Religious education in secularist kindergartens? Pedagogical leaders on religion in Norwegian ECEC

The study investigates pedagogical leaders’ reflections on the dissemination of religious tradition in kindergartens. The research question is: How do pedagogical leaders in a sample of public, Norwegian kindergartens interpret the religious aspects of the legislation, and how do they reflect on their own implementation of it?

The results suggest that the pedagogical staff expresses loyalty to the legal framework that regulates kindergarten education, but appears to be more concerned with religious diversity and religious minorities than with majority religion and religion as expressions of Christian heritage and traditions.

The data collection is based partly on interviews with pedagogical leaders at seven public kindergartens in Oslo and Agder and partly on interpretations of the kindergartens’ planning documents. All the informants were women with pedagogical responsibilities, including coordinators, heads of department and pedagogical leaders.

Hovdelien, O., & Sødal, H. K. (2022). Religious education in secularist kindergartens? Pedagogical leaders on religion in Norwegian ECEC. Religions, 13(3), 202.