Tekijät

• Church Research Institute
• Pohjola, Kirsi (University of Helsinki. Faculty of Theology)

Asiasanat

Christianity, child day care, church, identity, motivation, religiosity, religious behaviour, vocational education

Sisällön kuvaus

The survey charted the professional motivation, identity and religiosity of Children's Instructor students in Christian Institutes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland. This dataset is based on the first collection wave in a cohort study that followed students studying for an upper secondary qualification in Child Care, Education and Family Welfare as they progressed in their studies. The participating students started their studies in 2014. FSD collections also include the second (FSD3262) and third (FSD3263) waves of this study. The study was part of the project "Student's Development into Church Professionals" (Kasvu kirkon työntekijäksi), funded by Kirkon koulutuskeskus (adult education school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church) and Church Research Institute.

First, the respondents were asked about their reasons for applying to Children's Instructor training (e.g. wanting to help others or work with children and interest in religious questions) and to what extent they agreed or disagreed with statements concerning working for a parish (e.g. the reliability of a parish as an employer and trust in the future of educational work in a parish). Next, participation in voluntary work and parish activities was charted with questions relating to the reasons for volunteering and the kinds of parish activities, e.g. Sunday school as a child or assisting with church service, that the respondent had taken part in.

Attitudes towards racism and migrants (foreign nationals in Finland) were examined with statements concerning, for example, whether the respondents thought that migrants have made Finnish culture more varied and whether they would accept a foreign national as their co-worker or friend. The survey also charted the respondents' attitudes towards life and future (e.g. how happy they felt and whether they were worried about the future) as well as how strong was their sense of belonging to different groups such as family, friends, online communities, parish and Finnish society.

The respondents' religiosity was investigated with questions about religious affiliation, religious identity (e.g. whether they identified themselves as spiritual persons and/or conservative in their religion) and their own religiosity compared to church doctrine (e.g. whether they believed in the resurrection of Christ and the existence of Heaven and Hell). Spirituality was charted by asking the respondents to what extent they agreed or disagreed with statements concerning, for example, alternative medicine, astrology and meditation. Finally, the presence of religion and religiosity in the respondents' lives was charted with questions concerning the frequency of e.g. praying, reading the Bible and attending church services as well as how often they discussed religious issues and with whom.

Background variables included the respondent's age, length of residency in Finland, previous degrees, educational institution, household composition at present and during the respondents' primary and lower secondary education and whether the respondent aimed for curriculum-based or competence-based qualification.