The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons
This paper examines literacy-related practices existing in elementary history classrooms and asks to what extent these practices are compatible with the ideals of historical literacy, i.e. disciplinary literacy specific to history. A total of 50 hours were spent observing nine Finnish classrooms. D...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Language and Literacy: A Canadian Educational e-journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/langandlit/index.php/langandlit/article/view/29610 |
| _version_ | 1811208891222982656 |
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| author | Amna Khawaja Mikko Puustinen |
| author_facet | Amna Khawaja Mikko Puustinen |
| author_sort | Amna Khawaja |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This paper examines literacy-related practices existing in elementary history classrooms and asks to what extent these practices are compatible with the ideals of historical literacy, i.e. disciplinary literacy specific to history. A total of 50 hours were spent observing nine Finnish classrooms. Data sources included numeric data, field notes and classroom artifacts. The results show that the most common text type used was the body text of a textbook while primary sources were few. The textbook was typically addressed as a neutral source of information. Teachers used visual texts only briefly and to support an existing narrative. None of the teachers modeled reading strategies specific to history. The teacher profiles suggest diverse approaches to literacy but the practices used by teachers point more to content-area and cultural literacy than disciplinary literacy. Implications for elementary literacy and history instruction are discussed.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T04:29:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e35a7d05a3744aa3b000e5767cc57fed |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1496-0974 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T04:29:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Language and Literacy: A Canadian Educational e-journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-e35a7d05a3744aa3b000e5767cc57fed2022-12-22T03:47:59ZengLanguage and Literacy Researchers of CanadaLanguage and Literacy: A Canadian Educational e-journal1496-09742022-12-0124310.20360/langandlit29610The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History LessonsAmna Khawaja0Mikko Puustinen1University of HelsinkiUniversity of Helsinki This paper examines literacy-related practices existing in elementary history classrooms and asks to what extent these practices are compatible with the ideals of historical literacy, i.e. disciplinary literacy specific to history. A total of 50 hours were spent observing nine Finnish classrooms. Data sources included numeric data, field notes and classroom artifacts. The results show that the most common text type used was the body text of a textbook while primary sources were few. The textbook was typically addressed as a neutral source of information. Teachers used visual texts only briefly and to support an existing narrative. None of the teachers modeled reading strategies specific to history. The teacher profiles suggest diverse approaches to literacy but the practices used by teachers point more to content-area and cultural literacy than disciplinary literacy. Implications for elementary literacy and history instruction are discussed. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/langandlit/index.php/langandlit/article/view/29610disciplinary literacyhistorical literacycontent-area literacycultural literacyelementary school |
| spellingShingle | Amna Khawaja Mikko Puustinen The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons Language and Literacy: A Canadian Educational e-journal disciplinary literacy historical literacy content-area literacy cultural literacy elementary school |
| title | The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons |
| title_full | The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons |
| title_fullStr | The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons |
| title_short | The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons |
| title_sort | nature of literacy instruction in elementary school history lessons |
| topic | disciplinary literacy historical literacy content-area literacy cultural literacy elementary school |
| url | https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/langandlit/index.php/langandlit/article/view/29610 |
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