Uddannelse:
Lecture given at a seminar on: Intercultural and interreligious pedagogics in Kindergarten and primary education at the Christian University of the Netherlands (CHN), Leeuwarden (juli 2006)

INTER-RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
in primary schools in Denmark

Aminah Tønnsen

Historically education has always been part of the domain of the church. Baptismal education was given in the schools, and the whole school system was based on a Christian foundation. Since 1937 it has, however, been possible for teachers and pupils in primary schools to be exempted from “Christian education” (kristendomskundskab). But it was not until 1975 that “Christian education” in primary schools was formally detached from its problematic confessional character and given a more secular, informative character.  

Seen in a rear-view mirror this rupture created a bigger gap between the two institutions than beneficial. Today, the goal of the subject is rather to make the pupils understand the importance of Christianity for the Danish culture, to be aware of und understand, what faith can mean to people in order to give them tools to form their own identity and character. And in order to reach this goal the school needs some contact with the church.

During the past years there has, however, been a rapprochement between school and church, respecting the fact that the two institutions are clearly independent, where none is in the power of the other. Both institutions are aware of the difference in their respective starting points, and this gives the basis for cooperation on new premises.  

A number of Clerical School Centres (Folkekirkens Skoletjeneste) have emerged in many parts of the country. Primary schools are offered material issued by the centres including experts in various fields - free of charge and as a supplement to the lessons given by their internal educators. It is up to the school and the individual teacher to accept or decline this offer, in exactly the same way that they accept or decline similar offers from the National Museum , the Zoo or other cultural institutions.  

It is stressed in the curriculum introduced in 1975 that education in “foreign faiths” is only to be given during the four last years of primary school (i.e. at the age of 13-16).

Since the number of pupils with a Muslim background has been steadily increasing for the past thirty years, “The Association of Teachers of Religious Education” (Religionslærerforeningen) has struggled for a broader non-confessional and much more informative “religious education”. As all future citizens must learn about the fact of the plurality of religions and religious truths - and must learn to live with that fact, the association demands that “religious education” be compulsory for all pupils regardless of their faith and from the very fist year at school.

On the other hand right-wing politicians and clerics defend the late introduction of “other faiths” (especially Islam) into the curriculum and try to increase the percentage of Christian education in school. The current minister of education, Bertel Haarder - who is also minister of ecclesiastical affairs and former minister of integration, known for his tightening of immigration and integration laws – has proposed that all pupils regardless of their faith should attend a daily morning assembly with singing of Christian hymns and reciting of the Lord’s Prayer! Right-wing politicians demand that “Christian education” be compulsory, but the minister of education fears that this would lead to sharp criticism from the United Nations Human Rights Commission, as was the case with Norway in 1997.

A recent survey shows that more than half of the Danish population wants some kind of broader “religious education” in primary school. In the big cities in fact many schools call the subject “religious education” instead of “Christian education”, and only a very few children with a Muslim background are exempted.

At the same time, many of today’s young Muslim parents (who are more ‘practising’ than their parents) do not want their children to attend any kind of religious education in public schools. I personally think that this is due to the fact that they during their own schooling have experienced incompetent teachers and education material hostile to Islam.

The first Muslim ‘guest workers’ arrived from mainly Turkey , Morocco and Pakistan during the sixties. At this time, their families remained in their respective home countries. When, in the beginning of the seventies, they were allowed by law to bring their families to Denmark , the Danish primary schools were not ready to cope with the new situation.

The teachers little by little found that education in both the Danish culture and the culture of these immigrants’ home countries was necessary – even for the youngest children. As there were no textbooks available for these new courses, the teachers fabricated their own material – often mixing culture and religion into one big cocktail.

Little by little smaller and even bigger publishing houses began issuing material on “Islam and Islamic culture” – often full of mistakes, on even the most basic facts. Sometimes, however, the publishing houses would ask a Muslim to review the material before printing it, but - as you may have experienced - not all Muslims know their own faith in detail, and still others mix religion and culture. A well-known Muslim politician of Syrian origin has been a major contributor to this dilemma of misunderstanding.

Even today, many teachers hesitate to use textbooks written by Muslims – preferring material written by non-Muslim ‘experts’ or at least in cooperation with a non-Muslim ‘expert’. The quality of the textbooks has certainly increased, and very often they include texts and articles written by Muslims.

In the following, I will elaborate three concrete examples of inter-religious programs in which I have personally participated:

1)
In the late eighties, the Mediacentre of the Danish Church (Danmarks Kirkelige Medie-center) invited a number of Danish-speaking, believing Jews, Christians and Muslims to contribute their knowledge of their respective faiths and personal reflections to a series of 4 videos called “The House of Abraham”:

The first video contains a 60 minute session with readings and prayers from Jewish, Christian and Muslim sacred texts, stressing the similarities of the tree faiths with Abraham as the starting point, assembling the three faiths.

The second video contains two 25 minute sessions: The first, entitled “The Stumbling Block”, explains the Christian doctrine of the Trinity versus the Jewish and Muslim conception of God, and the second, entitled “God said”, explains Holy Scriptures and rules of conduct.

The third video also contains two 25 minute sessions: “Belief and Salvation” describes rites of passage, mission and salvation, and the second, entitled “Belief and Belonging” looks at identity and gender issues, as well as different types of prayer.

Finally, the fourth video deals with various concepts, such as sin, forgiveness, punish-ment, the Day of Judgement, life after death etc.

A teacher’s manual completes the material that has been a great success – even for adult education – and has recently been issued on DVD.
http://www.dkm.dk/index.php?id=42

2)
In the late nineties the Clerical School Centre of Copenhagen (Folkekirkens Skole-tjeneste) elaborated material about Abraham Entitled “From Ur to Copenhagen ” in collaboration with the Islamic-Christian Study Centre (IKS). The textbook contained lessons such as

Thereafter, the classes, which are mostly comprised of children of various religious back-grounds, visit the local church, where the priest tells them about the role and function of the church, service and prayer rituals, finishing with the offering of Christ.

Finally the classes visit a mosque, where a Muslim tells them about the role and function of the mosque, service and prayer rituals, finishing with the pilgrimage and the offering of Ismael to God.

For many children, Muslims and Christians alike, it will be their first visit to a church or a mosque. The course has proven very successful and has become a unique opportunity to introduce the similarities and common values that Islam and Christianity share.

Comment:
It has proven quite difficult to find Muslims to be in charge of visits to the mosques outside Copenhagen . What is needed is Muslims who speak fluently Danish, who have an all-round knowledge of their faith and rituals, and who are able to handle the situation as a class-room situation, giving information, teaching and learning – and who do not try to take advantage of the situation in order to add a missionary aspect.
Fra Ur til Nørrebro/Nordvest/København..

3)
In the late nineties members of the Islamic-Christian Study Centre (IKS) and clerics of Copenhagen visited the Interfaith Education Centre (IEC) in Bradford , England .

Taking this centre as an example, a group of about 10 teachers and clerics of Jewish, Christian and Muslim background have gathered to elaborate a curriculum, in which primary schools of the area of Copenhagen can ask for at team of guest-teachers  - a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim – to talk about “God and Humanity”, “God and evil” or “religious practises”.

The “Religious Practise” theme is the most popular, as it is easy to visualize: The representative of Judaism sets a table with a white cloth, candles, Shabbat-bread, a bottle of red fruit-juice. He or she will say the corresponding blessings in Hebrew, show the Torah with its writing in Hebrew, tell about the Shabbat’s prayer rites, service, traditions, prohibitions etc.

The representative of Christianity will then take over and tell about the Christian communion table – keeping the white cloth, the candles and the fruit-juice on it – but now with wafers instead of bread. He or she will tell about the service, the religious importance of Sunday as a day of rest, the Bible etc.

Last, but not least, the representative of Islam will talk about Friday as a day of gathering and prayer, about the Koran etc.

I personally take this as an opportunity to give pupils information about Islam which I find important in the present context, but which Muslim children might not learn at home or at the Koran-lessons.

This could be, that the Koran contains parables like the Bible, that many stories of the prophets of the Koran are very similar to those of the Bible, that the ethical prescriptions of the Koran are very similar to those of the Bible (i.e. charity and compassion) and that these principles must be followed not only towards Muslims but towards all fellow human beings regardless of their faith.

For older children/teenagers, I give examples of different interpretations of the sharia in different periods of history to show that contextualization is not a purely western concept, but an absolute necessary element to make a harmonious link between faith, practise and the surrounding society – even for Muslims.

After a short question time, the children are offered a small glass of fruit-juice, a piece of bread and a communion-wafer. After the break, we may continue with the rites of passage and festivals in the three religions.

There will always be a lot of questions – also on subjects, which we have not touched in our presentation. And of course the Muslim children will try me to verify if I’m a ‘real’ Muslim asking questions like: “What do you say, when you open the Koran?” or asking me to recite the Surah al Fatiha.

It is our clear impression that we manage to get rid of many prejudices that children may have about the faith of their fellow-classmates – and even about their own faith.

Moreover our visit gives us an opportunity to help the children distinguish between Jews/Judaism and the political situation in Palestine.

Comment:
As the major part of the Danish Jews live in the capital, the program has until now only been available in the Copenhagen area. Also, it is quite difficult to find Muslims, who speak fluently Danish, who have an all-round knowledge of their faith and rituals, and who are able to handle the situation as a classroom situation, giving information, teaching and learning – and who do not try to take advantage of the situation in order to add a missionary aspect.  
Gæstelærerteam m. jøde, kristen og muslim.
Multireligiøs spørgetime er en succes

Summa summarum: 
In a multi-faith and multicultural environment, it is very important to emphasize on ethical and dogmatic similarities and to give the pupils an opportunity to ask questions to a person other than their regular teacher, a person who is a believer in the faith that she or he is presenting. Despite the fact that Denmark since October 2001 has had a government, which is quite hostile to the presence of cultures other than the Danish and religions other than Christianity, private and clerical initiatives on a grassroots level, make the situation a little bit easier and much more bearable.

ã Aminah Tønnsen, November 2006