Möten i det mångreligiösa Sverige
En hermeneutisk studie av samfundsföreträdares erfarenheter av elevbesök.
Encounters between students and religious believers is common in the subject of Religious Education in Swedish schools. For pedagogical reasons teachers arranging these encounters hoping that exciting things will happen. But which qualities and experiences arise out of these encounters?In this study representatives of eight different religious communities are interviewed who regularly receive pupils coming to their respective communities. The proposed theoretical framework is related to Phenomenology and Hermeneutics and the methodological approach is interpretive. The aim of the present study is to explore the experiences of the representatives. The research questions are: (1)Which aims do the representatives see as important with the study visits? (2) How do the representatives see their connection to the school? (3) What kind of knowledge and qualities are promoted?The results show four different aims with the study visits: First, where the existential dialog is in focus; second, where the experience and the perspective of the believer is at hand; third that focuses on understanding and coping with diversity and plurality; and forth, that focuses the cooperation with the schools and stresses the importance for the religious community to be a part of the daily life in school.To conclude, the level of the relationship between school and the communities seems to differ a lot between the representatives but are in general low. The questions that the pupils often prepare are important but could also distract from what the representatives see as the essential aims of the visit. The study shows that the representatives see dialog as an essential, part of a successful visit.