Könsnormen styr hur vi beter oss i mötet med andra människor och kan förhindra jämställdheten. Dessutom fostras barn in i könsroller i tidiga åldrar och därför blir det viktigt att redan i förskolan uppmärksamma och arbeta med ämnet genus. I den här studien undersöks det hur könsnormer problematiseras i boksamtal med förskolebarn genom en observation av hur barn och en vuxen samtalar om genus utifrån barnböcker. Därmed lyder forskningsfrågan: Hur samtalar barnen och den vuxne med varandra om genus utifrån barnböcker? Studien har utgångspunkt i ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv. Undersökningen genomfördes på en förskola i södra Sverige, i den valdes tre grupper ut som läste och samtalade om två böckers innehåll och budskap i relation till genus. Boksamtalen ljudinspelades och transkriberades, samt analyserades utifrån en innehållsanalys. I resultatet framgår det att barnens tolkning av könsnormen skiljer sig åt eftersom de har olika föreställningar om vad som är stereotypt för flickor och pojkar. Slutsatsen är att barnen och den vuxne samtalar om genus utifrån de kunskaper som redan är befästa, det vill säga sin egen förståelse av genus. I boksamtalen problematiseras könsnormer genom att den vuxne ställer utmanande frågor om normerna till barnen som de sedan fortsätter att diskutera i interaktion med varandra.

I denna studie analyseras fyra skönlitterära böcker för barn i mellanstadieåldern (9-12 år). Böckerna är de mest utlånade bokväskorna i klassuppsättning från bibliotek Uppsala och är därför särskilt intressanta ur ett didaktiskt perspektiv. Critical literacy används som teoretiskt ramverk. Critical literacy kan både betraktas som ett sätt att arbeta med och ett sätt att betrakta texter utifrån ett kritiskt förhållningssätt. Denna analys fokuserar på maktrelationer och olika aspekter av mångfald. Analysen utgörs av en kvalitativ textanalys där maktrelationerna mellan böckernas karaktärer diskuteras i relation till mångfaldsaspekterna kön, etnicitet, sexualitet, funktionalitet, ålder, socioekonomisk bakgrund och social status. Av resultaten framgår att mångfald inom kön, socioekonomisk bakgrund och etnicitet förekommer i de analyserade böckerna medan representation av sexualitet och funktionalitet är begränsad. Maktfördelningen är relativt jämn mellan män och kvinnor i böckerna, men några alternativa könsidentiteter förekommer inte. Etnicitet förekommer i viss mån men främst i en av böckerna. Sexualitet gestaltas endast genom heterosexualitet och funktionsvariationer förekommer inte alls. Ålder visade sig ha stor betydelse för maktrelationer mellan karaktärerna eftersom barn genomgående har mindre makt än vuxna. Slutligen diskuteras vilka potentiella värderingar och följemeningar som litteraturen kan tänkas förmedla till elever, särskilt med tanke på att de används i klassrummet.

O principal objetivo dessa pesquisa é investigar a leitura de imagens pelo aluno universitário. Essa análise se deu nas aulas de inglês em dois ambientes universitários: uma universidade privada e uma pública ambas do Estado de São Paulo. A importância dos estudos da leitura através da imagem fílmica se dá pelo fato de influenciarem a realidade social. Vimos que esses estudos poderiam se inserir nos novos letramentos, ou seja, numa postura em relação ao educar onde interesses educacionais se engajem pela mudança social, diversidade cultural, igualdade econômica e direito político (Luke & Freedbody 1997:1). Esses estudos foram influenciados pelas teorias Freire que é reconhecido como um dos fundadores da pedagogia crítica. Similarmente importante foram os estudos da filosofia da linguagem que compuseram os estudos base dessa pesquisa e nos permitiram maior entendimento para análise e interpretação dos dados coletados. Alguns teóricos fundamentais para esse embasamento foram Derrida, Foucault, Bakhtin, Bourdieu, Giroux, Luke, Morin, entre outros. A primeira etapa consiste em analisar os discursos dos professores e dos alunos no que diz respeito ao que entendem por leitura. Através dos discursos analisados, discutimos também suas visões de pedagogia e letramento. A segunda etapa busca localizar processos de ruptura através de leituras que revelam construções de sentidos pelos alunos. A terceira e última etapa foca os estudos das imagens pelos alunos e professores através de suas visões do que esses estudos possam representar. Para a investigação e análise dos eventos, realizamos uma pesquisa de cunho etnográfico, ou seja, utilizamos algumas das premissas da pesquisa etnográfica, não seguindo, entretanto, estritamente seus métodos de pesquisa. As conclusões parciais revelam que em ambas as universidades há ainda 1. uma necessidade de rever a educação dentro dos novos conceitos de letramentos e pedagogia crítica. 2. que em ambas as universidades (mormente na uniA) ainda predominam paradigmas positivistas no ensino de leitura, 3. alunos e professores revelam, em muitos momentos, uma tendência a um reprodutivismo (Bourdieu 1982) e críticoreprodutivismo (Saviani 1990) 4. em outros momentos, alunos e professores buscaram ao longo dos cursos processos de ruptura através de construções de sentidos / The main objective of this study is to investigate the reading of images by the university student. This analysis took place in the English classes in two universities, a private and a public university of the state of São Paulo. The importance of the studies of reading of film imagens comes by their influence regarding social reality. We perceived that these studies could be inserted in education literacy studies, so to speak in an educational posture where interests are committed to social change, cultural diversity, economic equity and political enfranchisement (Luke & Freedbody 1997:1). Such literacy studies were initiated by Freirean theories. Freire is recognized as one of the founders of critical pedagogy. Similarly important were the studies on the philosophy of language which compounded the basis of this research. They also provided more comprehension for the analysis and interpretation of the data. Some theoreticians were fundamental provided that they contributed enourmously for the thoretical framework of this research: Derrida, Foucault, Bakhtin, Bourdieu, Giroux, Luke, Morin, among others. The first chapter consists in analysing the discourses of teachers and students regarding their comprehension of reading. Through the analysed discourses, we also debate their views of pedagogy and literacy. The second part analyzes the processes of rupture provided through students´ meaning making. The last chapter focuses on the reading of images by teachers and students through their representations of what reading images could be. For the investigation and analysis of events, an ethnographic research is applied which means that some of the premises of the ethnographic research are respected and some others are not utilized. The partial conclusions reveal that both universities 1. call for a re-evaluation of an education within new concepts such as literacies and critical pedagogy 2. that in both universities positivistic paradigms prevail when reading practices are concerned 3. students and teachers often tend to reproductivism (Bourdieu 1982) in a criticalreproductivism (Saviani 1990) 4. throughout the courses some other circumstances revealed that teachers and students searched for processes of rupture through meaning making

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka och beskriva hur tre F-3-lärare använder skönlitteratur i ämnet svenska och om och hur det kopplas till läroplanens texter om värdegrund. Som metod har vi använt oss av kvalitativ forskning med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Lärarna anser att skönlitteratur har möjlighet att påverka elevernas syn på sin omvärld. Resultaten visar även att lärarna arbetar med skönlitteratur på olika sätt beroende på syftet och att högläsning i större utsträckning än tystläsning har använts i ett värdegrundsarbete. Lärarna anser främst att arbete med skönlitteratur kan vara problematiskt när en enskild elev eller en hel elevgrupp ska få litteratur som ligger på dennes nivå, både i innehåll och textnivå.

This qualitative study explored influences on three Canadian authors who present characters with disabilities in childrens fiction. Portraits of these authors are framed by a discussion of contemporary Canadian childrens novels, offering curriculum ideas within the framework of critical literacy. The research questions were: What patterns in the depictions of characters with disabilities appear in the context of Canadian novels, published since 1995, for children and young adults? What motivates and informs selected contemporary childrens authors construction of fictional characters with disabilities? Portraiture was used as a variation on case study research. Methods for data collection and analysis included semi-structured interviews, personal narratives, and content analysis regarding three author portraits, including a self-portrait; content analysis was also applied to fifty childrens novels. Bakhtins conceptualization of the literary chronotope was utilized as a lens to explore aspects of time and space internal and external to these texts, and further delineated by aspects of time, social context, and placethree categories borrowed from the field of narrative inquiry. Research on classic fiction illuminates particular patterns and trends regarding authors portrayals of characters with disabilities. This dissertation has identified and explored contemporary trends. While disability figured in all of the childrens novels in the study sample, ethnicity was strikingly absent, as were books for junior readers ages eight to eleven. The inquiry utilized Dresangs Radical Change theory to identify the landscape on which books about characters with disabilities reside, supporting the metaphorical conceptualization of the radical changes in childrens literature as a rhizome. The resonance of what has informed authors, in addition to the exploration of the childrens books in this study, offers perspectives that impact critical literacy classroom approaches delineated within Lewison, Flint, and Van Sluys four dimensions framework: disrupting the commonplace, interrogating multiple viewpoints, focusing on socio-political issues, and taking action and promoting social justice. The latter dimension, while not accomplished through reading the texts themselves, may be approached through attention to author influences. The implications of the study relate to curriculum development as well as promote further research in Education, English Literature, and Disability Studies. An annotated bibliography is included.

Contemporary English language arts (ELA) teachers engage students who have been born into a digital world where emergent literacies challenge the traditionally authoritative perspectives and physical boundaries of books and classrooms. This qualitative case study inquired into the classroom experiences of three senior English language arts teachers located in two western Canadian provinces in our digital-based communications age. Analyzed through a cultural studies lens, this inquirys data were collected through the methodological triangulation of classroom observation, semi-structured interview, and online journal responses. The studys findings reveal the significance of the three selected teachers textual stances and pedagogy to their students new literacies in this time of epochal communications and cultural change. A broadening horizon of textual choice and compositional possibilities complicated each of the three teachers classroom practice in a subject area whose content, traditionally, relies upon reading and responding to print-based canonical texts. Each of these teachers was working In medias res to understand which texts and textual practices should be held on to, and which could be relinquished for the benefit of their students language learning. A major concern that emerged for each of these three educators was a perceived loss of deep critical readings by their students. This concern was counter-balanced for the subject area specialists by an emergent understanding of the affordances of a broadening set of texts and textual practices a developing awareness that students critical literacies can emerge in a rhizomal manner, and that teachers and students can co-author their literacy experiences within the (con)text of the ELA classroom. For these three participants, teaching ELA has become an ellipsis in a digital-based age where certain previously privileged texts and a sense of authority need to be relinquished in order to achieve the co-constructed understanding of word and world so valued by these educators and their students. / Secondary Education

<p>The research employed a qualitative research paradigm. The ethnographic approach was used to conduct the research. Data collection was done though various ethnographic techniques, classroom observation, in-depth interviews and document analysis. The population was 85 women who participated in a Adult Basic Education and Training programme in Eersterivier in the Cape Peninsula area a questionnaire was used to collect demographic information of the participants Data was analysed by thematic analysis and coded, categorised and discussed according to the aim and objectives of the study in relation to previous studies The main findings were why exploring the existing literacy practice women were depended on others for literacy assistance, which made them avoid literacy events and become vulnerable in this process to cope with the everyday life.</p>

This research explores literacy as a medium for deepening student's awareness of their world and the impact of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Standardized testing is analyzed as a fundamental paradigm to our school culture. Ethnography is explored as a method for describing one group of students and their teacher as they prepare for the OSSLT. The findings conclude that the test occupies time, dominates definitions of literacy and undermines student and teacher agency. The conclusion considers reasons for why we seem to accept a testing paradigm that may be a direct affront to democratic practice in schools.

Existing mainstream ESL pedagogy tends to be functionalist and assimilationist, ignoring the complex sociopolitical dimensions of language learning (Pennycook, 2001). In addition, critical inquiry is often deemed too difficult for English language learners (ELLs), hence seldom introduced in ESL classrooms. However, academic proficiency, deep understanding and critical literacy (CL) are needed for school success and world citizenship. This doctoral thesis describes a year-long participatory action research with a class of new immigrant ELLs (aged 12-14) in a city in Ontario, Canada. Informed by CL and critical pedagogy, the research aimed to find out how CL education played out in a beginning ESL classroom--the instructional choices made, negotiation of teacher and student identities, processes and challenges involved, and the extent to which students’ critical/literacy development was facilitated. Based on Cummins’ Academic Expertise Framework (2001), the sociocultural theory of learning (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1987) and Guthrie’s (1996, 2004) conception of literacy engagement, an integrative instructional approach was adopted for the design and implementation of the CL program. The program addressed ELLs’ academic language needs while affirming their cultural identities and developing their critical ability in dealing with struggles amidst their acculturation process. Following the principles of critical action research, this study was done through cycles of reflection, action and evaluation with different sets of qualitative data which were coded and analysed based on phenomenological research methods. The results showed a significant improvement in students’ level of self-confidence and critical/literacy development while the ESL teacher changed from being sceptical of doing CL work with beginning ELLs to fully embracing it and seeing herself as an advocate for ELLs. This research showed that with careful scaffolding and guided practice of functional, cultural and CL skills grounded in a collaborative learning community that set high expectations on students’ critical and creative abilities, students achieved substantial critical/literacy engagement and development. The question educators should ask is not “At which grade or language level can students be introduced to CL?”, but rather “Are we providing support and scaffolds to students’ learning that are geared towards helping them to gradually become critical language users?”

Recently Ontario included critical literacy in the Language Arts curriculum. I plan to investigate what impact critical literacy will have on Canadian schools. I will present ideas in a critical narrative framework; drawing on pre-existing data-sets of experiences I gathered teaching in an urban Ontario school board for the last six years. I will also review research by other academics working in critical literacy, student engagement, and democratic education. I plan to investigate the effectiveness of using critical literacy-based activities with students deemed “at risk” in our school system. I will also explore the impact of critical literacy on the relationships between students, teachers and administrators. I believe this process will allow me to reflect, interpret and explore my experiences, as well as encourage others to draw their own opinions about the impact of teaching critical literacy in Ontario schools.