Powerful knowledge in ethics and existential questions : which discourses, for which pupils, in which contexts?

• This chapter emanates from the Swedish context where the RE subject since the 1960s is a confessionally neutral and broad subject that includes not only knowledge of religions but also ethics and 'livsfrågor' [existential questions]. Accepting Michael Young's perspective that there is knowledge that pupils are entitled to and that there is power in knowledge that transcends contextually bound insights and expressions, one must add that the discussion about which these indispensable concepts and discourses are, has been more developed concerning religion than ethics or existential questions/worldviews. There is a need for a qualified discussion about powerful knowledge, and what constitute powerful knowledge, also in these fields. However, such a discussion cannot take as its only point of reference the potential strength in concepts and discourses. There is also a need for a dialectic relationship between 'curriculum' and 'child'. A teaching that does not reach the children that the teaching is to engage cannot be considered meaningful, no matter how powerful the knowledge paid attention to may be. In addition, if knowledge also is contextual, powerful knowledge can only be powerful in the practices that acknowledge this knowledge and allows it to be powerful. Powerful teaching must take into consideration the practices where the pupils have to appear as powerful, even if it cannot stay in these contexts. The purpose of this chapter is to argue for the importance of a dialectical perspective when discussing PK—a perspective that recognizes both child and curriculum—and based on three current empirical projects on ethics and pupils' existential questions, discuss what we know about children's knowledge interest and concrete meanings of powerful knowledge regarding ethics and existential questions.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Didaktik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Didactics (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Powerful knowledge

Ethics

Existential questions

RE didactics

Michael Young

'Powerful knowledge'

etik

existentiella frågor

RE didaktik

pedagogiskt arbete

educational work

etik

Ethics

ethics

existential questions

powerful knowledge

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)