Dealing with students’ religiosity and faith in Norwegian state schools

About the seminar

Dealing with students’ religiosity and faith in Norwegian state schools: A civil culture perspective 

Drawing on recent research on religiously based exemptions and absences in Norwegian schools, Dr. Smette analyses negotiations over what counts as legitimate or illegitimate expressions of religiosity in the classroom. The study suggests that schools often operate with a narrow definition of religion, leaving parents in a difficult position when requesting exemptions on religious grounds.

In her presentation, Dr. Smette expands this analysis by discussing empirical examples where minority students’ expressions of faith have been perceived as problematic by teachers, school leadership and the broader public. She argues that such expressions can be understood as subtle forms of resistance to minoritisation processes, and reflects on why similar resistance appears less visible among parents.
 

Dr. Ingrid Smette is a researcher at NOVA, section for research on childhood, family and child welfare. Her work focuses on parenthood and childhood in culturally diverse welfare states, and she is currently involved in several projects examining how welfare state institutions engage with religious difference. She holds a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Oslo.

About the organizer 

The Collegium for the Sociology of Education serves as a forum for scholarly discussion of the social, cultural, and political dimensions of education and teaching. All Collegium activities are open to the public.