetuksessa on otettava
huomioon yhtäläinen uskonnonvapaus käytännössä. Oikein tulkittuna se tarkoittaa oikeutta saada
kuulla omasta uskonnostaan eikä vain oikeutta olla kuulematta uskonnollisia aiheita
opetusympäristössä. Suomessa uskonnonopetusta annetaan oppilaan uskontokunnan mukaisesti.
lasten ja nuorten vanhempien ja huoltajien sekä heitä opettavien
opettajien näkemyksiä mediassa käytyyn keskusteluun sekä uskonnon eri
oppimäärien että elämänkatsomustiedon opetuksesta katsomusopetuksen
malleissa. Asiasta ei ole tätä ennen esitetty näin laajaan selvitykseen perustuvaa
vähemmistöuskonnon edustajien näkemystä.
Tutkimuksen taustalla on enemmistön tilannetta mukaileva mediakeskustelu
katsomusopetuksen malleista. Syksyllä 2019 opetusministeri
toi esille ehdotuksen elämänkatsomustiedon mahdollistamisesta kaikille
katsomuksesta riippumatta. Vuoden 2020 alussa Ylen raportoimassa selvityksessä perusasteen uskonnonopetus pohjautuisi kaikille katsomuksille tarjottavalle yhteiselle oppiaineelle. Se painottuisi maailmanuskontojen opetukselle. Jo näitä ennen vuonna 2009 oli keskusteluun nostettu kaikille yhteiseksi oppiaineeksi uskontotieto.
pandemic. This was a completely new pedagogical implementation in the teaching culture of schools in almost all subjects in both primary and secondary education. The change in pedagogical orientation naturally affected the existing challenging teaching of the Orthodox religion. This article examines the experiences of Orthodox religion subject teachers in implementing technology-centred distance
education from the perspective of self-efficacy (Bandura 1977).
According to studies (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio et al. 2021), the use of technology in teaching has been mainly passive in nature for decades. The use of activating cloud applications for processing and producing information in education was limited before the sudden pedagogical change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For almost half of the teachers who responded to the survey (n=32), distance learning was a new pedagogical experience. Despite the challenging situation, the results show that Orthodox religious education teachers’ self-efficacy in distance education was at a good level. They had felt successful in organising their teaching and in implementing effective pedagogical solutions to the situation. However, despite the positive experiences, distance learning was experienced as demanding.
Koronan vuoksi maaliskuussa 2020 kouluissa siirryttiin etäopetukseen. Se oli täysin uusi pedagoginen toteutustapa koulun opetuskulttuurissa lähes kaikissa oppiaineissa sekä perusopetuksessa että lukiossa. Pedagogisen orientaation muutos koski luonnollisesti muutenkin haasteellista ortodoksien uskonnon opetusta. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan ortodoksisen uskonnon aineenopettajien kokemuksia minäpystyvyyden (Bandura 1977) näkökulmasta teknologiakeskeisen etäopetuksen
toteuttamisessa.
Tutkimusten mukaan (Nevgi 2000, Lakkala & Uusimäki 2011, Vuorio ym. 2021) teknologian
käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vuosikymmenien ajan luonteeltaan pääasiassa passiivista. Aktivoivien, tiedon käsittelyyn ja tuottamiseen liittyvien pilvisovellusten käyttö opetuksessa on ollut vähäistä ennen Covid-19-viruksen aiheuttamaa äkillistä pedagogista muutosta.
Lähes puolelle kyselyyn vastanneille (n=32) opettajille etäopetus oli uusi pedagoginen kokemus. Tulosten perusteella on todettavissa, että ortodoksisen uskonnon opettajien minäpystyvyys oppiaineen etäopetuksessa oli hyvällä tasolla. He olivat kokeneet onnistuneensa opetuksen organisoinnissa ja tilanteen vaatimien toimivien pedagogisten ratkaisujen toteutuksessa. Myönteisistä kokemuksista huolimatta etäopetus oli kuitenkin koettu vaativaksi.