Nordidactica (https://journals.lub.lu.se/nordidactica) is a Nordic journal for research on humanities and social science education, published by Karlstad university since 2011. Of particular interest of the journal is subject didaktik within the aforementioned fields. The presenters of this paper have recently taken position as editors of the journal and are interested in Nordidactica’s development over time. The aim of this paper is to present a bibliometric analysis of the journal. Bibliometrics is a statistical method for analyzing bibliographic data, particularly suitable for handling large datasets (Donthuet al., 2021; Petticrew & Roberts, 2006). Humanities and social science research is not as well-indexed as medicine and the natural sciences, rendering the usual bibliometric analytical tools, such as Gephi, Leximancer, VOSviewer and the like unfit for our purposes (Kemeç & Altınay, 2023; Mongeon, 2016; Lasda Bergman, 2012). We will instead use Bifrost (https://bifrost.kau.se), an analytical tool for analyzing bibliometric data from the Swedish databases DiVA (http://diva-portal.org/) and SwePub (https://swepub.kb.se). Since 2011, 330 different scholars (co-authors included) from 12 countries have authored 319 articles (reviews and research articles) in Nordidactica. This will then be our material, gathered and analyzed using Bifrost, to explore trends of research historically and today in the journal. This will, for example, include an analysis of keywords, scholars, subjects, materials and methods used in the published articles. To conclude, we will discuss the implications of the results, and possible develompents of the journal for the future. This will be of interest to the journal’s readers, authors, well as to scholars in the field of subject didactics.

What might the powers of knowledge in religious education (RE) be; what knowledge and abilities does RE provide to pupils in lower secondary education? These questions are asked through this study of curriculum contexts in England, Sweden and Finland. The three iterations of the subject are similar enough to compare—yet different enough for the character of each to emerge when they are juxtaposed and ‘mirrored’ in each other. This comparative approach allows us to explore what kinds of powers RE, represented in written curricula, aims to foster in each context. This is simultaneously an exploration of the nature and raison d’etre of RE as a school subject. The purpose of RE is examined via analysing lower secondary curriculum documents with the theoretical lens of powerful knowledge. Overall, the curricula focus mostly on providing information about religions and worldviews. However, this knowledge is used for developing powers that were identified as having different emphasis in each context. The Finnish curriculum emphasizes students’ personal and ethical development, the English curriculum has the strongest weight on academic knowledge and the Swedish curriculum concentrates on developing students’ intercultural competence and understanding of societies.

Swedish Religious Education (RE) is sometimes at risk of reinforcing prejudice through a tacit Lutheran-secular lens and the world religions paradigm, leaving pupils to view religion as distant and irrelevant (Flensner, 2024; Kittelmann Flensner, 2015). This post-doctoral project has designed and classroom-tested a didactic model that starts from pupils’ own ritualised everyday practices and prepares them for informed participation in a multireligious democracy.

The model integrates insights from research on lived religion, religious literacy and aesthetic education (Enstedt & Plank, 2018b; Hilger et al., 2010; Jahnke, 2023; McGuire, 2008; Moore, 2007). Comparative ethnography in India (Niemi, 2020) both highlights the Lutheran bias shaping Swedish RE and contributes strategies that expose learners to embodied ritual diversity, allowing them to practise conscious engagement.

Research circles with teachers at two upper-secondary schools have refined the model through iterative classroom trials, yielding preliminary data. The resulting framework offers practical tools for worldview literacy, critical reflexivity and civic responsibility.

This paper presents the model, its theoretical foundations and initial empirical insights.