Morten Holmqvist
Learning Religion in Confirmation: Mediating the Material Logics of Religion
An ethnographic case study of religious learning in confirmation within the Church of Norway
This thesis explores religious learning in the context of confirmation training in the Church of
Norway. Approximately 65% of 14-year-olds in Norway participate in confirmation, yet the majority
of confirmands are newcomers to religious practices. Confirmation is a religious educational activity
extending over eight months which culminates in a large family celebration. In Norwegian
confirmation, old traditions from a relatively homogeneous religious society are incorporated and
negotiated in complex, late-modern plurality. Thus, confirmation is a complex context for learning
processes.
The main aim of this thesis is to contribute to a sociomaterial understanding of learning processes in
religious practice. The main question this study investigates is as follows: what characterizes religious
learning in the practice of confirmation in the Church of Norway?
The research design is an ethnographic case study which includes empirical material from two
sources: the curriculum for confirmation, and fieldwork in three confirmation programs. This is an
article-based thesis. Each article focuses on a particular aspect of religious learning during
confirmation: (1) religious learning modes in the curriculum for confirmation, (2) religious learning
processes among confirmands, and (3) religious learning practice by staff and leaders (the
confirmation workers). This is a qualitative study which is theoretically informed. Drawing from two
theoretical sources; sociocultural theory and actor network theory, the study positions itself within a
sociomaterial paradigm.
The overall findings from the thesis show that religious learning takes place within three distinct
logics. These logics are overlying patterns identified both in the curriculum and through fieldwork.
The logics of religious learning are identified as follows: (1) Religious learning as Belief. According
to this logic, religious learning aims to facilitate comprehension of a belief system expressed through
texts. (2) Religious learning as Practice. Religion is learned through activities. This logic emphasizes
how religion can be used in church or in everyday activities. Finally, (3), religious learning as Faith
aims to generate inward experiences of wonder in order for faith to grow.
The findings show that these logics operate across the entire field of confirmation; they interconnect,
and tensions sometimes arise between them. But while the workers subscribe either to a logic of Belief
or to a logic of Faith, the confirmands perceive religion within a logic of Practice. This thesis argues
that amid these tensions, the nature of religion is changed in the practice of the confirmands. In the
negotiation with the confirmands, religion is transformed into bits and pieces that they are able to use
in their everyday life.