Ragnhild Laird Iversen

My title at OsloMet is associate professor. While I do like to associate with professors, my main interest is teaching, and I'm always happy to learn from students and practicioners in the field of early childhood education.  

I’m particularly passionate about inclusive pedagogy, especially in relation to religious and cultural diversity, but also concerning language, gender, and sexuality. I had the chance to nerd out thoroughly on these topics during my PhD in educational science. My dissertation was titled Enthusiasm and Discomfort: Children’s Navigation of Religion in Kindergarten. Here, I explored how children navigate religion in kindergarten settings through observations and interviews with children. Based on that material, I’ve written about how religion can influence relationships, play, language, and belonging; how children talk about religiously motivated food rules; and how children may experience exclusion related to skin color—even when those around them have no intention of being racist.

Occasionally, I write for newspapers, and I regularly share my teaching resources on the website www.religionsundervisning.no. It's written in Norwegian, but you're all cabable of running it through AI translation if interested. The name of the site reflects my dual academic identity.  Originally, I’m a scholar of religion, but I’ve mostly worked as an educator, and my research is mainly in the field of early childhood education. Feel free to contact me!