Controversial Issues, a Challenge for the Religious Classroom? : An interview-based study of ten Swedish religion teachers and their Preconceptions and views on controversial topics and social relationships with their students.

During my internship at a secondary school, as part of my studies to become a religion studies teacher at Karlstad University. I developed an interest in the attitudes and approaches of religious studies teachers toward controversial issues. This study focuses on how some religious studies teachers in Swedish upper and lower secondary schools handle and perceive controversial topics in their classrooms. The aim of this study is to explore how teachers view controversial issues and whether they feel they have received sufficient training to address controversial topics raised by students. The study also investigates whether connections can be made between Aspelin’s variation of the American social psychologist Thomas J. Scheff’s theory of social bonds at the individual and group levels, and whether the three competencies—communicative, differentiation, and socioemotional competence– have a causal relationship with controversial issues in the classroom. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with ten teachers who teach religious education in upper or lower secondary schools. Semi–structured interviews were chosen so that both the interviewee and the interviewer could reflect on the responses and ask some follow-up questions or elaborate further on what had been said. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed using a thematic analysis method. The results of this study shows that experience as a teacher, as well as age and life experience, are important factors in effectively addressing controversial issues in the classroom. It is also those teachers with greater experience who see didactic potential in controversial topics. The three most significant factors for successfully handling controversial issues are experience, social bonds with students, and subject knowledge.