The place of Religion and Worldviews in Swedish Preschool Teacher Education

This study examines the discourses and contents related to religion and worldviews in Swedish Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) teacher education programs, by analysing course plans and documents, as well as complementary data from teacher educators and students.

Previous research (Bayati 2014; Layne & Davies 2016; Rosén & Wedin 2018) identifies exclusionary discourses in teacher education regarding ethnicity, however, discourses related to religion and worldviews have yet to be studied.

Research on pedagogical practice for conveying cultural heritage in ECEC (Puskás & Andersson 2017; Reimers & Puskás 2022) shows a critical need to further develop teachers´ intercultural competencies, indicating that Swedish ECEC teacher education has failed to provide students with the necessary tools for meeting the demands for socially sustainable and interculturally aware teaching and care, as set in the national curriculum (Skolverket 2018).

Grounded in critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 2001; Wodak & Mayer 2021), we draw from critical pedagogy (Kumashiro 2000), black feminist and postcolonial theory (hooks 2003; Spivak, 1987;Yuval-Davis 2011) and feminist ethics of care (Langford & White 2019; Noddings 2013).

Our findings will contribute with knowledge and tools for developing a more inclusive and socially sustainable (Raivio, Skaremyr & Kuusisto, 2022) ECEC teacher education and, through that, Swedish ECEC practice.