Religion, spirituality, or stress management? Mindfulness and meditation in Swedish textbooks for Religious Education and Physical Education and Health

Abstract

The aim of this article is to advance knowledge on how mindfulness and meditation are understood in the educational system, an important yet under-explored context for these phenomena in Sweden and internationally. This is done by means of an exploratory and qualitative study of how mindfulness and meditation are constructed in Swedish textbooks for Religious Education (RE) and Physical Education and Health (PEH), analysing how these concepts are situated and transformed. Though ostensibly two very different subjects, RE and PEH are both mandatory throughout Swedish compulsory school and are included in all national upper-secondary school programmes. The topic of mindfulness and meditation provides a conceptual overlap between PEH and RE, and is presented in differing and contradictory ways in textbooks for the respective subjects. In RE textbooks, mindfulness and meditation are presented in the context of Buddhism and contemporary spirituality, while in PEH the practices are understood as stress management. This presents didactical challenges for teachers, but teaching on mindfulness and meditation also provides opportunities for synergy and curriculum cohesion.