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A secular Advent. waiting for Christmas in Swedish preschools
Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Division of Learning, Aesthetics, Natural Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Educational Sciences.
Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Division of Learning, Aesthetics, Natural Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Educational Sciences.
2023 (English)In: British Journal of Religious Education, ISSN 0141-6200, E-ISSN 1740-7931, Vol. 45, no 2, p. 100-111Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Swedish preschool education is, by law, non-confessional. Yet, it is also an educational context within which most children aged 1-5 encounter traditions that carry Christian connotations. This paper explores how two Swedish preschools maintain a balance between keeping education non-confessional and paying attention to the traditions that are associated with the preparation for and celebration of Christmas - Advent. The data consist of ten videotaped observations from two preschools. The data was thematised with the help of Ninian Smarts dimensions of religious and secular worldviews. This way, we could show that the different traditions the two preschools were engaged in during the four weeks before Christmas contributed to a banal reproduction of a holiday season with roots in Lutheran Christianity. At the same time, the preschools contributed to a (re)production of traditions that evoke a national imaginery. Our results show that Advent in Swedish preschools is characterised as a non-confessional task for the institution. Thus, the principle of non-confessionality lives side by side with a banal national religion. Thereby, the Swedish preschool plays an integral part in the banal reproduction of a Swedishness that includes Lutheran Christianity.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge; Taylor & Francis , 2023. Vol. 45, no 2, p. 100-111
Keywords [en]
Swedish preschool education; advent; banal religion; banal nationalism; dimensions of worldviews
National Category
Religious Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-183746DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2022.2035678ISI: 000763754700001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-183746DiVA, id: diva2:1646708
Note

Funding Agencies|Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research CouncilEuropean Commission [2014-02397]

Available from: 2022-03-23 Created: 2022-03-23 Last updated: 2023-11-09Bibliographically approved

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Puskás, TündeAndersson, Anita

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CiteExportLink to record
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Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
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  • en-US
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  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
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  • Other locale
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Output format
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  • asciidoc
  • rtf