The purpose of Religious Education (RE) in Sweden is to teach about religion and to present a comprehensive view of different traditions. However, this assignment can be interpreted in different ways by different RE teachers with different consequences for the education of citizens. In this contribution RE-teachers are considered as socialization agents representing an important part of the enacted curriculum. The purpose of this contribution is to explore Swedish RE teachers’ notions of citizenship education in relation to RE as a subject in the compulsory school, with special reference to education for democratic citizenship. A second purpose is to analyze possible implications for civic social action. In order to explore how teachers interpret their assignment, a semi-structured interview study was carried out and data were categorized according to content analysis. The theoretical point of departure was based on the pragmatic analysis of (potential) moral political consequences. A (preliminary) categorization of the teachers’ responses was developed according to the following themes: learning democratic values from religions; learning to cope with differences; learning for correcting prejudices; acquiring tools for a personal political.
Part of Network: 07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education and Session: 07 SES 12 B, Religion and Religious Education: Past, Present and Future in Europe (Part 1).