Panels

(please click on each session title to read the full abstract)

Criticality and diversity in English literature didactics

Fostering democratic citizenship through picturebook art: Repositioning the reader through critical content analysis
  • Sissil Lea Heggernes, OsloMet, Norway (PANEL LEADER)

Democratic citizenship and understanding of cultural diversity are central elements of English language teaching in Norway.  Fostering democratic citizenship involves critical skills (Council of Europe, 2018), and the ability to critically analyse pictures is essential in a visually salient world (Heggernes, 2021).  Accordingly, this paper explores how English language teachers can foster their pupils’ critical and democratic practices through engagement with an informational picturebook about one of the most critical refugee situations on the globe (UNHCR, 2023). Hear my Voice/Escucha mi Voz (Binford & Bochenek, 2021) documents the situation of Latinx children and young adult refugees detained on the border between the USA and Mexico. Through a critical content analysis, I demonstrate how the visual features of the picturebook serve to position the reader as a detached observer of events and/or an engaged participant respectively (Johnson et al., 2019). Reader positioning may affect the readers’ engagement, and willingness to act, which I link to potential for democratic engagement. Secondly, I suggest activities which may promote democratic citizenship for English language pupils. 

Keywords: democratic citizenship, English language teaching, picturebooks, visual analysis, criticality

References

  • Binford, W., & Bochenek, M. G. (2021). Hear my voice/Escucha mi voz: The testimonies of children detained at the Southern border of the United States. Workman Publishing Company. 
  • Council of Europe. (2018). Reference framework of competences for democratic culture. Council of Europe Publishing. 
  • Heggernes, S. L. (2021). Intercultural learning through texts: Picturebook dialogues in the English language classroom [PhD thesis, OsloMet – Storbyuniversitetet]. Oslo. 
  • Johnson, H., Mathis, J., & Short, K. G. (2019). Critical content analysis of visual images in books for young people. Routledge. 
  • UNHCR. (2023). 2023: A moment of truth for global displacement. https://www.unhcr.org/spotlight/2023/01/2023-a-moment-of-truth-for-global-displacement/
Affective responses to racism in The Secret Garden: Empathy as a gateway to solidarity
  • Mildrid H.A. Bjerke, OsloMet, Norway

This paper discusses the potential for empathy building and increased intercultural connectedness through engagements with canonical texts in children’s literature which overtly showcase aspects of our history with which we are less comfortable. The discussion will focus on racist passages taken from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (2008) and their potential affective effects in teacher education, and by extension primary and secondary education. It is argued that addressing our shared cultural histories with racism can be an effective way of supplementing critical literacy instruction and the use of literary texts which approach topics such as racism in more expressly critical ways. 

The paper will draw on conceptual resources from Deleuze and Guattari’s (1994) theory of affect; from Megan Boler’s (1998) pedagogies of discomfort; as well as from work on empathy and theory of mind by cognitive literary theorists Lisa Zunshine (2022) and Maria Nikolajeva (2013). I will use this conceptual framework to help operationalise the concept of affect in ways that counteract habitual responses. Indeed, critical literacy should not just be about understanding that someone else is oppressed, but about deeply empathising with others in ways that lead to solidarity, social inclusion, and social change.

Keywords: affect, literary pedagogy, critical literacy, anti-racism, children’s literature

Bibliography

  • Burnett, F. H. (2008). The Secret Garden. Puffin Classics.

References

  • Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1994). What is philosophy? (G. Burchell & H. Tomlinson, Trans.). Verso.
  • Nikolajeva, M. (2013). “Did you feel as if you hated people?”: Emotional literacy through fiction. The New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 19(2), 95–107.
  • Zunshine, L. (2022). The secret life of literature. MIT Press.
Queering ever after: Citation and subversion in Trung Le Nguyen’s The Magic Fish
  • Colin Haines, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

This paper examines Trung Le Nguyen’s 2020 graphic novel The Magic Fish through the lens of queer theory. The American-born son of Vietnamese refugees, Tiến wishes to tell his parents that he is gay, though does not know how, lacking “the Vietnamese words for it.” Central to the narrative are the fairy tales that mother and son tell each other, a tradition they have carried on since Tiến was a child. Noting the way in which fairy tales both differ across cultures and, at the same time, remain constant, Tiến’s mother notes that fairy tales “can change, almost like costumes.” Drawing on Butler’s (1993) theory of performativity, this study argues that the retelling of fairy tales constitutes a citational practice, one which not only instantiates and strengthens the heterosexual norm of these narratives, but likewise provides the means for undoing it. Insofar as fairy tales “can change,” their “script” can too, something both mother and son discover at the end of the novel. While a queer resignification of fairy tale norms is by no means new, this study will argue that The Magic Fish likewise subverts the narrative tropes of coming out and what Sara Ahmed (2017) has called “queer fatalism.” 

Keywords: The Magic Fish, queer theory, fairy tales, coming out, queer fatalism

Bibliography

  • Nguyen, T. L. (2020). The Magic Fish. RH Graphic.

References

The ELLiL Project: An agentic and creative approach to children’s literature in university-school teaching practice  

Ridl: A framework for integrating children’s literature in English education
  • David Valente, Norwegian Study Centre, UK and Nord University, Norway (PANEL LEADER) 

The English Language and Literature for in-depth Learning (ELLiL) project (2020–2024) is funded by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. Anchored in an international cooperation between Bishop’s University, Canada and Nord University, Norway, the ELLiL project is organized as teacher exchanges between each context. The first paper in the panel focuses on the Reading for in-depth learning or ‘Ridl’ framework, co-created by the ELLiL teacher educators (ELLiL Project Partners, 2023). This framework fuses concepts from Lau’s (2013) critical literacy work and Bland’s (2022) work on children’s literature in ELT.

The Ridl framework proposes four dimensions for teachers’ planning and teaching of multimodal texts in the English classroom: textual, personal, critical, and creative-transformative. Central to the framework are criteria to guide teachers’ text selection with consideration of their learners’ heads (cognitive engagement), hearts (affective appeal) and hands (social justice potential), and to support their literary apprenticeship. As the project’s goal is to experientially immerse participants in the deep reading for in-depth learning approach, examples from blended learning workshops held in both Norway and Canada are shared. These shine some light on how each cohort operationalized the Ridl framework and may offer insights for parallel English teacher education contexts.

Keywords: blended learning, literary apprenticeship, pedagogical framework, text selection, transnational project

References

Text selections and co-creations: Lesson planning with the Ridl framework
  • Wendy King, Bishop’s University, Canada 

The second paper in The ELLiL Project panel considers the pedagogical potential of several literary texts, as selected by participating mentor teachers, for English language and literature education. This includes a consideration of how far these focal texts align with the Ridl framework dimensions (ELLiL Project Partners, 2023) and their relevance for learners of English at primary and secondary schools in Canada and Norway. A rich variety of children’s and YA literature formats such as Illegal, Malala’s Magic Pencil, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, The Crazy Man, The Sleeper and the Spindle and We Are Water Protectors are explored for their cognitive, affective, and social justice affordances.

The premise of the paper is that well-selected ‘compelling stories’ (Bland, 2022) can function as pedagogical vehicles which enable teachers and their learners to explore several challenging themes or ‘big ideas’ (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) for in-depth English learning. The jointly planned lesson sequences which accompany the texts are also analyzed to establish whether the classroom tasks and activities could scaffold deep reading. Finally, the main learning outcome of each lesson series is considered for its potential to ignite transformative action (Short, 2011) at school and beyond.

Keywords: change agents, dialogic approach, multivoicedness, practicum partnerships, university-school nexus

References

  • Bland, J. (2022). Compelling stories for English language learners: Creativity, interculturality and critical literacy. Bloomsbury.
  • ELLiL Project Partners (2023). Reading for in-depth learning (Ridl) framework. https://site.nord.no/ellil/reading-for-in-depth-learning/
  • Short, K. G. (2011). Children taking action within global inquiries. The Dragon Lode, 29(2), 50– 59.
  • Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Bibliography

  • Brown, P. (2013). Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. Little Brown Books for Readers.
  • Colfer, E. & Donkin, A., illus. G. Rigano (2017). Illegal. Hodder Children’s Books.
  • Gaiman, N., illus. Riddell, C. (2014). The Sleeper and the Spindle. Bloomsbury.
  • Lindstrom, C., illus. M. Goade (2020). We Are Water Protectors. Roaring Brook Press. 
  • Porter, P. (2005). The Crazy Man. Groundwood Books.
  • Yousafzai, M., illus. Kerascoët (2017). Malala’s Magic Pencil. Puffin Books.
Into the classroom: Dialogic reflections on the Ridl framework
  • Remi-Andre Antonsen, Bankgata Middle School, Norway
  • France Destroismaisons, École Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, Canada
  • Evy Kværnø, Nord University, Norway
  • Kawshiki Nasser, Nord University, Norway 
  • Wendy King, Bishop’s University, Canada
  • David Valente, Norwegian Study Centre, UK & Nord University, Norway (PANEL LEADER)

In-school experiences for student teachers on exchange in Norway and Canada are at the heart of The ELLiL Project. The teaching practice phases create opportunities for student teachers and mentor teachers to jointly enact the Ridl framework and enable their learners to think critically through English, and to make creative connections to the world (Barrett & Golubeva, 2022). Our final panel session explores dialogic ways (Abednia, 2015) that project members collaborated as they experimented with the Ridl framework in their primary and secondary English classrooms.

This reflective panel discussion includes a cross section of the participating teacher educators, mentor teachers and student teachers. The goal is to provide space for multiple perspectives on the participants’ experiences of literary texts and creative tasks based on the Ridl framework. During this mini discussion, we explore:

  • Relevance of the focal texts for different school grades
  • Successes and challenges of co-planning across borders
  • Balancing the interrelated Ridl dimensions
  • Language support for learners
  • Understanding the links between deep reading and in-depth learning

To close, the ELLiL teacher educators propose principles for enabling teachers to become change agents with literary texts for English education. We end with recommendations for enriching teaching practice within the university-school nexus.

Keywords: classroom experimentation, pedagogical framework, reflective practice, teaching practice beyond borders, university-school nexus

References

  • Abednia, A. (2015). Practicing critical literacy in second language reading. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 6(2), 77–94.
  • Barrett, M., & Golubeva, I. (2022). From intercultural communicative competence to intercultural citizenship: Preparing young people for citizenship in a culturally diverse democratic world. In T. McConachy, I. Golubeva & M. Wagner (Eds.), Intercultural learning in language education and beyond: Evolving concepts, perspectives and practices (pp. 60–83). Multilingual Matters.

English for social change: Learning from literature and beyond

From stories to action: A model of social change
  • Susanne Reichl, Department of English and American Studies & Research Platform #YouthMediaLife, University of Vienna, Austria (PANEL LEADER)

This panel presents results from a project entitled “English for social change: what literature can and can’t do”. Our framework is inspired by critical pedagogy’s vision of “schools as democratic public spheres, teachers as public intellectuals, and students as potential democratic agents of social change” (Giroux, 2020, p. 3), and while such a vision is still a long way off, we want to discuss what can be done to bring learners closer to being those “change agents” (Green, 2016, pp. 2-3), with a focus on EFL teachers at secondary level in Vienna, Austria.

Initial results of our quantitative survey suggest that teachers believe in the power of literature to broach topics of social injustice in EFL classrooms, and our qualitative research supports this view, adding details on the mapping processes (e.g., Jenkins et al., 2020) that teachers need to support learners in translating the fictional situation (e.g., racism in a US-American novel) into a context that is more local and/or more relevant to them. 

The first presentation will introduce an aggregated model that sketches some of the mapping processes that teachers rely on to make sure their learners understand social injustice and develop critical literacy (Luke & Woods, 2009) when faced with a fictionalised social injustice in an EFL classroom context. 

Keywords: critical pedagogy, social change, literature in the EFL classroom, mixed methods research

References

  • Giroux, H. (2020). On critical pedagogy (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. 
  • Green, D. (2016). How change happens. OUP.
  • Jenkins, H., Peters-Lazaro, G., & Shrestovha, S. (Eds.). (2020). Popular culture and the civic imagination. NYUP.
  • Luke, A., & Woods, A. F. (2009). Critical literacies in schools: A primer. Voices from the Middle, 17(2), 2009. 9–18.
Good omens for social change: Inspiring civic engagement in the English classroom via fan activism
  • Ariane Manutscheri, Department of English and American Studies & Research Platform #YouthMediaLife, University of Vienna, Austria

This paper presents fan activism as an innovative approach for promoting civic education in the English language classroom. It focuses on how fan activists educate and mobilize individuals across geographical boundaries, particularly youth, on matters of sustainability and social justice by leveraging popular culture and its “fandom”, i.e. the emotional connections of interpretive communities as well as the fan practices and networks formed around their object of interest (Booth, 2015; Ito et al., 2015). By establishing parallels between fictional narratives, very often fantasy texts, and complex real-world issues, a strategy Jenkins (2012) calls “mapping”, fan activists aim to enable more inclusive and accessible discussions around global issues and their potential resolution. Fandom Forward, a well-researched fan activist organization, has spearheaded campaigns and developed educational toolkits for various causes using popular content worlds for over 15 years. Scholars and practitioners have begun to address this potential for promoting civic and critical media literacy education. By examining Gaiman and Prachett’s Good Omens (1990 novel and 2019 TV adaptation) as an exemplary content world, this project aims to add to their work; providing an in-depth understanding of how guided engagement with a text could lead to civic action. The story’s exploration of pollution, famine and war provides a rich platform upon which to showcase the inner workings of the “mapping” process as well the ways in which new educational materials for this content world or others can be created.

Keywords: fan activism, civic education, “mapping”, Good Omens, educational materials

Bibliography

  • Gaiman, N. & Pratchett, T. (1990). Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch: A Novel. Workman Publishing.
  • Gaiman, N. (Writer), & Mackinnon, D. (Director). (2019). Good Omens [TV series]. Amazon Studios; BBC Studios.

References

Encouraging critical literacy in English literature classrooms through the video game Night in the woods
  • Georg Wendt, Research Platform #YouthMediaLife, University of Vienna, Austria

For young people, video games and their surrounding cultural forms (e.g., Let’s Play videos, live-streaming, or TV-adaptations) are nearly ubiquitous in their lives. Even as video games have seen increasing use as respectable instructional material in the language classroom through digital game-based learning applications and serious games, the medium remains a particularly rare choice for discussing literature in the EFL classroom, and especially as part of critical media literacy projects. This despite considerable scholarly efforts of theorizing video games as (also) a medium for fostering critical thinking that challenges a wide range of social injustices (e.g., Gray & Leonard, 2018; Schrier, 2021).

This paper offers an example of how video games can be used as a medium to cultivate “a critical consciousness in students that […] help them analyze their social, historical, and economic conditions” (Jennings & Lynn, 2005, p. 17) through the story-centric independent game Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall, 2017). This qualitative study presents methods to engage students in the game’s themes of mental health and economic immobility and is supported by the results of our project, as well as research into video game literacy more broadly (e.g., Burn, 2022; Zagal, 2010).

Keywords: literature in the EFL classroom, Night in the Woods, critical media literacy, video games

Bibliography

Infinite Fall. (2017). Night in the Woods (PC version) [Video game]. Finji.

References

  • Burn, A. (2022). Literature, videogames and learning. Routledge.
  • Gray, K. L., & Leonard, D. J. (Eds.). (2018). Woke gaming: Digital challenges to oppression and social injustice. University of Washington Press.
  • Jennings, M. E., & Lynn, M. (2005). The house that race built: Critical pedagogy, African-American education, and the re-conceptualization of a critical race pedagogy. Educational Foundations, Summer-Fall, 15–32.
  • Schrier, K. (2021). We the gamers: How games teach ethics and civics. Oxford University Press.
  • Zagal, J. P. (2010). Ludoliteracy: Defining, understanding, and supporting games education. ETC Press.

Multimodal children’s literature to promote social justice through critical literacy in teacher education

Indigenous social justice through North American multimodal texts from Manitoba to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec 
  • Dolores Miralles-Alberola, University of Alicante, Spain (PANEL LEADER)

From an Indigenous critical literacy perspective, instructors willing to include representation of Indigenous peoples in the classroom should consider texts that are tribally specific, well-researched and written by Indigenous authors, and contain unbiased language and history (Reese, 2013, 2018). This presentation aims to discuss these principles and their connections with social justice in its redistributive, recognitive and representational dimensions (Fraser, 1997, 2005) whilst providing a selection of books and their affordances for an Action-oriented Approach in English language education addressed to student teachers.

The selection includes: the graphic novels A Girl Called Echo (2018-2021, vols. 1-4) and Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide (2018), with photographs from Graciela Iturbide herself; and the picturebooks Shi-shi-etko (2005) and Shin-chi’s Canoe (2008), and Joy Harjo’s For a Girl Becoming (2009). In the context of action-oriented scenarios that include reception, production, mediation, and the creation cooperative artefacts or events, these multimodal books can work as text ensembles (Delanoy, 2018) to foster deep reading and help unveil the unanswered questions other texts may leave in terms of sovereignty, memory, identity and women’s agency specifically of the Métis, Salish, Zapotec and Muscogee peoples in North America.

Keywords: Indigenous critical literacy, text ensemble, social justice, Indigenous children’s literature, action-oriented approach

Bibliography

  • Campbell, N., illus. K. LaFave (2005). Shi-shi-etko. Groundwood Books.
  • Campbell, N., illus. K. LaFave (2008). Shin-chi’s Canoe. Groundwood Books.
  • Harjo, J., illus. M. McDonald (2009). For a Girl Becoming. The University of Arizona Press.
  • Quintero, I., illus. Z. Peña (2018). Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide. The J. Paul Getty Museum.
  • Vermette, K., illus. S. B. Henderson, col. D. Yaciuk (2018). A Girl Called Echo: Pemmican Wars. Vol. 1–4. Highwater Press.

References

  • Delanoy, W. (2018). Literature in language education: Challenges for theory building. In J. Bland (Ed.), Using literature in English language education: Challenging reading for 8-18 year olds (pp. 141–157). Bloomsbury.
  • Fraser. N. (1997). Justice interrupts: Critical reflections on the “postsocialist” condition. Routledge.
  • Fraser. N. (2005). Mapping the feminist imagination: From redistribution to recognition to representation. Constellations, 12(3), 295–307.
  • Reese, D. (2013). Critical Indigenous literacies. In J. Larson, & J. Marsh (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of early childhood literacy (pp. 251–263). SAGE.
  • Reese, D. (2018). Critical Indigenous literacies: Selecting and using children’s books about Indigenous peoples. Language Arts, 95(6), 389–393.
Natural science and literature (We Are Water Protectors) to foster interculturality and social justice in English language primary classrooms 
  • Mercedes Pérez-Agustín, Complutense University Madrid, Spain

The United Nations (2015) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes water as one of the 17 sustainable goals, aiming to ensure access to clean water for all. The picturebook We Are Water Protectors (2020) written by Carole Lindstrom of Ojibwe heritage, illustrated by Michaela Goade, is a call for environmental justice as a response to the construction of an oil pipeline that is polluting the water.

This pedagogical proposal for upper primary students in the subject of natural science follows a read-aloud structure (Ellis & Mourao, 2021) to help students explore their thoughts and feelings (Rubin & Wilson, 1995). The students are expected to broaden their intercultural competence (Byram et al., 2002), their attitude and interest in learning about people’s beliefs, values, traditions and worldviews. Social justice will be addressed because the students will be expected to reflect critically on the risks associated with environmental damage, on the need for responsible consumption and in the ways in which citizens and governments can contribute to environmental sustainability. The primary students are expected to acquire language and content from a distant culture on the importance of preserving the environment and taking part from a local to a global perspective, helping them expand their intercultural competence.

Keywords: sustainability, interculturality, Native Americans, picturebook, reading aloud

Bibliography

  • Lindstrom, C., illus. M. Goade (2020). We Are Water Protectors. Roaring Brook Press.

References 

Learning for justice through a critical gaze in the foreign language classroom
  • Concepción Soler Pous, University of Alicante, Spain

This paper aims to promote social justice through critical literacy and to present the need for a communicative and real approach to the study of English as an L2 in the secondary classroom (Healy, 2010) that encompasses a communicative, global, intercultural and integrative (Mendoza Fillola, 2007) perspective based on a new study of literary (Arafah, 2021) and multimodal texts. We will propose an ensemble of works on social justice with the book of The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (2004) compared to a photographic work by Gervasio Sánchez called Vidas minadas (2023). Both are based on the topic of women living in a country without freedom. Verbal and visual language will allow the student to discover a cultural context or region different from their own, and develop a sensitivity to appreciate their multiple meanings and interpretations. Proposals are presented with new teaching practices to capture the scenes in a non-verbal mode and provide visual details that would otherwise be lost in a dialogue-focused account (Oziewicz, 2018) for a topic that raises open questions and allows students to learn the foreign language as well as critical reading abilities (Prusse, 2018).

Keywords: literature, multimodal texts, photographs, semiotics, social justice

References  

References  

  • Arafah, B. et al. The Idol: An Innovative Model for Designing Literature-Based ELT Materials. Linguistica Antverpiensia, 2021 Issue-1. (www.hivt.be. ISSN: 0304-2294)
  • Healy, S. (2010). Literature in the EFL Classroom – From theory to practice. Kyoto Sangyo University essays. Humanities series (42), 178-191.
  • Mendoza Fillola, A. (2007). Literature in the FL classroom. In: Literary materials in foreign language learning. (pp. 13–52). ICE University of Barcelona. Pérez Cabello, A.M. (2013).
  • Oziewicz, M. (2018). The graphic novel: Brian Selznick’s THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, WONDERSTRUCK and THE MARVELS. In Bland, J. (Eds.), Using Literature in English Language Education. Challenging Reading for 8-18 Years Old (pp. 25-40).
  • Prusse, M. (2018). Transmedia reading: Tim Winton’s LOCKIE LEONARD trilogy. In Bland, J. (Eds.), Using Literature in English Language Education. Challenging Reading for 8-18 Years Old (pp. 121-137).
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