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Research

Talking about religion and diversity

Marie von der Lippe

Research Summary

This paper focuses on how young people talk about religion and diversity in a multicultural society. More specifically, it focuses on how pupils speak about Islam and Muslims. How does their speech compare with media coverage? The research is explained, including how Gerd Baumann’s terms ‘dominant’ and ‘demotic’ discourse are understood and employed in this study. Then, the project is set within the Norwegian debate about plurality. The methodology is described, and there is discussion of some of the students’ statements and the ways of speaking to which they seem to belong. The paper’s conclusion, on the consequences of findings for school and RE, is very relevant to RE teaching, recommending that pupils’ own experiences of meetings with people from diverse backgrounds should be included more in lessons, as a way to challenge stereotypes.

Researcher

Marie von der Lippe

Research Institution

University of Bergen, Norway

What is this about?

  • How do young people (13-15 years old) talk about religion and diversity, in a multicultural society?
  • How, specifically, do they speak about Muslims?
  • What do the terms ‘dominant discourse’ and ‘demotic discourse’ mean?
  • How do these issues affect a contemporary society, i.e. Norway?
  • How can pupils’ own experiences of meetings with people from diverse backgrounds be included in lessons, and what will be the effects of this?

What was done?

The data were acquired from 20 individual interviews with students aged 13–15 years. The students came from four different schools in Bergen (three public and a Christian private school) and have Christian (8), Muslim (6) and non‐religious backgrounds (6). The sample consisted of 11 girls and 9 boys with various national and ethnic backgrounds (Norwegian, Iraqi, Kurdish, Somali, Philippine, Yemeni, Creole, Zanzibaran and some with mixed Norwegian and non‐Norwegian backgrounds).

Main findings and outputs

  • ‘Dominant discourse’ refers to generally accepted ways of speaking, ‘demotic discourse’ refers to individual speech or conversation that challenges dominant discourse.
  • In Norway can be found several dominant discourses about diversity: including, Norway is an open, tolerant society – and on the other hand, immigration can be seen as a threat to Norwegian values. “I am not a racist, but . . .”
  • Young people can draw on the dominant discourses and also on their own more positive demotic discourses, based on their friendship experiences. For example, ‘Rachel’ is a white Christian 15 year-old with friends from different cultural and religious backgrounds. She complains about racism and her mother’s negative attitudes to Muslims – but then complains about the numbers of ‘foreigners’ in Oslo.
  • ‘Christian’, of similar age and background to ‘Rachel’ , also has friends from different cultures and religions. He laments media stereotypes of Muslims as terrorists but in expressing disapproval of terrorism implies that it is linked to Islam. For the researcher, the young people are trying out different points of view in the interviews, but it is clear that both dominant and demotic dicourses work on them.
  • ‘Aisha’, of a black African Muslim background, speaks through dominant discourse when complaining about how Muslims are perceived in Norway (Muslim=terrorist). When she speaks about her own views and experiences, a more positive picture emerges: Muslims are different from one another, the Qur’an forbids suicide and Islam should not be linked to terrorism.

Relevance to RE

The analysis of young people’s speech about diversity is very relevant to RE, especially given that the article’s conclusion takes the form of recommendations to RE teachers. We need to teach pupils to be critical of how religions are portrayed in the media. This should help pupils to understand how they speak about others and why they do – and what consequences this may have for those affected by prejudice. It is also very important to focus on pupils’ own direct experiences with religious and cultural diversity. These tend to be more positive than the dominant discourse.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The sample is fairly small (20 pupils) and the context is Norway. Similar issues are certainly experienced in the UK, however, and RE teachers may find that the principle that young people’s direct experience of diversity is more positive than that presented in the media applies beyond Norway. At the very least, this is a useful and interesting hypothesis to test.

Find out more

Young people’s talk about religion and diversity: a qualitative study of Norwegian students aged 13–15, British Journal of Religious Education 33.2 pages 127-142 (published online 18 February 2011), 10.1080/01416200.2011.543590

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2011.543590

 

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