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Picturebooks in the classroom Perspectives on life skills, sustainable development and democracy & citizenship
Hilde Tørnby
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Copyright © 2020 by Vigmostad & Bjørke AS All Rights Reserved ISBN: 978-82-450-2263-6 Cover illustration: Shaun Tan, The Red Tree, 2001, Hachette Australia: Sydney The illustrations from the picturebooks that are analysed in this scholarly presentation have been reproduced as authorised by the Norwegian Act relating to copyright in intellectual works (Copyright Act), § 29. Illustrations: Hilde Tørnby, unless otherwise stated Graphic production: John Grieg, Bergen Design and typeset by Bøk Oslo A/S Enquiries about this text can be directed to: Fagbokforlaget Kanalveien 51 5068 Bergen Tel.: 55 38 88 00 Fax: 55 38 88 01 email: fagbokforlaget@fagbokforlaget.no www.fagbokforlaget.no All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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Table of contents
For you .........................................................................
9
PART I
General perspectives on classroom practice and picturebooks CHAPTER 1
Aesthetic pathways ................................................... Teacher in role .................................................................. The Vikings . . ................................................................ Learners’ artistic modes of expression and deep learning ............... Picturebook – The Party .................................................... Animation movie – Winnie the Pooh who fell in the water ............. Instagram ...................................................................
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19 20 22 22 27 30
CHAPTER 2
The rooms in-between .............................................. What is a text? ................................................................. Relationship between pictures and words .. ............................... The truthfulness of a text ..................................................... Wordless picturebooks .......................................................
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35 40 44 48
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Table of contents
Sidewalk Flowers ............................................................ 50 Unspoken .................................................................... 54 The Arrival ................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 3
The magical world . . ...................................................
59
Two examples of working with magic ....................................... 64 The Tiger Who Came to Tea ................................................. 64 This Is Not My Hat ........................................................... 71
PART II
Perspectives on life skills, sustainable development and democracy & citizenship CHAPTER 4
Perspectives on sustainable development and ecocritical reading .............................................
79
Ecocritical reading . . ........................................................... 84 CHAPTER 5
Life skills I: Numeracy and literacy ........................... Numeracy ....................................................................... Literacy .......................................................................... Cognitive, visual and emotional pre-reading activities ................. While reading ............................................................... Post-reading ................................................................
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90 100 102 104 104
CHAPTER 6
A sense of belonging ................................................. 111 Life skills, democracy and citizenship . . ..................................... Amelia’s Road ............................................................... The Promise ................................................................. The Arrival . . .................................................................
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111 115 119 125
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CHAPTER 7
Life skills II: Emotional literacy ............................... 131 What is emotional literacy? . . ................................................. The use of colors ............................................................... Composition . . .................................................................. Emotional literacy and life skills ............................................. Working with emotional literacy: The Giving Tree ........................ Working with emotional literacy: The Red Tree ...........................
131 133 139 140 140 145
Conclusion .................................................................... 149 Sources ......................................................................... 151
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For you
There might be any number of reasons why you picked up this book. My intention is that you will not regret that decision. Moreover, that when you read it you will find yourself inspired and filled with new ideas for your teaching practice. I wrote this book for you – to stimulate new perceptions and reflections in your studies and in your work. A long time ago, when I was a young, newly educated teacher, I picked up a book that inspired and influenced me to the point that it really changed my way of teaching. This might be too much for me to expect, but I do hope you come to treasure this book. A highly valued colleague of mine at another college was the one who gave me the idea. She sent me an e-mail asking where she might have read my interpretation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, because she needed the reference for a lecture she was planning to give. This note, which many would perhaps have regarded as insignificant, spurred the idea of writing this book. I thought that if someone wants to use my interpretation of a picturebook in their lecture, maybe others would like to ponder my understanding of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a number of other picturebooks. Therefore, I have collected here some of my favorite picturebooks and the insights they have given me. They are my favorites because I regard them as excellent examples and wonderful to work with in the classroom. Some create a magical world, while
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For you
others lend themselves to spoken interaction and playful approaches to teaching English. However, the most important aspect is that these books provide opportunities to engage pupils in complex, critical thinking and philosophical excursions. My choice has been to weave these books carefully into many of the chapters, with the idea that this can evoke a deeper understanding and generate systematic strands in the text. That being said, there is an enormous variety of picturebooks to choose from, so the collection here is limited. In connection with these books I have included a broad selection of practical teaching ideas. The purpose of this book is twofold. Part one addresses general perspectives that are important in learning environments, and covers theoretical elements such as aesthetics, multimodality and third space theory. In part two the overarching themes are specific topics relating to sustainability & eco-criticism, literacies & life skills, democracy & citizenship and emotional literacy. The reason for this is that I believe it is beneficial to collect a variety of ideas from picturebook theory, basic skills and topics regarding the general curriculum in one place. I have found myself using chapters and articles from many different sources in my own teaching, and have felt the need for a book where some of the most essential ideas are found. Each chapter also has a twofold purpose – with a theoretical part and a practical part. My sincere hope is that this book may prove to be useful to students in higher education and teachers alike. Another point worth mentioning is the new core curriculum that was launched in 2017. This general part postulates that three main themes – life skills, sustainable development and democracy & citizenship – are to be embedded across subjects in the Norwegian school. It is hardly surprising that schools are very receptive to the idea of overarching themes that are vitally important in educating for the future. One of the university schools that OsloMet (where I currently work) collaborates with has structured these three themes into
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a “new” subject called “Theme-based project work.” For all three years, 8 through 10, teaching hours are taken from subjects such as Norwegian, English, Science and Social Science and transferred to this new class. Apart from targeting the three cross-curricular themes, the new subject also focuses on 21st century skills such as deep learning and aesthetic approaches to learning. Pupils respond in questionnaires and interviews that they feel this work is meaningful, and that they learn more and remember better when working this way. In the new English curriculum two of the main areas above have been specified, namely life skills and democracy & citizenship. However, since all three areas are so clearly emphasized in the core curriculum, they will need to be addressed across all classrooms. As we are now embarking on a new era within teaching contexts, an additional perspective that is given great emphasis across the chapters in this book is deep learning. Michael Fullan and Maria Langworthy (2014) hold that deep learning is first and foremost about process and tasks initiated by the learners. Letting young people grapple with open questions that do not necessarily have answers will foster critical thinking and deeper understanding (Sinnes & Straume, 2017). Another way of understanding deep learning is that it emerges through experiences leading to transformation (Scoffham & Barnes 2009). In essence, the reader will find that deep learning is an important reference point throughout. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to write this book and my hope is that you will find it valuable. Hilde Tørnby
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[start del]
PART I General perspectives on classroom practice and picturebooks
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CHAPTER 1
[Illu # bilde
Aesthetic pathways
Illustration 1. Tiden det tar
Look at the painting. What do you see? How do you feel when looking at it? Do you like the picture? Why/why not? What is the painting trying to communicate?
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Part I General perspectives …
Pictures speak to us without words. We look at a picture and respond to it with our thoughts and emotions. We use our eyes to take it in, and sense the meaning of it through our vision. Unspoken words may find their way into our consciousness and the picture’s story or text is formed in us. There are many different kinds of pictures that communicate in unique ways. A photograph has a distinct mode of expression whereas a collage or a painting may communicate in more subtle ways. People tend to have their own preferences as to what kind of pictures they like best. Pictures are important points of entry to aesthetic work in English. When reading picturebooks, the pictures play an especially vital role. This is particularly true for picturebooks, where the visual text is as important as the verbal text. What pictures may offer and how to read them will be discussed throughout this book. The aim of this chapter is a more general approach to understanding aesthetic pathways in the classroom. An aesthetic practice is by no means limited to pictures alone. Whenever we feel, realize and learn something through our senses and in our bodies, we call it an aesthetic response (Hohr, 2015; Rasmussen, 2013; Sæbø, 2016). In other words, learning through other points of entry than the cognitive is one way of understanding aesthetics. However, the aesthetic practices may produce cognitive understanding through different means. Knud Løgstrup (2015) uses the term “stemthed” – the feeling, atmosphere, tone or openness in how we meet others – referring to this as a basis for aesthetic learning. In a learning environment, it is important to provide an open, inclusive atmosphere where pupils feel ready for new input. Moreover, it is of the utmost importance to include aesthetic ways of working due to the diversity and differences in the classroom. What is more, learning aesthetically utilizes a significant way of knowing that provides pupils with new elements and insights. In this chapter the aim is to give an introduction to ideas of aesthetics, aesthetic methodology and reading, and to point out some possible ways to target these in English class.
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Chapter 1 Aesthetic pathways
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What do we mean when we talk about aesthetic methodology and learning? The debate about aesthetics is as old as time, and discussions of art and beauty are ever-present in our communities. Some may find the word aesthetic intimidating and foreign, and believe that it is only related to the fine arts in a museum. In our setting we will keep it simple, using the notion of aesthetics as a sense-based approach to learning. With that in mind, when referring to aesthetics in a learning environment, John Dewey’s idea that an aesthetic response fills in or gives the learner a wider form of response than a non-aesthetic response, is fundamental (Dewey, 1934). In fact, he states powerfully that no experience is “complete” without an aesthetic dimension or component: “In short, aesthetic cannot be sharply marked off from intellectual experience since the latter must bear an aesthetic stamp to be itself complete” (Dewey, 1934, p. 38). In other words, he says that there is a different kind of learning through the senses. We learn through our bodies and through sensing. Additionally, the aesthetic methodology brings with it new perspectives and understandings that might lead to a renewed vision or change. Bjørn Rasmussen points out that such aesthetic experiences and methods have a possibility of transformation: “…the aesthetic experience – not limited by the experience of an artwork – has the possibility to transform people’s life and practice” (my translation), (Rasmussen, 2013, p. 33). Many years ago, I taught English at a high school in downtown Oslo. The literary text in focus was an excerpt from Walden by Henry David Thoreau: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear, nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary...
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What kinds of drama methods have you experienced as a pupil?
Part I General perspectives …
The question I asked myself was this: What is it about “the woods” that gives this insight, this knowledge? Pondering upon this and wanting my students to sense, to feel, this text, we went to a nearby park on a rainy day. I will never forget it. The heavy rain, students under their umbrellas listening, smelling, absorbing the feeling of being outside in the park on a rainy day with their notebooks and pencils. Everything so silent except for the heavy rain and the city’s humming. Needless to say, the students understood this excerpt in their minds and bodies much differently than if we had merely read the text in class. Later, I learned that it had come to influence them profoundly. Long before I read Dewey’s Art of Experience, I had the same feeling: that to sense something – a scene, a sensation, a text, a picture, an idea, a movie, whatever it may be – is rather different from reading about it. When ideas and concepts are materialized in our bodies, we understand them distinctly. They take place inside us in a conceptualized manner, encompassed in our own being, bodily and emotionally. At times, we may think of them as epiphanies and enlightenments. One approach is to go out into the park on a rainy day, whereas others could be producing artwork such as drawing, painting or music. Using drama and role-play is another possible way of learning to use our physical dimensions in the classroom. In her book Drama som læringsform, Aud Marit Sæbø thoroughly describes numerous concrete ways of including drama and role-play in all subjects and the importance of this way of learning. A crucial point she makes is that “aesthetic learning processes presuppose that our bodily senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch), the emotional (emotional experience and participation) and the bodily (bodily-kinesthetic experience and participation when the body is used in action) are woven into the cognitive (our perceptions, fantasy and thoughts) in an aesthetic experience and learning process” (Sæbø, 2016, p. 108, my translation).
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Teacher in role As you may have discovered through your own reflection, there are many different drama methods: role-play, improvising, reader’s theater, teacher in role, frozen picture, drama and theater production, etc. According to Rasmussen, learning and finding meaning through drama have a different kind of complexity than more traditional classroom activities: “This supports the contention that aesthetic learning through drama first and foremost provides a more complex kind of meaning-making system rather than principally serving to increase factual knowledge” (Rasmussen, 2010, p. 542). Realizing that the limitations of this chapter do not allow me to include every method, I have chosen to look into teacher in role in greater detail since this is a rather complex way of meaning-making. There are a few important reasons for examining teacher in role in more depth. First and foremost, I have two powerful observations from student teachers using this method that I believe might serve to inspire other students and teachers. Furthermore, I believe that teacher in role is a method with great learning potential that is rarely used in the schools. This assumption is based on responses from 70 teachers to a survey I conducted in 2010, where the majority said they never used it. Furthermore, the fact that in the eleven years I have visited students teachers I have only seen teacher in role twice. It is said about teacher in role that it has the potential for change in the classroom, for pupils’ learning process, and for the outcome. Mike Fleming has written various books about teaching drama and points out that teacher in role is one of the most powerful tools in teaching (2018). In a Norwegian school context, Sæbø (2010) has conducted a research project where teacher in role is central. Her findings show that this method created interest and engagement in the pupils, which in turn led to more active learning. Sæbø also emphasizes that this method opens the door to a dialogic way of teaching, thus enabling the pupils to explore and reflect (2010, p. 22).
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Part I General perspectives …
The Vikings On a sunny spring Friday several years ago, I visited a group of student teachers who were teaching in an Oslo school. They were excited about the English class that I had come to observe – the final two hours before the weekend. They told me that the topic “Vikings” had been on the agenda for a few weeks, and that today was the last day they would spend on this topic. Pupils were stumbling into the classroom from a break, obviously restless and looking forward to the weekend. Two of the students teachers opened the class with questions from the work on Vikings, but only a few pupils responded to these questions. Following this, the pupils worked individually on tasks from the textbook. Among other things, they were asked to translate a few words into Rune language. In the midst of this work, an unfamiliar rumbling noise from the hallway caught everyone’s attention. And suddenly the door was thrust open violently and two Vikings fell into the room, completely confused about where they were, the strangeness of the room, the year this was – such odd ways of dressing – such strange bags – the tables – the books: what were they? and expressing great concern as to how to return to their own time. Students in role played confused Vikings in the most extraordinary way! They truly gave the impression of being authentic Vikings who had entered the room from a different period of history. The confusion that the Vikings expressed was the starting point for the dialogue with the pupils, who were completely spellbound and amazed at this event. A dull, rather traditional English class on a Friday afternoon was transformed into an electrifying event. Everyone wanted to talk to the Vikings. Hands were waving in the air, the pupils were struggling to sit still in their seats – talking to the Vikings, asking all the questions they could think of, then referring to their textbooks to help them formulate new questions or find information to share. When the school bell rang, they did not want to go home. The English class continued after school hours, although the Vikings told the pupils that they had to leave to return to
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Chapter 1 Aesthetic pathways
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their own time. One pupil even went down the hallway to a different classroom to bring a friend to come and meet the Vikings. I believe this example clearly illustrates the effectiveness of using teacher in role compared with a more traditional approach to concluding work on a topic. First, the shift in atmosphere that was observed in this classroom is worth contemplating. These 8th graders had an entirely new experience when the Vikings materialized into their world. The Vikings belonged to ancient history in their textbooks, but were now brought to life and felt real. Their presence enabled the pupils to experience them in a different way than simply reading about them. The facts in the textbooks and those communicated by the Vikings themselves felt meaningful and useful in this context because they formed the basis for the classroom dialogue. Suddenly something pupils had read about became flesh and bone – it became three-dimensional. Facts about Vikings were experienced through several of the senses; pupils felt the Vikings’ presence, heard them talk, saw what they looked like, and some pupils actually touched them. In the conversation afterwards, the English teacher of this class reported that she had heard two pupils speaking English for the first time. Rasmussen (2010) points out that drama is a complex way of meaning-making, which applies to the class I observed in that a teacher cannot completely know or control what will happen in a classroom where teacher in role is in action. New questions, perspectives and ideas may arise that were not planned or thought of beforehand. This, in my view, is one of the greatest strengths of this method. It creates enthusiasm and engagement while it promotes understanding at a deeper level – deeper learning. In my observation of the pupils meeting the Vikings, there was a marked shift as the teacher in role was conducted, generating greater pupil response and engagement. Learning through aesthetic approaches, in this case teacher in role, opens the door to new ways of understanding and perceiving. Something is felt deeply in the mind and body of a young learner, facilitating an enhanced understanding of the reading materials.
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Part I General perspectives …
Learners’ artistic modes of expression and deep learning Above we have looked at teacher in role as an aesthetic method in the English classroom. In this part of the chapter, the artistic work of the students themselves will be looked at in more detail. Aesthetic modes and art can be transformative (Rasmussen 2010, Darsø 2010), leading to new understanding and awareness. Michael Fullan and Maria Langworthy (2014) describe one premise for deeper learning as giving “students real experiences in creating and using ‘new’ knowledge.” When referring to “new” they mean knowledge that “is created by the student” (Fullan & Langworthy, 2014, p. 21). Deep learning requires new pedagogies where process is more essential than content. Additionally, it is pivotal to “develop student’s ability to lead their own learning and do things with their own learning” (Fullan & Langworthy, 2014, p. 7). In line with this way of thinking, the process of working aesthetically equips pupils with a wide range of learning processes as well as “new” knowledge. Young people’s artistic expressions are essential when talking about aesthetic work in the classroom. In the following we will look at one picturebook made by a 5th-grade pupil, an animation movie made by a group of 5th graders, and university students’ aesthetic work with a literary text.
Picturebook – The Party Many teachers are concerned about how to help pupils write texts in English. An English teacher in 5th grade catered for pupils’ individual picturebook production. He gave them a few weeks for this project, and when they presented their books in class, I had the advantage of being present. All but one pupil showed great enthusiasm, accomplishment and pride when reading their books to their fellow classmate. Moreover, listening to the other pupils’ stories inspired and amazed them. “Wow, I can’t believe you made that,” “How did you think of
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Chapter 1 Aesthetic pathways
that story?” and “Such beautiful pictures” were some of the comments made. Interestingly enough, recognizing others’ artwork becomes easier when one has grappled with the same task. Ideally all of these wonderful picturebooks should be available for others to read, but that would be a project that is outside the scope of this book. Keeping this in mind, it is with great pleasure that I present The Party. The artwork as well as the story in The Party is striking. Materials used are white paper, purple cardboard, yarn, pen, pencil and crayons. In other words, these are materials that are found in every primary school. The drawings appeal to the reader with their bright and clear use of colors. They are stylistic and simple, almost graphic. Some might say that they are typically childlike, but when looking at the composition of each spread the artistic sense is strongly present. Take picture one for instance, featuring a bright yellow submarine on a sandbank in the ocean. Its elliptical form, with a green propeller, echoes the shape of the fish. Hence the fish form is repeated three times, demonstrating a basic principle of art – the repetition of forms in a composition, preferably in different sizes, which is the case here. The periscope corresponds to the three bubbles from the fish. Furthermore, the placement of the elements is significant. The submarine lies still on the seabed while the two fish are in movement just under the waterline. Additionally, placing the two fish to the left gives the impression that they will soon be swimming out of the page. Also, the pupil’s use of color is effective – the bright yellow contrasted with the purple fish and cardboard follows the principle of using complementary colors. Just as the drawings reveal an aesthetic artwork, so does the story itself. Drawing on famous literary characters – Rapunzel and Spiderman – the author twists the story creatively. In the original story, Rapunzel was taken hostage by an evil witch, who Rapunzel believed was her mother. They lived together in a high tower to prevent Rapunzel from fleeing. Nothing is said in The Party about the reason why Rapunzel is living in a submarine on the bottom of the ocean.
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Read the picturebook The Party. What do you like about it?
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Illustration 2. The picturebook The Party (pupil work)
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Picturebooks are a valuable resource in our lives and speak to us in unique ways. They offer us beautiful and enriching stories from all over the world. This book explores how picturebooks can enhance teaching contexts, especially in the exploration of life skills, sustainable development and democracy & citizenship.
HILDE TØRNBY
Furthermore, the author provides an introduction to the theoretical fields of picturebook research. There are chapters on aesthetic methods and magic & play as well as on the relationship between pictures and words.
Picturebooks in the classroom
The book presents a wide selection of picturebooks along with practical teaching ideas. This book can serve as a rich source of inspiration for both students and teachers in their studies and work.
Picturebooks in the classroom HILDE TØRNBY
PERSPECTIVES ON LIFE SKILLS, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY & CITIZENSHIP
Hilde Tørnby is Associate Professor at OsloMet University. Her research fields are picturebooks, young adult literature, literature didactics, aesthetics, practical- aesthetic methods and basic skills focusing on literacy and numeracy. The inspiration for all Tørnby’s work is her long and extensive work experience from primary, secondary and upper secondary schools and her studies at the university, where she earned a BA and a Master's degree. She is also a painter whose works have been shown at both solo and group exhibitions.