In a fresh article in British Journal of Religious Education, FAITHED researchers Anne Grethe Kjelling and Synnøve Markeng examine young Muslims’ experiences of moving between the mosque and the public school. The title is "Because I have knowledge":
This study investigates whether and in what ways Norwegian Muslim youth regard mosque-based education as capital transferable to the mainstream school context and vice versa. [...] While some informants point to the significance of Islamic education as devout Muslims, knowledge also carried importance when meeting critique from secular classmates. Possessing a strong knowledge of Islam appeared to be crucial both to challenge prevailing notions of Islam when encountering secular pupils and to negotiate stances with other Muslim pupils expressing more ‘radical’ interpretations of Islam.
The article builds on interviews with 18 young Muslims, aged 13-24. British Journal is considered the top European Religious education journal. The article is the second in Anne Grethe's PhD project. The first, a book chapter in Norwegian, was published earlier this month in the volume Hvor skal du i helga? En bok om religionsmangfold, trosopplæring og skole. The title translates as "Spaces for expression in mosque-based education: The perspective of Muslim youth".
Other English-language titles from the FAITHED project - all Open access:
- Markeng, S., & Berglund, J. (2023). In the Child’s Best Interest: Analyzing Pedagogical Approaches among Teachers of the Qur’an in Norway. Religion & Education, 51(3), 228–248.
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Eggen, N. S. (2023). Between Term and Trope: The ‘koranskole’ in Norwegian Public Discourse. Tidsskrift for Islamforskning, 17(2), 88–118.
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Markeng, S. (2023). Teaching about the Qur’ān in public schools in Norway. Tidsskrift for Islamforskning, 17(2), 62–87.
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Erdal, M. B., & Friisberg Larssen, M. (2024). Fostering togetherness in superdiverse Catholic parishes. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 51(11), 2999–3019.
We are preparing a volume in English, Minorities, migration and religion: New perspectives on religious education in faith communities and schools in Europe, edited by Anders Aschim, Jenny Berglund, Marta Bivand Erdal and Friedrich Schweitzer, to appear in the Waxmann series "Religious Diversity and Education in Europe" in winter 2026. Stay tuned!