Religious Education in Transition, 1994 to 2024: A Comparative Overview of Research of Religious Education in Schools in South Africa and Sweden

Abstract

This article presents a systematic comparative review of research on Religious Education (RE) in South Africa and Sweden from 1994 to 2024. Through analysis of 77 peer-reviewed studies, it examines how historical trajectories, curricular frameworks and societal conditions shape the purposes, practices and conceptualisations of RE in each context. The findings show that both countries address common themes: pluralism, religious literacy, ethics, and existential questions - yet these take on distinct meanings in the two different national contexts. In South Africa, RE is embedded within Life Skills and Life Orientation, reflecting post-apartheid aims of democratic transformation, social cohesion, dignity and relational ethics, including concepts such as Ubuntu. In Sweden, RE functions as a non-confessional, knowledge-based subject grounded in secular norms, analytical comparison and individual meaning-making. Using a comparative–interpretive approach, the study demonstrates how each context illuminates the other’s assumptions, highlighting the culturally situated nature of RE and the value of contrast for understanding educational responses to diversity.