Secularism and religious traditions in non-confessional Swedish preschools: entanglements of religion and cultural heritage

Abstract

Swedish preschools are supposed to be non-confessional. At the same time, they are supposed to pass on a cultural heritage of a nation where the Lutheran Church has permeated society for centuries. Based on a study of traditions and religion in Swedish preschools, this article describes and discusses how preschools work with religion as an aspect of cultural heritage and as regularly occurring activities and themes during the preschool year. The empirical data consist of a survey about traditions in preschools, video ethnography in two preschools, and group interviews with preschool staff. The article centres around the question of how a cultural heritage is passed on without simultaneously passing on religion. Although the data show that all preschools have special activities in relation to Christmas and Easter, it also demonstrate a reluctance to speak to the children about what the teachers understand as religion. Drawing on the notion of secularism and Smart’s dimensions of religion, the article shows, on the one hand, the difficulty of emptying religious practices of religion, and on the other hand, the difficulty of reducing religion to only one dimension. As a social phenomenon, religion is complex, contingent, and multidimensional.