Exploring Approaches to Teaching Literary Texts

The successful student is able to identify, develop and implement effective and creative didactic and pedagogical approaches when teaching works of literature of different genres. In addition, students broaden their familiarity with a variety of teachable texts.

In this course we explore different didactic and pedagogical approaches to teaching anglophone literature in upper secondary education. The approaches include reader response, cognitive stylistics, comparison, intercultural analysis, creative writing, imaginative response, and drama as a teaching strategy. We study the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of these approaches and address their strengths and weaknesses. We work with literary texts from different genres, namely a young adult novel, a short story, poems, a play and literary nonfiction. In the tutorials we discuss the readings about the theories, approaches and genres and consider different didactic and pedagogical possibilities, opportunities and responsibilities. In the workshops student-teachers put the theory into practice by teaching a 50 minute class on the basis of a lesson plan that they have developed individually in close consultation with a student-buddy. Students reflect both orally and in writing on their own work and that of their fellow students. Throughout the course the instructor offers formative feedback on students’ performances and writing assignments.