University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Educating Christian Identity in Europe

Professor Kirsi TirriUniversity of HelsinkiFinland

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Two empirical studies• What types of questions do children ask in different

countries?– A cross-cultural study of preadolescents’ moral, spiritual and

religious questions (Tirri, Tallent-Runnels & Nokelainen 2004)

• What types of interpersonal conflicts children and adolescents experience?

• What types of problem-solving strategies do they identify in these conflicts?– Interpersonal Relationships as Keys to Justice, Care and

Forgiveness (Tirri 2004)

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Future concerns study

• Research project that collects data from children and adolescents in Hong Kong, Bahrain, the USA and Finland (Germany)

• What do children and adolescents think about the future?

• The data is gathered after 11.9. 2001

• The influence of war and terrorism

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

The Data

• 3-6 grade students

• 55% females, 45% males

• Finland (N=365)

• USA (N=164)

• Hong Kong (N=168)

• Bahrain (N=276)

• Total N=973

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

The questions

• Do you think that a person has a say in his/her own future?

• We want to get your view of the future of humankind. In order to do this, please write 20 questions you would like to ask someone about the future.

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Analysis methods

• Quantitative and qualitative content analysis

• Five main coding categories: scientific concerns, everyday life concerns, moral concerns, spiritual concerns, religious concerns

• Interrater reliability was .80 based on the independent scoring of 30 students’ questions by two raters

• t-test and the ANOVA statistic were used to test the differences found between boys and girls, between different grade levels and between different schools

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Do you think that a person has a say in his/her own future?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Scientific questions

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Scientific questions by gradelevel

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Scientific questions

• Will we invent a cure for cancer?• Will they find a cure for AIDS?• How long do people usually live?• Can a person travel in time?• Is there life on other planets?• Have we invented flying cars?• Have some species died of extinction?• Can we decrease the green house effect?• Is there still an ozone layer?• How has technology developed?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Everyday life questions

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Everyday life questions

• Will we have to go to school?• What are clothes like?• What is the most popular sport?• How will music develop?• What will happen to Elijah Wood?• Who is our President?• What are we eating?• Where will I live?• Will I marry?• Will I have children?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Moral questions

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Moral questions

• Will there be a World War Three?• How can we avoid wars?• Will we find Osama Bin Laden?• Will we be able to defeat terrorism?• Will the world be a better place?• Is there a lot of hunger?• Have we destroyed nature?• Do we have a lot of smokers?• How can we avoid drugs?• When will racism stop?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Spiritual questions

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Spiritual questions

• What is the meaning of life?• What will I be when I grow up?• When will the world end?• Why do people die?• What will happen to humankind?• Is there life after death?• Are you afraid of death?• Will I have a happy life?• Why did all this happen?• What if we don’t make it?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Religious questions

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Religious questions in different countries

• Bahrain– Do I get the chance to visit Mecca?– Do I pray in Jerusalem?– Will everyone become Muslims?– Do we have Profets in the future?

• Finnish and USA– Is there a Jesus?– Will Jesus come back?– Will I go to heaven or hell?– Does God exist?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Religious questions in different countries

• Hong Kong– Why do religions like Buddhism exist?– When is the Doomday?– Do people go to hell when they die?– May I see the Lord?

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Results

• In every country students asked mostly everyday life questions and scientific questions

• Gifted students in each country asked more scientific questions than average ability students

• The gifted students in each country asked more moral questions than average ability students

• The girls asked more spiritual and religious questions than the boys

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Practical implications

• Holistic view to education: development of the whole person

• Life-long learning: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, learning to live together (UNESCO 1996, 85-97)

• The scientific and moral questions should be discussed by addressing the spiritual and religious aspects associated with them

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Justice-oriented moral reasoning

• Influenced by the moral development theory by Lawrence Kohlberg (1969)

• Applies general principles to individual cases• Emphasizes duty, rule following, and universal

moral judgments• Kohlberg’s dilemmas focus on issues of

ownership, public welfare and questions of life and death

• The real-life moral dilemmas of adolescents include conflicts in interpersonal relationships

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Care-oriented moral reasoning

• Moral sensitivity in the human relations requires empathy and care (Gilligan, Noddings)

• Motivation to act morally

• Role-taking skills (Hoffman, Selman)

• The ability to take a sensitive and comprehensive view of situations is also likely to lead to more mature analysis of moral dilemmas

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Methods

• Sixth-grade students (N=100)• Ninth-grade students (N=94)• Essay writing: stories about moral conflicts in the

school involving themselves or their friends• Themes of conflicts• Moral orientations• Differences between grade level• Differences between girls and boys

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

The themes of conflicts

• Harassing – the most common moral conflict as identified

by sixth-graders• Teacher behavior– the most common moral conflict as identified

by ninth-graders• Peer relations– a typical concern of sixth-grade girls

• Adult behavior• Common rules

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

The solutions to the conflicts

• Both sixth- and ninth-grade boys were clearly justice-oriented in their moral orientation

• Both sixth- and ninth-grade girls were care-oriented in their moral orientation

• More girls than boys were able to combine both orientations in their solutions

• None of the students considered forgiveness as a potential problem-solving strategy in their interpersonal relationships

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Forgiveness-orientation

• A specific application of mercy in interpersonal relationships

• Forgiveness can be an effective problem-solving strategy in releasing one’s anger and joining again in community with the other person (Enright 1991)

• Interpersonal forgiveness in Christianity means that one is to forgive the offender whether or not he/she repents

• The forgiver is demonstrating agape love

University of Helsinki 04/20/23

Practical implications

• Forgiveness is possible only when a person first has a sense of justice

• Forgiveness should never be forced upon anyone

• Forgiveness seeks the compassionate solution, or the one beneficial to our emotional and spiritual health, or to our relationships

• Those who are taught about and who understand forgiveness may more readily consider it as the primary problem-solving strategy