"Det är ju egentligen inget som är rätt och fel" : Lärares urval och bedömning inom religionskunskapens etik

Sammanfattning: AbstractThe purpose of this essay is to investigate the views Swedish elementary school teachers produce on the subject of ethics. The teachers’ thoughts on selection among ethical notions is described and also how these notions are assessed. The essay proceeds from the central content and the knowledge requirement in the syllabus of religious knowledge. The empirical survey is based on qualitative scientific interviews with four teachers employed in grades 4-6 at different schools.The teachers find ethics in its current state of the syllabus hard to define and they find encounters with parents and pupils difficult in their tasks. The selection of ethics is decided by previously planned basic values education or from conflicts erupting during schools hours. Difficulties with selection of ethics leads to the education only providing the essentials. Assessment of ethics is best performed in small groups where pupils may discuss and thereby present their level of knowledge to their teacher. Teachers believe assessment of ethics is problematic since they have to evaluate the pupils performed knowledge without letting their own personal ethic beliefs interfere in the process.