Confessionality is a term which is seldom defined but often used. One of its meanings is enhancing the religiosity of pupils. In Finland, pupils are provided with religious education in their own religion. Does this produce more religious young people than a neutral or multi-religious education would produce? Interviews with 15-16-year-old Muslim pupils at three different Finnish comprehensive schools are examined in order to answer this question. The young Muslims themselves usually regarded their families as the most important factor in their religious identity, although they also acknowledged and valued the impact of school. For them, knowledge of Islam was an important asset. Some peer group influence could also be detected, although the interviewees stressed the fact that their faith was a matter of individual choice. Islamic religious education certainly provides an arena for developing religious attitudes and models of behaviour, but other factors determine whether these models are received or not. The focus of defining the degree of confessionality should be shifted from the outcomes to the process of teaching, and in particular the question as to whether the religious education class can be seen as a safe space for every pupil.

This article examines social practices within classroom discourse in two different Finnish religious educational contexts. The article critically observes the construction of certain positions and identities as part of the school discourse and the inclusive vs exclusive practices of language. The research material consists of classroom observations and staff interviews from two separate studies. The first study investigates two cases in separative religious education (RE), Islamic and Lutheran. The second study deals with integrative practices of RE. In this study, discourse analysis as a methodological tool is used to examine discursive practices in RE lessons. The study will explore the following question: What kinds of subjectivities are constructed through teachers' discursive practices in separative and integrative RE? The study will demonstrate that teachers use scientific language to underline the objective nature of RE and use the language of belonging to engage their pupils on a personal level. The former ends up silencing the religious stance, while the latter often excludes those who do not share those specific experiences. The findings reveal some challenges in developing inclusive teaching.

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, who is currently working as a teacher of Lutheran religious education and a teacher consultant for religious education for the city of Espoo. Her research focuses on religious education and competences that it can provide.

This article explores the ways in which 10 interviewed educators in Finnish multicultural comprehensive schools talk about cultural diversity. Recent theories and research try to avoid problematic views of culture, and some of their approaches can be found in the Finnish curriculum. Instead of defining discourses as sound or unsound this article seeks to understand the variety of discourses through discourse analysis. Two main discursive approaches viewed culture as significant and as insignificant in diversity. The interviewees mixed different discourses in order to present themselves as aware educators, but also to normalize the multicultural school as a workplace. Sometimes cultural essentialism and colour-blindness occurred, and instances of criticizing one's own thinking were scarce. Religious diversity was mostly talked about as a natural part of cultural diversity, Islam being constructed as the main 'other'. The discourses were also very much interwoven with the multi-layered negotiations concerning practice, and tensions between staff members were implicit. Discourses concerning cultural diversity should be scrutinized by educators and student teachers in order to increase awareness about the risks of both cultural essentialism and colour-blindness. Furthermore, educators need appropriate discursive practices to address diversity and privilege, to decipher situations, and to avoid cultural relativism.