Från Policy till Practice : En kvalitativ undersökning av mellanstadielärares tolkning av 2022 års kursplan i religionskunskap

Sammanfattning: This qualitative study aims to examine Swedish middle school teachers’interpretation of the new curriculum of religious education (RE) whichcomes into effect in the fall of 2022(Lgr 22). The curriculum of REunderwent, like many other school subjects, significant changes to itsformulations. Historically, RE has been prone to change in its content andphrasing. These changes in formulation resulted in a shift in the Swedishteachers practice as well as their perspective of what abilities are relevantfor students to acquire through teaching. It is therefore of interest tosurvey changes that are perceived as prominent in Lgr 22, their effects onteachers’ perception of the subject as well as teachers’ predictions ofchange in planning for RE. Four themes emerge through Popkewitzprocess of alchemy in an attempt to analyze the teacher’s interpretationof RE in Lgr 22. First off, the result indicates a transition from ananalytically predominant curriculum to instead advocate shaping of thestudents understanding of the actions of others. Secondly, the resultindicates an inconsistency in defining the content of RE. Teaching of worldreligions is presented with a strong classification and appears unanimousthroughout the teachers’ interpretations. Questions of life and ethics(QOLE) are presented as weak in classification and is not well definedwithin the framework of the RE curriculum. Finally, there seem to be nocorrelation between the approach teachers take towards studying a newcurriculum and the coherence between QOLE and the RE curriculum andthe commentary material. Teachers who throughout their careerfrequently changed school forms, present a stronger coherence whenasked to describe their approach to QOLE. The study occurs during thecurriculums initial applicational state where the need of continuousresearch regarding its practical application is necessary. Researchregarding teachers’ didactical literacy when discussing and contemplatingRE is required as well. There is also a need of developing the dialoguebetween the field of religondidactics and the national agency of education.