Session D: Literacy across disciplines
Paper 1: Teachers exploring literacy in and across subject areas
Presenter: University Lecturer Karl Henrik Flyum
Institution: Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo
In this presentation selected experiences from a larger research and development project concerning writing as an interdisciplinary competence will be discussed. This part of the larger project has been a collaboration between Nadderud upper secondary school and the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo.
A centrepiece of the project has been the regular meetings of a core group of teachers across disciplines at Nadderud, supported by external experts from the university. The main focus of these meetings has been to share and explore similarities and differences in literacy norms across subject areas by way of discussing actual student papers from the participant teachers’ own classes. The general aim of these explorations was twofold: 1) to prevent confusion by increasing the consistency of the literacy norms facing the students in their classrooms, and 2) to develop and strengthen the teachers’ understanding of, and respect for, norm variations within and across subjects.
Teachers from Nadderud school will be present.
Paper 2: Comparisons of methods for investigating reading instruction
Presenter: Professor Monica Reichenberg
Institution: University of Umea, University of Gothenburg
The comprehension of texts is important not only in school but also in society (cf., Goody & Watt, 1963). Contemporary society relies heavily on texts as a mean of both communication and social integration. However, if you don´t understand what you read or hear then there is a risk of social exclusion. PISA 2009 demonstrated that text comprehension had deteriorated among Swedish students.
In this study the overall aim is to compare and critical examine different methods to investigate how teachers teach reading comprehension, with reference to their pros and cons. This raises the question: How do teachers teach text comprehension?
Most Swedish studies on teaching and learning have been based on either interviews with teachers or ethnographic observations in the classroom (Nystrand (1997), Nystrand & Gamoran, 1997, Mossberg Schüllerqvist,I. & Olin-Scheller). However, international research on reading instruction has mostly been based on video recorded studies. These studies can also vary with reference to their focal of study, e.g. use of questions, instructional activities, use of artifacts, learning strategies etc (Anmarkrud, 2010, Reichenberg, 2008).