What are controversial issues? Who decides whether something is controversial, and how does it affect how a subject is taught whether a topic is presented as either controversial or not so? Although there has long been a lively debate within educational research on what criteria should be used to determine whether or not an issue is controversial, this topic has been less discussed in the specific context of religious education. At the same time, recent classroom studies has uncovered a finding that teachers of religious education feel that it is demanding to address controversial issues in their teaching, and that they lack the basic disciplinary and didactic skills to manage issues of such complexity. The main aim of this article is to bring the discussion about teaching controversial issues into the scholarly field of religious education and to explore the issues in deciding whether a topic should be considered controversial or not, and whether it should be taught as an open or a settled question.

Hva har demokratisk medborgerskap med 22. juli å gjøre? I denne artikkelen ser vi nærmere på spørsmålet gjennom en diskusjon av skolens rolle i etterkant av terrorhandlingene som rammet Norge sommeren 2011. Artikkelen er basert på en kvalitativ undersøkelse blant elever i videregående skoler. Vi drøfter elevenes oppfatninger av 22. juli og hva som har blitt gjort i skolen i lys av begrepet demokratisk medborgerskap. Studien ser på skolens rolle generelt, men har samtidig et særlig blikk på fellesfaget Religion og etikk.

Religious Education in Norway has been criticised for avoiding conflict perspectives and controversial issues. This article looks closer at some of these issues by focusing on how teachers in upper secondary school have dealt with the terrorist attacks in Norway on 22 July 2011 in the subject matter Religion and Ethics. This study takes as a starting point a previous study among students in upper secondary schools and their perceptions of what school has done in the aftermath of the incident, by adding teachers’ perspectives (Anker & von der Lippe 2015). The findings from the student survey showed that 22 July has almost been silenced in school, and the interviews with the teachers partly confirm this. The picture is however broadened, and shows that teachers have dealt with the issues in different ways. An important finding is that teachers´ personal and academic competencies seem to be important for whether and how controversial subjects are included in their teachings or not.Keywords: 22. July, controversial issues, democratic citizenship, religious extremism, religious educationNøkkelord: 22. juli, kontroversielle problemer, demokratisk statsborgerskap, religiøs ekstremisme, religionsundervisning

Anmeldelse av boken: Kari Repstad og Inger Margrethe Tallaksen. Praktisk fagdidaktikk for religionsfagene.