Abstract
This study examines the different institutional, disciplinary, and pedagogical factors that come into play when teaching literary works with the goal of fostering dialogue, understood in the ...sense of civic communication and tolerance. Drawing on an
Action Research
approach, the analysis probes a specific experience teaching the diverse English-language short story tradition in the Canadian and German university context. The results show that to maximize the potential of teaching literary works for nurturing dialogue, instructors must navigate among multiple and at times contradictory forces reflecting institutional and disciplinary teaching priorities, divergent conceptualisations of dialogue, theoretical incongruities, varied literary and critical traditions, and complex mediation techniques.
The nature of English as a school subject - and particularly English literature - is a longstanding issue of debate for practitioners and researchers internationally. One dimension of this concerns ...the forces that shape the diet of literary texts that students are fed. In this study, we draw on the ecological model of agency to interrogate the factors which influence how teachers choose literary texts for whole class teaching. Dimensions of agency are used as lenses to reveal the complex ways in which values and beliefs, structures of authority, material resources, and identities shape the selection of books, plays and poetry that are taught in English. By looking across these dimensions, we identify important questions which contribute to the debate: who should have agency to choose the texts taught; how does teacher agency influence students' experiences of English literature; how far should we expect these experiences to be standardised?
Intersemiotic poetics and teaching literature The article is devoted to intersemiotic poetics derived from the theory of translation, that is the principle of translation described by Roman Jakobson ...(the interpretation of linguistic signs by means of non-verbal signs). From the reconstruction of research stances, changes in the concepts of the mind, and a new understanding of the processes of perception and metaphor, the Author relates the mechanisms of intersemiotic translation to borderline forms (ekphrasis and audio description) and the principles of teaching. By analyzing selected examples (Jacek Kaczmarski’s ekphrasis and editorial notes to Wisława Szymborska’s poem Utopia), she proves that after rejecting the principles of equivalence and similarity, while simultaneously maintaining the principle of causality, one may look for affinities in deeper semantic layers (amplification, addition) or engage in teaching literature, where intellectual precision is related to the shaping of emotions and skills involved in the multisensual reading of cultural texts.
of literature. First of all, the teacher must know his subject, be ready for constant self-education, be ready to acquire new knowledge and skills in his subject, to know the main stages of the ...development of Russian literature, to conduct a comparative analysis of the phenomena of Russian literature with the main directions of the development of literature of the peoples of Russia and the world literature as a whole. The aim of our study is to justify theoretically and devise methodologically a system of classroom studies with the use of interactive and digital technologies at university (Kazan Federal University). This allows us to develop professional habits and practical skills of future school teachers of Russian literature for the effective teaching of modern Russian literature at school. In our study use has been made of the following methods: theoretical (the study of literary, psychological and pedagogical research), as well as empirical (pedagogical experiment (ascertaining, transforming and control), generalization of our own pedagogical experience of work at school and University, observation, conversation and interviewing of 100 students, university and school teachers of the city of Kazan, etc.). In the course of research the following results were obtained: methodic guidelines for the use of interactive and digital technologies in the classroom studies of historical, literary and pedagogical disciplines were theoretically devised and implemented into the practice of professional training of teachers of Russian literature at the University. Let us consider different forms of classroom work on the example of studying the discipline "The ways of integrating the works of modern Russian literature into the practice of school teaching" for the students doing their master's course in "Philological education" at Kazan Federal University. In this article, the proposed method is demonstrated by the example of practical training on the work of modern Russian writer Valentin Rasputin. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that methodological recommendations and guidelines were proposed, theoretically justified and tested during our experimental work, in order to introduce interactive and digital technologies in the process of training future teachers of Russian literature. It is determined that the systematic use of interactive methods in the University practice of teaching historical, literary and pedagogical disciplines can effectively develop professional habits and skills of future school teachers of literature and also allows them to form critical thinking, creates a positive motivation in the implementation of their professional activities, develops communication skills and meta-subject skills that are necessary for the systematic use of interactive and digital technologies in their own teaching activities. The results of the study can be used in preparation of programs and textbooks on the methodology of teaching literature at school and university, and the proposed system of practical training can be implemented in the practice of teaching modern literature at schools and universities.
The purpose of this article is to present the findings of a qualitative content analysis of historical documents related to the teaching of literature. Through a social semiotics framework, we ...analyzed 10 national standards documents in the field of secondary English. Our analysis details the evolution of the standards paradigm for teaching literature in a secondary English classroom, revealing a steady increase in language that attempts to show more measurable outcomes while slowly losing the language that emphasizes the aesthetic value and pleasure to be found in reading great works. These findings have important implications for how language about teaching literature has evolved and where policy makers and professional leaders have placed emphasis with regard to the purpose of teaching literature in secondary classrooms. More specifically, these findings are intended to reframe the perspective of the standards writers within the reform movement and their treatment of literature in secondary classrooms.
Purpose
This study aims to explore the authentic questioning practices of English Language Arts teachers. Although language arts (LA) education emphasizes the value of authentic questions in ...discussions about literature, teachers still tend to ask known-answer questions that guide students toward one literary interpretation. However, outside their classrooms, teachers talk about literary texts from stances of openness and curiosity. Helping teachers recognize and draw on their out-of-school literary practices might help them disrupt entrenched known-answer discourses. The authors studied how the same teachers asked questions about literature in different settings. The authors asked: To what degree and in what ways did teachers’ questions about literature change when they took on different roles in discussions of literature?
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on theories of classroom discourses and everyday practices, this study compared and analyzed types of questions asked by high school teachers as they took on three roles: teacher in the high school classroom, discussion leader in a professional development and everyday reader in discussion.
Findings
Analysis showed that as participants moved further away from their teacher role, they were more likely to ask authentic, curiosity-driven questions that engaged fellow readers in exploratory, dialogic interpretation. They were less likely to attempt to maintain authority over students’ interpretations.
Research limitations/implications
The authors hope researchers will build on these explorations of teacher stances and language in different roles, so we can work toward disrupt entrenched known-answer discourses in the classroom.
Practical implications
Drawing on this study’s findings about questioning practices of participants in their role as reader (as opposed to discussion leader or classroom teacher), the authors suggest that teachers and teacher educators consider the following: First, teachers need to understand the power of interpretive authority and known-answer discourses and compare them explicitly to their own everyday practices through rehearsals and reflection. Second, teachers might focus less on theme and more on exploration of individual lines, patterns and unusual authorial moves. Finally, when preparing to teach, if teachers can reconnect with the stance and language of uncertainty and curiosity, they are likely to ask more authentic questions.
Social implications
These findings suggest both the power of entrenched known-answer discourses to constrain and the potential power of making visible and drawing on teachers’ literary reading practices in out-of-school contexts.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have made an empirical comparison of the relationship between the role a teacher takes on during discussion and the kinds of questions they ask about literature. This study offers insight into the value of everyday curiosity and other out-of-school resources that teachers could – but often do not – bring to their facilitations of classroom discussions. The findings suggest that teachers, teacher educators and researchers must recognize and recruit teachers’ everyday practices to the LA classroom.
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