Browsing by Author "Salmes, Joanna"

The aim of the research was to find out the views of the kindergarten teachers concerning Christianity and it´s role in the religious education. The research was implemented as a qualitative case study. The basis was to look at the history of the christian teachings as a pedagogical aim in the religious education in the beginning of the 1900-century and the changes that the multi-religional society today have brought in the contents and the practice. The backround theory was Mervi Muhonen and Kirsi Tirri`s ( 2008) definition of the six different dimensions of the Christian pedagogics. These six dimensions can be divided in to two; the spiritual part and the human part. In the research three kindergarten teachers were interviewed. They work in Helsinki, Vantaa and Pirkkala. All the three of them vary in their personal attitudes toward Christianity. The form of the interview was a half-structured theme interview and the interviews were implemented separately and individually. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The analysis was done according to the theory-based content analysis and the material was classified into themes. In the results was noticed that all the three kindergartenteachers were emphasizing the human part of the reliogious education in their practical daily-base activity. The spiritual part was emphatized only by those of the kindergarten teachers, who had a personal belief. In most of the kindergarten groups the spiritual part was totally transferred to the church and to homes. The research results showed that the kindergarten teachers experienced that the christian tradiotion is a part of the Finnish cultural tradition and also an important part for the next generation to pass on. All the three kindergartenteachers said that the general attitude towards Christian education has changed to be more cautious during their professional career. The way how the christian education was performed was influenced by the personal intrests and beliefs of the teachers. The research also showed that without a strong, personal faith in the midst of the multicultural and multireligional society and its demands, the education of the Christianity was easily given forward, to the church and its representatives.