Changing Concepts of Literature and Pedagogical Methods in Textbooks for Literature Teaching

Submitted by: Anna Karlskov Skyggebjerg
Abstract: Obs! This paper is a part of a qualitative research project about textbooks and resources for learning in general. Other participants in this project (and possible research meeting at ARLE) are Simon Skov Fougt, Jesper Bremholm and Helle Rørbech.

This particular paper represents an interest in textbooks as an educational tool in literature teaching in lower secondary school in Denmark through the last 40 years.

Premises: Textbooks have the intentions to facilitate the teacher and the teaching through a preoccupied curriculum and some relatively precise descriptions of literature lessons. Of course, textbooks are not always used as they are intended to be, but a textbook indicates certain considerations about literature, pedagogy and pupil that will be explored in the paper.

The empirical material of the paper is five popular textbooks for the teaching of literature in grade four from the late 1970’s until today. The criteria for selecting the analyzed books (and serial concepts) have been distribution.

Theoretical framework: The selected textbooks are analyzed with concepts from literary (genre) studies, discourse analysis (Gee 2015), and theory about envisioning literature (Langer 2011).

Key questions: Which types of literature and genres do the textbooks include? How do they address the pupils as readers and interpreters? How are the pupils’ potentials for envisioning and engaging in literature supported by these materials? What is the remarkable development in the view on literature and teaching?

Results (development): The instructional parts of the textbooks have grown bigger whereas the choice of literature has become more limited during the period. In Denmark, literature teaching has recently become an academic discipline where pupils in grade four (10-11 years old children) have to use concepts from literary studies. The paper will conclude with a critical discussion of this development.

References
Gee, James P. (2015). Literacy and Education. London: Routledge
Langer, Judith (1995/2011). Envisioning literature. New York: Teachers College Press