Workshop on the LiFT-2 Project: Literature Framework for Teachers in Secondary Education
Submitted by:
Florentine Samahaian
Abstract:
Argument for the workshop
In the context of globalization, teaching literature is challenged in many ways. Having in view one of the topics of the Seminar regarding the curricular decisions worldwide - the selection of canonic and contemporary literature, national and international literature, local or pupular and ethnic literature - , we want to present to the participants the European project LIFT 2, which aims at finding some answers for literature teachers who are confronted with differences in their classrooms.
Which literary texts are able to stimulate student literary development, under which circumstances – these are key questions in literature teaching and especially in the multilingual and multicultural context, where the differences of the students’ interests and reading abilities are to be valued.
The general aim of the LIFT-2 project is to create a framework for the development of literary competence within the context of literature teaching in secondary education. Taking into account that observing, labelling and classifying the differences between students is crucial for an effective teaching, the project intends to match three dimensions: students characteristics, books and didactics. This means that for fostering the students’ literary development teachers have to propose books that fit a certain level of students’ interests and reading abilities and to organise teaching and learning activities that stimulate the students to make a progress in their reading competences.
The objectives of the workshop are:
- to give a synthetical description of the European project LIFT-2, with a focus on the instruments developed by now
- to stimulate the reflection of the participants on the benefitis and limits of the project
- to obtain a valuable feedback from the participants regarding the instruments of the project that could still be refined
Contents:
The aims and objectives of the LIFT 2 project
The theory the project is based on
The steps of the project
The main instruments of the project and the way they can be used
Strong and weak points of the project instruments
Strategies: presentation, group work, discussions
Materials needed: projector, hand-outs, flipchart and materials for posters
Description of activities:
Activity 1 (20 minutes) – powerpoint presentation
Presentation of the LIFT 2 project, having in view: the aims and objectives of the project, the three dimensions of the framework (students, books and didactics), the pedagogical-didactical approaches to modelling progression with the reading competency, the steps of the project and the state of the art in the research, the main instruments of the project and how they are supposed to be used.
Activity 2 (30 minutes) – group work (3-4 persons in a group)
- Each group will receive handouts with a short prose text from the European literature. They will also receive handouts with a quick scan format. They will receive the task to evaluate and rate the piece of prose, using the quick scan. (20 minutes)
- We shall discuss together their decisions and compare their arguments, concluding about the benefits and shortcomings of using the quick scan. During the discussions a poster of the conclusions will be done by one of the presenters. (10 minutes)
Activity 3 (30 minutes) – group work (the same groups)
- Each group will receive handouts. The groups will receive handouts with the transitions from the level they chose for the text to a higher level. The transition suggestions reffer both to students and the book. They will test the transition suggestions for the books they rated before for a certain level: are these suggestions fit for developing the readers’ competencies or not? (20 min.)
- We shall discuss together their answers and arguments, concluding about the benefits and shortcomings of using the transitions suggestions. During the discussions a poster of the conclusions will be done by one of the presenters. (10 minutes)
Evaluation:
Discution on the following points:
- Would you like to inform your colleagues or your students about the project LIFT 2? Why yes or no?
- Would you try to apply or adapt the instruments of project LIFT in your activity? Can you be specific about that?