Abstract

The aim of this article is to highlight some conceptions of ethicalcompetence identified in interviews with teachers in religious educationin Sweden, and within analyses of policy documents in a Swedish andan Icelandic educational context. As a starting point we take seveninterviewed teachers’comments about what they view as importantethical competences for their pupils to have. A comparative analysis ofSwedish and Icelandic policy documents with regard to the conceptualunderstandings of ethical competence is made, as well as a comparisonbetween the policy documents and teachers’comments. The Icelandiccurriculum is chosen because it differs from the Swedish one in a senserelevant to an analysis of the teacher interviews. The analyses imply atension between theoretical and analytical conceptions of ethicalcompetence and an action competence. Finally, some possible threadsto consider in developing a broadened and deepened understanding ofethical competence are outlined.