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A Focus on Critical Thinking or Linguistic Features?

Ekström, Emelie LU (2016) ÄENC51 20152
English Studies
Educational Sciences
Abstract
The aim of the study is to research upper secondary teachers’ attitudes towards, and use of, critical perspectives in teaching literature in the subject of English in Sweden. This is done in relation to the inequality issues identified in the Swedish school context, the Swedish National Curriculum for the Upper Secondary School and the syllabi for English, along with a theoretical framework based on the of concepts of critical pedagogy and critical theory. The feminist, Marxist and post-colonial critical perspectives, that deal with power aspects were examined in greater detail, and contrasted with reader-response, structuralist and psychoanalytic criticism. This subject is examined through the use of a dual method, including a... (More)
The aim of the study is to research upper secondary teachers’ attitudes towards, and use of, critical perspectives in teaching literature in the subject of English in Sweden. This is done in relation to the inequality issues identified in the Swedish school context, the Swedish National Curriculum for the Upper Secondary School and the syllabi for English, along with a theoretical framework based on the of concepts of critical pedagogy and critical theory. The feminist, Marxist and post-colonial critical perspectives, that deal with power aspects were examined in greater detail, and contrasted with reader-response, structuralist and psychoanalytic criticism. This subject is examined through the use of a dual method, including a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The participants were all certified English teachers working in Upper Secondary Schools in the Helsingborg and Lund region. Some key findings are that teachers use critical perspectives to a much greater extent than was expected, and that by using critical pedagogy and critical perspectives, teachers express that they can cover many of the requirements in the regulatory documents, such as addressing injustice issues and promote critical thinking skills, while enhancing students’ vocabulary and making them engage in discussions on important topics. The results also show that the participants’ prior teacher education plays an important role in teachers’ use of critical perspectives in their own practice. (Less)
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author
Ekström, Emelie LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Researching Swedish Upper Secondary Teachers’ Attitudes on and Use of Critical Perspectives in the Teaching of Literature in the Subject of English
course
ÄENC51 20152
year
type
L3 - Miscellaneous, Projetcs etc.
subject
keywords
critical theory, critical pedagogy, Swedish National Curriculum for the Upper Secondary School, literature, teacher attitudes
language
English
id
8927159
date added to LUP
2017-10-11 14:29:24
date last changed
2017-10-11 14:29:24
@misc{8927159,
  abstract     = {{The aim of the study is to research upper secondary teachers’ attitudes towards, and use of, critical perspectives in teaching literature in the subject of English in Sweden. This is done in relation to the inequality issues identified in the Swedish school context, the Swedish National Curriculum for the Upper Secondary School and the syllabi for English, along with a theoretical framework based on the of concepts of critical pedagogy and critical theory. The feminist, Marxist and post-colonial critical perspectives, that deal with power aspects were examined in greater detail, and contrasted with reader-response, structuralist and psychoanalytic criticism. This subject is examined through the use of a dual method, including a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The participants were all certified English teachers working in Upper Secondary Schools in the Helsingborg and Lund region. Some key findings are that teachers use critical perspectives to a much greater extent than was expected, and that by using critical pedagogy and critical perspectives, teachers express that they can cover many of the requirements in the regulatory documents, such as addressing injustice issues and promote critical thinking skills, while enhancing students’ vocabulary and making them engage in discussions on important topics. The results also show that the participants’ prior teacher education plays an important role in teachers’ use of critical perspectives in their own practice.}},
  author       = {{Ekström, Emelie}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Focus on Critical Thinking or Linguistic Features?}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}