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In Search of the Meaning of Life: A Study of the Ideas ofSenior Compulsory School Pupils on Life and its Meaningin an Experiential Learning ContextKeijo ErikssonPublished online: 06 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Keijo Eriksson (2000) In Search of the Meaning of Life: A Study of the Ideas of Senior Compulsory SchoolPupils on Life and its Meaning in an Experiential Learning Context, British Journal of Religious Education, 22:2, 115-127, DOI:10.1080/0141620000220206

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In Search of the Meaning of Life: A Study of the Ideasof Senior Compulsory School Pupils on Life and itsMeaning in an Experiential Learning ContextKeijo Eriksson

The author discusses personal philosophies of life and an educational experiment carried out in the upper

secondary school in Sweden. Data on older secondary school pupils' views on the meaning of life was

collected during lessons in which the researcher acted as teacher, and then carried out an analysis. The

ideas of the pupils can themselves form part of religious education as well as having potential to provide

links between the experience of pupils and material from the world's religious traditions.

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

The Swedish School System

The Swedish state school system comprises compulsory school and various types of voluntaryschooling. Compulsory schooling includes compulsory basic schools, schooling for the Samipeoples of northern Sweden, special schools (for children with impaired sight, hearing or speech),and compulsory schooling for mentally handicapped children.1

The Swedish Education Act 1985:1100 stipulates that all children and young people must haveaccess to education of equal value (Skollag och forordningar 1997, 15). All pupils enjoy this right,irrespective of gender, their geographical place of residence and social and economic conditions.The Education Act specifies that education should provide pupils with knowledge and skills,working together with their homes to promote their harmonious development towards becomingresponsible human beings and members of society. Consideration must also be afforded to pupilswith special needs.

Within the goals and frameworks defined by Parliament and the Government, each individual munici-pality is free to decide how its schools should be run. An education plan must be produced describinghow schooling is to be funded, organised, developed and evaluated. The head teacher of each schoolhas the task of drawing up a local working plan based on the curricula, national objectives and theeducation plan. This must take place in consultation with teachers and other staff.2

Curriculum and Syllabuses

A new national curriculum for basic schools (Lpo 94) came into effect in the autumn of 1994. Thiscurriculum replaced the 1980 curriculum for the compulsory school (Lgr 80). The new curriculum

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is common to the whole of the compulsory school system and is based on a division of responsi-bility where the state determines the goals and guidelines for school activity while the municipal-ities are responsible for their implementation (Swedish Ministry of Education and Science 1994).

Under the headings Knowledge, norms and values, the curriculum sets out the view of knowledge andbasic values that are the foundation for the work of the school (Swedish Ministry of Education andScience 1994,14). The inviolability of human life, individual freedom and integrity, the equal value ofall people, equality between women and men and solidarity with the weak and vulnerable are allvalues that the school is expected to represent and impart. In accordance with the ethics of Christiantradition and Western humanism, this is achieved by fostering in the individual a sense of justice,generosity of spirit, tolerance and responsibility. Education in the school shall be non-denominational.

Lpo 94 defines the underlying values and basic objectives and guidelines of the school system. Inaddition, there is a nationally defined syllabus for each individual subject (Swedish Ministry ofEducation and Science 1995). The tasks of the compulsory school include giving pupils theopportunity to learn about and consider different religions and views of life, as a basis for pupilsto form their own views. Religious studies should expand and deepen the pupils' world ofexperience, give them opportunities to reflect over religious, moral and ethical questions, equipthem for taking responsibility as human beings and members of society and develop respect foreach person's right to have their own view of life. Existential questions and questions of faith andethical perspectives from a personal development process, should be a part of this. Teaching inreligious studies should not only increase the pupils' knowledge about religion and views of life,but also give them the opportunity to work with their own reflections and questions concerningexistential and ethical issues. Each pupil needs to reflect over such issues and acquire tools interms of traditions, languages and symbols needed to search for meaning in the situationsencountered in life (Swedish Ministry of Education and Science 1995, 65-9).

As a consequence of increasing immigration, many pupils have today a religious background otherthan Christian. World religions other than Christianity are becoming a part of our culture. Thisimplies that agnosticism or atheism as an alternative to the traditional religions must beconsidered and discussed as a part of the school's teaching in religious studies.

The View of Teaching

The view of teaching is described in the Swedish Curriculum Committee's deliberations(Laroplanskommitten 1994). In summary, one can conclude that one of our school's mostimportant tasks is to develop in its pupils the skill of grounding principles on knowledge andrational convictions. This implies that a student does not study a subject simply in order to learnfacts, but also in order to learn how to understand things through experience and how to useconcepts in particular ways. The central thrust of education is no longer to impart factualknowledge, but to take the needs of the students as the mainspring of what goes on in school.One of the most important tasks of school teaching is therefore to provide students with guidance,so that separate items of knowledge can be integrated into a whole, so that they learn todistinguish and analyse on the basis of the values which it is schools' duty to represent and uphold.

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The Aim of the Study

The research reported here is based on data collected during the school-based project Teenagers:aspects of their life style and attitudes. The project was undertaken as part of the subject ReligiousStudies taken by students attending Year 9 in the 1993-4 school year, the final year of compulsoryschooling for these pupils in Sweden. The general aim was to determine what basic values thesepupils hold. This was done through the analysis of an essay written by the pupils at the conclusionof the taught element of the project. The topic of the essay was, 'What is worthwhile in life?'

This study has three parts: (1) to discover the direction and character of the pupils' basic values,(2) to investigate how consistent or diverse these opinions are amongst young people and (3) todevelop a form of teaching which encourages pupils to reflect on questions of an existentialnature, and how these ideas can then be used in a teaching process in the subject ReligiousStudies. I define 'central values' as those basic goals which students consider to be essential, thatis, what one strives for and aims to manifest through action. It should be made clear that I am notassuming that religious education should be reduced to an exploration of values. Part of myconcern was to find ways of linking material from the religions of the world to the personalconcerns of pupils. This next step in using the research findings is not covered in this article.

Theoretical Basis

Existential Questioning and a Personal Philosophy of Life

The project was inspired by and developed from a series of research studies which began at theend of the 1960s and which in the 1990s resulted in the Balil Project (Green and Hartman 1992).My project can therefore be seen to have its origins in a long tradition of research which hasdescribed and analysed existential questioning and the personal philosophies of children in the agegroup 5-13 years.

According to Hartman (Hartman 1986a), a personal philosophy has three important aspects. The firstis the theoretical aspect, which includes personal convictions and a conception of the world.Secondly, a personal philosophy of life is made up of existing values. Lastly, a personal philosophy oflife must include the step from theory into practice via action or readiness to act. For a more completeexplanation of the relationship between existential questioning and a personal philosophy of life,together with a thorough examination of the development of religious education methodology inSwedish schools, see Sven Hartman's book Children's Philosophy of Life (Hartman 1986b).

Consistency and Diversity in the Cultural Life of Young People

Working in the context of cultural anthropology, Linton (1936) developed a theory of culturalchange. This theory emphasises that culture and society are mutually dependent and that a cultureis expressed through the action and readiness for action of the members of that society(Sandstrom and Ekholm 1984; Henrysson 1994). Linton's theoretical perspective influenced myinvestigation.

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Knowledge and Teaching

The view of teaching which is central to this article is described in the Curriculum Committee'sdeliberations (Laroplanskommitten 1994, 59) in three different respects:

• The constructive aspect in which knowledge develops in an interaction between what onehopes to achieve, the knowledge one already has, the problems one faces and the experienceone gains.

• The contextual aspect in which knowledge is dependent on its context, within which it makessense.

• The functional aspect in which knowledge is seen as a tool.

In summary, one can conclude that one of our schools' most important tasks is to develop in itspupils the skill of grounding principles on knowledge and rational convictions - through theacquisition of knowledge - rather than on the decrees of authority or simply on tradition.

METHOD

Designing and Executing the Study

Basis for Teaching and Collecting of Data

The terms 'single-voice classroom' and 'dialogue classroom' were introduced by Dysthe (1993) inher doctoral thesis Writing and Talking to Learn. Dysthe promotes the dialogue classroom, built ona view of knowledge which proposes that it is acquired by individuals interacting with others. Therole of the teacher is to plan a developmental process whereby pupils, through the use of variouslanguage forms, are enabled to process factual content.

The teaching method tried in the present study has its starting point in pupils' writing on a numberof statements, for example the following: 'When I think about God, I think... ', 'When I think aboutdeath, I think ... ', 'When I think about the meaning of life, I think ... ' The pupils' reflections onthese topics then form the basis of the next step of the educational process, in planning the contentof lessons and written assignments in combination with follow-up discussions in the classroom. Thiskind of personal questioning has been deeply influenced by Grimmitt (1987, 226-8).

The collection of data consisted of the continual collection and documentation of everything thatthe pupils produced in the form of written texts. This study reports on an analysis of an essay oncentral values written at the end of the project, and consequently at the conclusion of these pupils'compulsory schooling.

Choosing the Participants

This entire investigation is based on the assumption that the collection of data is made easier ifthe investigator works as a teacher in the classes which are the object of one's research.

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Throughout the school year the project included a group of 50 pupils: 30 boys and 20 girls. Fromtime to time when joint teaching exercises were held for the whole year-group, a further threeclasses with a total of 77 pupils - 30 boys and 47 girls - were involved in the project. Theparticipant group consisted of pupils from a middle-class background, roughly evenly dividedbetween those living in urban and rural locations, and with a small minority of immigrantsrepresented. The municipality can be said to be normal in terms of religious tradition, with veryfew people (those with family roots in Vietnam and Korea) belonging to churches other than thestate Church of Sweden. The pupils' academic records were average.

Concluding Essay on the Centra! Values of Life

As the constructive, contextual and functional elements of knowledge have come more and moreunder scrutiny in recent years, the pupils were given this concluding task: to write within a periodof two weeks an essay on the topic, 'What is most important to you in your life?' The aim of thisessay was to provide text material with its focus on the following: 'Which thoughts, questions andproblems do pupils express about their immediate environments and the world at large in an essayon central values written at the conclusion of the school year and their compulsory schooling?'

The use of such young participants in a research situation is governed by the principles of researchethics laid down by The Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSFR1983). The pupils were allowed to volunteer to participate, and in this way this research came toinclude an analysis of 45 essays.

Studying the Data

In the course of categorising the pupils' essays, I chose to use a model developed in the project 'WhatDo Children Think About' (Hartman et al 1973). A preliminary division into categories gave structure tothe text material, which was then in a suitable form for further analysis. The aim then was to identifyand interpret how the pupils expressed their value systems and readiness to act outlined by Spiegelberg(1960, 658-9). The latter analysis meant a further grouping of material, according to the following:

• Ontological statements• Individuals and their relationships• Society - politics

• Concept of God and religion - theology

RESULTS

Existential Questions

From the Pupils' Perspective

In order to obtain an overall picture of those thoughts, questions and problems which the groupconsidered most important in life, the essay material was categorised using the following question

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as a starting point: 'What do these pupils think about in this context?' The results are listed below,with the most popular category shown first:

• Family• Education• Social concerns• Leisure time• Sympathy and understanding• The environment• Health and keeping fit• Religion• Death• The joy of growing up and the satisfaction of making progress• Peace• Security in one's social environment

This sorting into categories gave a structure to the text material which was then analysed further,with a view to identifying and interpreting the values and readiness to act expressed in the essaymaterial. The result of this analysis shows that pupils have difficulties expressing themselves onontological questions, and that their reflections on such questions are placed in a context whichfocuses on:

• individuals and their relationships;• society;• the concept of God and religion.

Individuals and their Relationships

With regard to the family, older pupils in this study gave varying motives in support of the nuclearfamily - for many within the framework of marriage - as an important and worthwhile means ofachieving happiness and life's goals. When it comes to ideology and the family, it is apparent thatit is considered important that personal philosophies are translated into practical action. In thesame way that emotional solidarity legitimates marriage, anything that destroys such emotionalsolidarity becomes legitimate grounds for divorce.

When children are discussed, the material shows that they are considered important and that theygive life meaning. A pre-requisite is, however, that both partners are psychologically mature forparenthood. In this context, the essays emphasise the demand for well thought out strategiesregarding children and their development. These include support, providing security and themoulding of personality through the preservation of good relationships within the family. Theprovision of security excludes the use of physical violence.

One strong moral conviction brought forward in the study is the need to reduce the emphasis onselfishness in relation to the older generation. The need to establish a humane form of care during

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the last stages of life is focused on. The deficiencies in the care of elderly people in today's societyare discussed in the material in a surprisingly concrete and practical way, for example through theexpressed wish not to have to end one's days in an old people's home. The current debate in themass media about steadily shrinking resources and the deterioration of care for elderly people isinterpreted by the group as a betrayal of the older generation. In this context, a more humanequality of life in its last stages is emphasised, including ideas on some form of euthanasia.

Concerning schools and education, the study encourages the development of responsiblemembers of society through education. A broad education, resulting in knowledge and a readinessto act in society is promoted in the essay material. In order for this competence to be developed,a good learning environment, perseverance, creativity, interested parents and an attitude ofresponsibility towards one's studies are important. The pupils also stress that it is vitally importantthat the school provides a positive climate of co-operation, at the same time giving pupils roomto develop their own intrinsic creativity. All the pupils in the investigated group foresee their ownfuture development through continuing education of some sort. Cuts in spending on educationstimulate ideas which challenge responsible authorities to invest in education in order to giveyoung people a good academic and social foundation for the future. When it comes to theacquisition of knowledge itself, the essays reflect the pupils' own experiences of learning. In thiscontext, the pupils stress the school's responsibility to provide a form of education whichpromotes reflection, the development of writing skills and an inner motivation for study.

With regard to work, the pupils expressed attitudes consistent with both a value-rational and apragmatic work ethic. The value-rational work ethic is expressed through the pupils' desire for ajob which is interesting, gives room for development and affords the satisfaction of achievingsomething, or which can be considered admirable. Pupils express their pragmatism through theiracceptance that material resources are necessary for a satisfying life.

With regard to a concept of individuals and their relationships, ideas are expressed concerning theability to love, as well as to be able to draw a distinction between good and evil people. Severalpupils emphasised that some people show a weakness in cultivating their intrinsic goodness, andthat human beings have free will, entailing the choice of either doing good or evil in the world.The inspiration of role models displaying a strong character can act as a balance against suchfailings when it comes to questions of environmental issues, war and justice.

One can also note from the material that older pupils in this study cultivate optimistic strategiesin the belief that people can avoid poor health through exercise, social intercourse with friends,travel and information on AIDS. The skill of staying healthy also includes the ability to enjoy andbe made glad by life - carpe diem - at just this moment in time.

Society

With regard to social questions, one can observe that the pupils in this study express the convictionthat active participation in society is important. The essay material shows a strong commitment tofundamental values, without, however, any political connection. Instead, the central point in

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connection with social issues lies in action. In this study, the goal of education concerning thefundamental values of society shows itself to have a practical foundation and a strongcommitment to environmental issues.

The Concept of God and Religion

The older pupils in this study cultivate their thoughts in such a manner as to show that increasedage and maturity contribute to an enhanced ability to view individuals questioning about life andtheir world in relation to other ideologies. With regard to the concept of faith, one can perhapssay that younger children are on the way towards, whereas older pupils are definitely on the pathto a personal philosophy of life. In the challenge of living a satisfying life, the ideas expressed inthis study underline the necessity of becoming conscious of - and integrated with - one's ownphilosophy of life.

Consistency and Diversity

Differences Attributable to Gender

Differences in the perspectives of boys and girls were shown in this investigation in thefollowing ways:

• Thoughts about love were expressed almost exclusively by girls.• More girls than boys reflected on the necessity of solidarity with the weak and outcast, and on

the equality of all human beings.• Girls expressed the majority of thoughts concerned with religion.• Boys wrote about uncertainty in matters of faith, objectivity, atheism and an interest in the

supernatural.• More girls than boys thought about death as a separate entity, whereas just as many boys as

girls wrote about the necessity of providing proper care for elderly people.• Only girls wrote about security in relationships with others.

It is, however, difficult to compare the responses of boys and girls in this investigation. Girls, withfew exceptions, often wrote both at a greater length and in a more emotional way than boys:

Most of all I'd like to prevent racial segregation and intend bringing my children up in theunderstanding that all people are equal. By meeting people from other cultures one gets tounderstand them better. One can then explain this to other people so that even they understandthat all people are equal.

I believe that 'love conquers all'. This is the most important for me in my life. I don't think thatone can live without love. One must love and one must be loved. Love is many different things.One can feel affection towards friends, have a closer relationship with one's parents and thenone finds the right person to live together with, 'to love and to cherish'. One loves him in adifferent way compared to what one feels for friends.

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As girls often find it easier to express themselves in writing, it is difficult to discern whether thedifferences between the sexes are due to their varying capabilities of expressing themselves, or todifferences in the way they think. It is perhaps the case that points of view on subjects like love,religion, solidarity and security are made more explicit in young people of this age by girls ratherthan boys.

Younger and Older Children

This study also includes a comparison with the results of Hartman (1986a) concerning youngerchildren's thoughts about life. This comparison between younger and older children shows thatthe pupils' manner of expressing their reflections on existential questions is dependent on theirage, but that the content shows many similar characteristics. However, one can note an importantdifference in quality in the case of older pupils due to their mastery of a more developed way ofexpressing their thoughts. According to Hartman, younger children have often ascribed a humanform to God and consequently human characteristics. When talking or writing about God, olderpupils in this study distanced themselves from this anthropomorphic concept of God, interpretingGod rather as a source of positive energy for mankind.

A Cultural and Theoretical Perspective

In the light of the theory proposed by Linton (1936), the results of the investigation regarding thequestion of shared or diversified statements show a large degree of consensus on sharedassumptions. However, it also shows that diversity in the form of alternative ideas demandsindividualised teaching in schools. The pupils' alternative viewpoints also hint at a possible futurechange of values on existential questions.

The Pedagogical Implications for Education

With regard to the experiment in teaching method, the study shows the following points to be ofgreatest importance:

• that teachers stimulate pupils so that, through critical reflection, they can use and workthrough facts from a developmental perspective, taking into consideration the goals of thecurriculum and guidelines relating to active learning;

• that the pupils' needs, cognitive skills, experiences and thoughts should be brought forward, tobe used later as the basis for the planning and execution of teaching;

• that it is important to allow pupils - particularly boys - to develop their cognitive processesthrough practising writing on topics which force them to explain and defend their opinions andconvictions;

• that it is important to let the pupils' reflective thoughts in writing form the basis of teachingcontent, irrespective of the pupils' age;

• that the subject Religious Studies has much to gain with regard to motivation and involvementif one uses the pupils' own problems - consistent or diverse - as the starting point for teaching,for example, taking a concern of young people and connecting it to material from religious

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traditions, perhaps in the kind of personal way recommended in Jackson (1997) and in thebooks of the Warwick RE Project.

The sorting into categories in the study with a view to identifying the values and readinessto act expressed in the essay material shows that pupils have difficulties expressingthemselves on ontological questions, and that their reflections on such questions are placedin a context which focuses on individuals and their relationships, society and the concept ofGod and religion.

This implies that teaching should focus on an understanding of human relationships, equalitybetween women and men, questions of marriage, sexuality, fidelity, parenthood and reflecting onquestions of living together. Pupils need to train themselves in examining critically their ownpersonal viewpoint concerning questions of basic human rights and respect for others, questionsconcerning the view of people, cultural heritage, religion, cultural relations between people, aswell as the way different religions view women.

The national curriculum (Swedish Ministry of Education and Science 1994,14) mentions the valueson which it and school education are based. Respect for human dignity, the freedom and integrityof the individual, equality between the sexes, care and concern for those who are suffering, inter-cultural openness, fundamental democratic values, human rights and a sense of personal respon-sibility are examples of the fundamental values which schools are to foster and represent.

If schools are to be successful in their socialising function, then these ethical and existential issuesmust be given expression in all aspects of the school's work: its organisation, its educationalmethods, and in the overall attitudes that prevail. In what kinds of situations and places canvalues be confronted? How can the schools provide thoughtful learning environments for thestudents? What kinds of working methods can make thinking visible? Each school has thefreedom which enables - and obliges - those who work there to interpret the objectives of thesubject syllabuses in order that the basic values enshrined in the national curriculum are put intopractical application.

A contribution concerning methodology in RE was developed by the school project 'Teenagers:aspects of their life style and attitudes'. The method (in search of the meaning of life approach),deeply inspired by Cox (1983, 135-9), Grimmitt (1987, 226-8), (Hull 1996) and Jackson (1997,108-12), is described by means of the following steps:

• The teaching starts by stimulating the pupils to write about a chosen religious item (numen) ona number of statements: 'When I think about God, I think ... ', 'When I think about death, Ithink ... ' , 'When I think about the meaning of life, I think . . . ' (The chosen numen is presentedwith a minimum of preparation and explanation).

• The pupils' reflections and questions on these topics then form the next step in planning thecontent of lessons, on the basis that stipulates that all school activity shall be carried out inaccordance with fundamental democratic values, increased student influence and participation.

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• The principal criterion of this step is that the teacher should take as the starting point eachindividual pupil's questions, needs, circumstances, experience and thinking by combining thesystems approach and the thematic approach, while the pupils do research on their questionsexploring different material. The role of the teacher, as a mediator between religion and the pupil,is to plan a developmental process whereby pupils, through the use of various research possibil-ities, are given the opportunity to process factual content. Comparisons between religions canprovide important contributions to intercultural understanding for pupils to benefit from.

• The fourth step is about contextualisation. By meeting and becoming acquainted with churchesand different denominations in the school's surroundings, pupils are given the means to acquirean understanding of their activity, services and the ways others have of expressing their faith.

• The next step concerns one of our schools' most important tasks, to develop in its pupils theskill of grounding principles on knowledge and rational convictions through the acquisition ofknowledge, rather than on the decrees of authority or simply on tradition. This reflection, donethrough a written 'interior' dialogue, helps the pupils to:1 develop and deepen their knowledge of religious, ethical and existential questions as a basis

for forming their own viewpoints;2 deepen their knowledge of Christianity and other major world religions, and about religious

representations from other religions in our own age and historically, as well as of non-religious conceptions of life;

3 understand how society has been influenced by the Bible and the Christian faith;4 deepen their understanding of the religious worldviews of others, their religious language,

symbols, feelings, attitudes and ways of life that are different in some respects from their own;5 appreciate the value of basic ethical principles and reflect upon the reasons for religious or

other views of life concerning values such as truth, justice and human dignity.

• The final step in this educational contribution toward the development of pupils offers astimulus and enrichment through follow-up discussions in the classroom on the basis of thepupils' reflective thoughts - the written 'interior' dialogue.

The discussion can be explored by taking 'the golden rule', as well as classical humanism's viewson developing the virtues of people. By allowing pupils to reflect upon and discuss ethicalquestions from a faith and philosophy of life perspective, religious education can contribute to anenrichment in religious development by giving pupils a foundation for personal viewpoints. Theteaching process promotes dialogue in the classroom, built on a view that knowledge is acquiredby individuals interacting with others.

With regard to teaching method, the study shows the following points to be of greatest importance:

• that teachers stimulate pupils so that they can use and work through facts from a develop-mental perspective;

• that the pupils' needs, cognitive skills, experiences and reflective thoughts should be used as ameans to the planning and execution of teaching;

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• that it is important to allow pupils to develop their cognitive processes through practisingwriting on topics which require them to explain and defend their opinions and convictions;

• that pupils need to work through questions concerning faith, existence and the meaning of lifefrom an ethical perspective as a part of a personal, life-long process;

• that teaching must give great scope to pupils' own reflections as well as the answers providedby different religions and philosophies of life.

The syllabus for the teacher trainees at the School of Education, Malmo, Sweden, has been changed(Spring, 1999) to implement and promote the idea of reflection through written 'interior' dialogue.

Continuing Research

The creation of a teaching environment which, in a creative way, results in the development ofknowledge in each individual pupil, is a problem which teachers grapple with on a daily basis. Onepossible method of approaching this problem is to discover the pupils' own thoughts and ideasand subsequently use them as a basis for teaching, in accordance with those goals, foundationvalues and guiding principles laid down in the 7994 Curriculum for Compulsory Schools (Lpo 94).

When it comes to teacher education in the future, and the subject Educational Science, I consider itof utmost importance that such training has its basis in teacher trainees' thoughts, skills, needs andexperiences. As a result of my ideas in this direction, I see it as a priority to establish a researchinformation base from projects where teachers as researchers describe and analyse teaching whichhas as its starting point teacher trainees' written reports on their practical training periods in schools.

NOTES

1 Voluntary schools comprise upper secondary schools, municipal adult education and education for

mentally handicapped adults. Tuition in the state schools is free. Neither pupils nor their parents usually

incur any costs for teaching materials, school meals, health care, school transport and so on.

2 The National Agency for Education (Skolverket) has the task of developing, evaluating, following up and

supervising state schooling in Sweden. At three year intervals the Agency is required to provide

Parliament and the Government with an overview report on Swedish schooling. This forms the basis of a

national development plan for schools. The Agency has a supervisory duty to ensure that the provisions

of the Education Act are complied with and that the rights of individual pupils are respected.

REFERENCES

Cox, Edwin (1983) Problems and Possibilities for Religious Education (London: Hodder & Stoughton).

Dysthe, Olga (1993) Writing and Talking to Learn. A Theory-based, Interpretative Study in Three Classrooms

in the USA and Norway (Tromsø: School of Languages and Literature).

Green, Inger and Hartman, Sven G (1992) Barns livssituation och livstolkning. Projektpresentation,

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Dr Keijo Eriksson is a Senior Lecturer in Education in the Department of Educational Research, School of

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Education, SE-205 06 Malmo, Sweden, Email: keijo.eriksson@lut.mah.se

REVIEW

Virtual Morality: Christian Ethics in the Computer Age, Graham Houston, Apollos, 1998, 224 pages,

paperback, £14.99, ISBN 0-85111-461-X.

Reviewed by Julian Stern, Project Development Officer, BFSS National RE Centre, Brunei University.

This books starts from the sensible premise (quoting Turkle) that 'computers are not good or bad. They

are powerful.' Virtual reality (VR) is described as the use of computers to generate environments so that,

for example, 'in a virtual world, one can attack people, rip out their hearts and watch them pulsating

before one's eyes.' Such virtual violence is not illegal in the way that 'real' violence would be; but to

what extent is it moral? Indeed, 'is the "virtual" world less "real" than what we call reality? Or is it just

SBritish3ournal*>f,fReligi6us^ducation?22:2

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