Religious Education as a School Subject

Is Religious Education like any other school subject or is it a special case? Do we talk about the same thing when we use the concept Religious Education? What are the relations to the university subjects of Theology and Religious Studies? Religious Education is a school subject that shows considerable variation between countries with regard to content, objectives and design. In many countries, there is a strong relationship between national identity and religion and thus the social construction of Religious Education. In this chapter, perspectives on school subjects are elaborated on and an overview of different models of Religious Education are given. The educational system is characterized by the national history and the specific context of which it is a part and so is the subject of Religious Education. In order to give the reader a background to the current Swedish Religious Education, the development of Religious Education and factors that have framed the subject are outlined and the present-day subject according to the current syllabus is presented.