The impact of literature education on students' perceptions of self and others: Exploring personal and social learning experiences in relation to teacher approach

Abstract

The Dutch Institute for Curriculum Development argues that literature education is important for broadening students' personal, social and cultural horizons. Indeed, reading literary fiction may alter readers' self-and social perceptions, but little is known about whether adolescents gain such personal and social insights through reading in the secondary literature classroom, nor about how these perceived learning outcomes are related to their teachers' approaches to various aspects of literature teaching. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine the impact of literature education on students' self-and social perceptions and to explore relationships between students' learning experiences and their teachers' classroom practices. Dutch students (N=297, grades 10-12) wrote a learner report about what they learned about themselves and other people through literature education, and completed a measure on familiarity with fiction. Their teachers (N=13) completed the Teachers' Approaches to Literature Education Questionnaire (TALE-Q), which indicated more analytical-interpretative or personal-experiential approaches to three 2 M. SCHRIJVERS, T. JANSSEN, O. FIALHO & G. RIJLAARSDAM aspects of teaching. Students of teachers with distinct approaches to these aspects were grouped to compare their learning experiences. Findings showed that nearly all students (99%) reported to have learned something about themselves and others through literature education, mainly personal characterizations of oneself and others, learning about oneself and others as literary readers, descriptions and evaluations of people's behaviors, and lessons for life. In addition, teachers' reports of more classroom interaction and student autonomy were related to students' more frequent reports of personal and social insights, but this may also partly be explained by students being more familiar with fiction and having a more positive attitude toward literary reading. Implications for personal and social learning in the literature classroom are discussed.

Teaching fiction in the age of measurability: Teachers’ perspectives on the hows and whats in Swedish L1 classrooms

“…According to previous research findings (e.g. Schrijvers et al, 2016), this is counterproductive to the teachers' efforts to increase the reading frequency among students. There is support for the idea that differentiated instructions, that is to say student-centered teaching, leads to students reading more (Beliaeva, 2009).…”

“…Research shows that teachers' strategies and teaching approaches play a crucial role for learning outcomes (Yimwilai, 2015), and by constructing and focusing questions in a certain manner, teachers signpost the central aspects of a text to the students, and thus how a certain piece of work is expected to be approached (McCormick, 1994). Another factor that impacts on learning outcomes is the level of student-centeredness in the classroom (Mukhametshina & Akhmatova, 2015;Schrijvers et al, 2016). The new teacher role that Molloy (2002) speaks of springs from this anti-authoritative notion, and is one in which the teacher reads and discusses with the students to promote learning through social and intellectual encounters.…”

“…One may suggest that such resistance could interfere with students' reading development. Schrijvers et al (2016) even go so far as to call it counterproductive.…”

“…In short, what do teachers do in literature classes? The need to examine these aspects was voiced by Schrijvers, Janssen, Fialho, and Rijlaarsdam (2016) in their study on the impact of literature education on students' self-and social perceptions, and the relationships between students' learning experiences and their teachers' classroom practices.…”

Constructivism in literature education: Introduction to the thematic binder

“…Constructivist teaching seems to be institutionally hampered and a connection of the literary text to the perspective of young readers is not necessarily established. 2) That is unfortunate, since "literary fiction can be a vehicle for gaining insight into themselves and others" even when pupils are no 'bookworms' as Schrijvers, Janssen, Fialho and Rijlaarsdam (2016) premise in their insightful empirical inquiry. They showed that Dutch pupils reported experiences of personal and social learning, especially when their teachers' beliefs indicate constructivist notions like fostering classroom interaction and supporting autonomy.…”