Worldview literacy as a part of teacher professionalism

ABSTRACT

This article, based on a mixed-method study, examines which dimensions of worldview are addressed by a group (N = 134) of Finnish students and in-service educators when interpreting a written imaginary case from everyday school life. The findings are interpreted in the framework of worldview literacy, derived from the concept of religious literacy and defined as an ability to decipher situations with aspects of worldview diversity. Data from open responses to a survey were approached in two ways, quantitatively, where worldview literacy was seen as an ability to recognise the impact of worldview in the case and argue for it, and qualitatively, where the different aspects of worldview mentioned by the participants were analysed. In terms of the quantitative analysis, the survey revealed a tendency to avoid explaining situations through worldview. From a qualitative point of view, the participants most often mentioned worldview as beliefs and something deeply significant and emotional. Furthermore, the data raised questions about essentialist attitudes towards worldviews and cultures, and recognising power issues. The case-based open question yielded multifaceted data, pointing to the fact that this method could be developed to measure worldview literacy.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious literacy
• worldview literacy
• worldview diversity
• teacher professionality

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted within a teacher education development project funded by the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Education (grant no. OKM/39/523/2017).

Notes on contributors

Anuleena Kimanen

Anuleena Kimanen conducted this research as a university researcher in the Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki. Kimanen holds a title of docent in religious education in the same faculty. Her research interests include, for example, pupil perspectives on religious education and worldview diversity in education. Currently, Kimanen works as a university lecturer in the Department of Teacher, University of Turku.