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Objectives. This study is part of a larger discussion in the Finnish society on religious education (RE). The central topics in this discussion are whether religion should be taught in Finnish state schools and how RE should be organised in schools. Earlier research has studied the views of both ordinary citizens and teachers regarding RE. The interest of this study is on the views of class teachers in this matter. As experts on education working in primary schools, class teacher could be seen as having a unique view on the subject of RE. The objectives of this study are to discover which kind of religious education models class teachers regard as best, and what sort of positive or negative aspects do they see in their model of choice. It is also of interest to find out how the views of class teachers differ from the general discussion on the subject. Methods. For this purpose, an e-survey was sent to about a thousand Finnish elementary school teachers. In the survey the teachers were asked to write an essay, in which they would present what they regarded as the best religious education model along with arguments on its behalf and also against it. 78 teachers answered the survey. This study is partial to the qualitative research tradition and the data was analysed using theory related content analysis. The survey answers were categorised based on which model of religious education it represented. Within these main categories the arguments for and against the model and variations within the model were categorised. These categories were the premises for the results. The theory presented in this study was used in the categorisation process whenever it was deemed applicable. The results of the categorisation was also reflected on the theory. Results and conclusions. Three main categories were formed from the data: current model, common subject and combined model. The last was a combination of the two first models. The arguments for the current model were related to the understanding of Finnish cultural history and to furthering the pupil's sense of self. The arguments against this model were practical in nature. The arguments for the common subject were related to the removal of confessional RE from schools, the increased dialogue between students and the low cost of the model. The arguments against were related to freedom of religion and the qualifications of the teacher. The combined model produced arguments similar to the other two models.

The purpose of this research is to study (1) how early childhood educators co-operate with evangelic-lutheran parishes and other religious communities when organizing worldview education in kindergartens and (2) what kind of practices and new ideas do early childhood educators have concerning worldview education and (3) what kind of recommendations do early childhood educators have for in-service training of worldview education. This is a qualitative research. The data is based on a survey conducted in the winter of 2018 in selected social media discussion groups of early childhood educators. The questionnaire contained mainly open-ended questions. The answers (N=60) were analysed by using content analysis. As a result of the research, it was found that co-operation concerning worldview education is generally made only with evangelic-lutheran parish in most of the work communities of the survey participants. Co-operation was categorized into different categories: (1) minor co-operation, (2) more plentiful co-operation which maintains traditional practices and (3) dialogical and innovative co-operation. Those practices and ideas which included co-operation with religious communities were divided into five themes: general worldview education, religious events, support of wellbeing, mentoring and more general co-operation with none specific theme. Those practices and ideas which did not include co-operation were divided into six themes: general worldview education, festivals of the kindergarten community, moral education, organizing optional activities during religious events, dialogue with parents, and the lack of the practices. It was also found that recommendations for in-service training contents were divided into six themes: opening The National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education, clarifying the concepts of worldview education, giving information about different religions and non-religious worldviews, introducing methods for worldview education, and for the moral education, and developing sensitivity towards religions and other worldviews. Based on the study, it can be concluded that organizing in-service training to early childhood educators is very necessary and more discussion is currently needed about practices concerning worldview education, both in work communities, with parents and with co-operating religious communities.