Teaching Islamic education in Finnish schools: A field of negotiations

The challenges of contemporary multicultural societies have resulted in changing aims for religious education and the necessity to adjust teacher education accordingly. The processes of negotiation related to the coexistence of different religious and cultural groups are intertwined in the Finnish curriculum for religious education. This case study examines three Islamic education teachers who negotiated intra- and inter-religious tensions as well as tensions between societal and religious orientations of education. Through their ideological, pedagogical and interpersonal negotiations teachers can mediate the contested practices of Islam as well as the ideals of liberal democracies and contribute to the emergence of Finnish Islam.

► Negotiations intertwined in the Finnish curriculum of religious education are studied.
► Islamic education teachers’ ways of mediating these negotiations are examined.
► Teachers negotiate the coexistence of cultural groups in a grass-root level.
► Teachers are drawn into interactive and ideological negotiations.
► Ability and willingness to negotiation is a central professional skill of teachers.