Challenges of Religious Literacy in Education : Islam and the Governance of Religious Diversity in Multi-faith Schools

This chapter seeks take part in an emerging research where religion is approached as a whole school endeavor. Previous research and policy recommendations typically focused on teaching about religion in school, but the accommodation of religious diversity in the wider school culture merits more attention. Based on observations in our multiple case studies, we discuss the multi-level governance of religious diversity in Finnish multi-faith schools with a particular focus on the challenges of religious literacy for educators. The three examples we present focus on the inclusion of Muslims in Finnish schools and in particular on the challenges for educator (1) in interpreting the distinction between religion and culture, (2) in recognizing and handling intra-religious diversity, and (3) in being aware of Protestant conceptions of religion and culture. A theme cutting across these examples is how they reflect the tendencies either to see different situations merely through the lens of religion (religionisation), or not to recognize the importance of religion at all (religion-blindness). We argue that religious literacy should be recognized and developed as a vital part of the intercultural competencies of educators.Peer reviewe

What is evidence required for and who generates that evidence in the Finnish Educational System?

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Evaluation of the suitability of auger pressing briquettes for blast furnace use

Summary One way to improve the recycling of by-products from iron and steel production is briquetting, a process in which fine materials unsuitable for use as such are agglomerated to achieve a larger particle size. This work is about the high-temperature properties of auger pressing briquettes mainly consisting of blast furnace sludge and mill scale. The aim was to determine the suitability of the briquettes for blast furnace (BF) ironmaking by studying the reduction, swelling and cracking behavior using blast furnace simulator (BFS) furnace. The BFS, which can perform non-isothermal reduction experiments with changing gas atmospheres, was used to simulate the reducing conditions in a BF. In the BFS experiments, different stages of reduction up to 1100 °C were simulated. A commercial olivine pellet and another industrial blast furnace briquette were used as reference samples. The weight losses were monitored by thermogravimetry, swelling as a change in the external dimensions, and cracking by visual inspection. TG-MS analysis was carried out to study the presence of potentially harmful volatiles. The samples were analyzed using LOM and FESEM to study the phase transformations. The auger pressing briquettes proved to be a promising raw material for BF use. They were of self-reducing type due to their carbon content, and they were reduced to metallic iron faster compared to the reference briquettes. The swelling was slight, and despite minor cracking the auger pressing briquettes did not degrade. No harmful volatile substances were found

Suitability of auger pressing briquettes for blast furnace use based on laboratory tests

Abstract Briquetting is a process in which fine materials unsuitable for use as such are agglomerated to achieve a larger particle size. Auger pressing is a novel briquetting method to efficiently improve the recycling of by-products from iron and steelmaking. The high-temperature properties of auger pressing briquettes mainly consisting of blast furnace sludge and mill scale were evaluated. The aim was to determine the suitability of the briquettes for blast furnace (BF) ironmaking by studying the reduction, swelling, and cracking behavior using a laboratory-scale furnace. The blast furnace simulator (BFS) capable of performing non-isothermal reduction experiments with changing gas compositions was used to simulate the different stages of reduction up to 1100 °C in an atmosphere with N2, CO, and CO2 gases. A commercial olivine pellet and a conventional industrial BF briquette were used as reference samples. The sample weight losses were monitored by thermogravimetry, swelling as a change in the volume, and cracking by visual inspection. The samples were analyzed using microscopes and an elemental analyzer. Based on the BFS experiments, the briquettes proved to be a promising raw material for BF use. They were of a self-reducing quality due to their carbon content and showed reduction to metallic iron faster compared to the reference samples. The swelling was slight, and despite the minor cracking the structure of the briquettes did not degrade