Textbooks and early childhood literacy

An historical and contemporary analysis of the political economy of textbooks, and affiliated new digital and print commodities, in early childhood and primary schooling.

O livro didático de alfabetização na era do letramento: uma análise crítica

Essa pesquisa insere-se em um contexto de muitas discussões acerca da qualidade da educação no Brasil, motivadas principalmente pelos maus resultados atingidos pelo país em exames internacionais. Os constantes debates têm dado margem, inclusive, a movimentos que, culpando os PCNs pelo fracasso generalizado na alfabetização, clamam pela volta de um ensino tradicional. De fato, apesar das imensas contribuições trazidas pelos estudos que embasam os PCNs, apenas a sua institucionalização não garantiu a ocorrência de mudanças efetivas na educação. Principalmente no campo da alfabetização, interpretações equivocadas levaram, por exemplo, ao desencadeamento de um processo de desmetodização do ensino, caracterizado pela exclusão total, nos últimos anos, das questões de ordem metodológica das pautas de discussões. Tal fenômeno, denominado por Soares (2004) de desinvenção da alfabetização, e também abordado por outros pesquisadores (cf. MORAIS, 2006; FRADE, 2003; CARVALHO, 2007), obviamente, acabou se refletindo nos novos livros didáticos, avaliados e recomendados pelo MEC. O problema é que os novos livros parecem não estar satisfazendo às necessidades dos docentes. Estudos recentes têm revelado tanto uma insatisfação desses profissionais em relação a tais materiais quanto a manutenção de práticas didáticas preconizadas pelos métodos tradicionais (Cf. BRITO et al., 2007; SILVA 2008; e MORAIS E ALBURQUERQUE, 2008). Considerando-se que: (a) hoje já se reconhece que os processos de alfabetização e letramento são complementares e indissociáveis (SOARES, 2004); (b) na realidade brasileira os livros didáticos ainda são recursos centrais no trabalho em sala de aula; (c) as obras são avaliadas a partir de rígidos critérios, alinhados às mais recentes teorias; e (d), a disponibilização gratuita desses materiais demanda um alto investimento do governo, o objetivo deste estudo foi analisar criticamente um dos livros didáticos de alfabetização do PNLD/2010 (L.E.R., Leitura, escrita e reflexão 1 ano, FTD), na tentativa de levantar pistas sobre os possíveis motivos dessa não-adesão dos docentes aos novos livros. Para tanto, foi realizada uma análise documental crítica, de abordagem qualitativa, que observou na obra os seguintes aspectos: o espaço dedicado ao ensino do sistema de escrita alfabética; a existência de articulação desse trabalho com o de letramento; a coerência entre a orientação pedagógica declarada e as atividades propostas; e a clareza e objetividade das instruções e sugestões fornecidas ao docente. As análises realizadas mostram, entre os dados mais relevantes, que o livro estudado ainda dedica um espaço muito reduzido às atividades de ensino do sistema de escrita e não apresenta uma articulação satisfatória entre essas atividades e àquelas voltadas ao letramento, corroborando dados de outros estudos, aqui já mencionados. Esses resultados podem ser indicativos de que os critérios estipulados para a avaliação desses livros precisariam ser revistos de forma que atendessem mais equilibradamente tanto aos objetivos da alfabetização e do letramento quanto às necessidades da prática docente. Para um maior aprofundamento deste estudo considero que, futuramente, seus dados podem ser complementados por análises dos próprios docentes sobre o livro estudado, ou até mesmo por pesquisas sobre seu uso efetivo em sala de aula

Cultural content matters: A critical sociology of language and literacy curriculum

A theoretical rationale, policy analysis and research agenda for a critical sociology of language and literacy curriculum, outlining the agenda for a political economy of textbooks.

Promoting science literacy via science journalism: Issues and challenges

Science journalism is the source of much of the science an individual will encounter beyond formal education. Science-based media reports, which might have been associated with informal education, are increasingly becoming incorporated into formal school contexts. Unlike science textbooks, the science reported in the news is often tentative and sometimes contested. It can involve difficult socio-scientific issues. Descriptors of ‘science literacy’ generally include reading and responding critically to media reports of science. The challenge of using science-based news effectively encourages teachers to reassess their knowledge and pedagogical practices.
In addition to creating interest in science and making links beyond the classroom, news media can be used to introduce pupils to elements of science enquiry and teachers can promote basic literacy and critical reading skills through systematic and imaginative use of media reports with a science component.
This chapter explores the knowledge, skills and attitudes that underpin the use of science journalism in the classroom. The unique characteristics and constraints of science journalism that influence the way science is presented and perceived are considered, and the importance of media awareness as a foundation for critical reading of science news is argued. Finally the characteristics of teaching programmes to support critical engagement with science-based media reports are outlined and the opportunities for cross-curricular initiatives highlighted.

Reading the world through words: cultural themes in heritage Chinese language textbooks

This paper explores the social and cultural knowledge embedded in the textbooks for language and literacy education in a Chinese heritage language school, the Zhonguo School, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It examines how Chinese language arts textbooks introduce the child reader to cultural knowledge considered legitimate and valued in China as well as in Chinese diasporan communities. Furthermore, it looks at the construction of cultural knowledge in Chinese language textbooks in relation to the mainstream ideology to which immigrant children are exposed in and out of mainstream school classrooms. It looks at how the power relationship between legitimate cultural knowledge in majority and minority contexts is established and to what extent it affects language minority students' literacy practices in mainstream school and heritage language school contexts. Data sources are the Chinese textbooks used from kindergarten to Grade 5 in a Chinese heritage language school.

Högstadieungdomar skriver historia på bloggen : undervisning, literacy och historiemedvetande i ett nytt medielandskap

The purpose of this thesis is to study the literacy formed when a class blog is used as a tool for students studying history and explore how this particular literacy is used to generate historical knowledge. The study was conducted during the course of a project in which ninth-grade students contributed entries to a common blog in the form of a diary written by individuals who experienced the Second World War. Its three major objectives were to study the students' perception of the blog in relation to their gender and level of historical knowledge; how they and their teacher esta-blished and used the formed literacy; and how the students related to this in the production of historical knowledge. In analyzing the results, a concept of literacy was used based on seven writing practices all linked to the new medium and history education. The study was based on a questionnaire, interviews and various student texts. In order to perform a content analysis on the study results a theoretical frame­work for historical conscious-ness was included. The results show that in using the writing practices a literacy character­ized by colla-borative authorship was formed. The study concludes that this affects both what and how the students learn. Together they show each other that history is comprised of many small stories, not necessarily strictly co­herent with the general history as told by their textbooks. Examining the students’ blog entries made a new learning process visible that enabled the enhancement of their historical consciousness.  

Reading comprehension in primary school: textbooks, curriculum and assessment

This study describes the reading comprehension processes present in the most widely sold textbooks at the fourth grade level in Portugal and discusses how they compare to international assessments of reading literacy. We adopted the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study framework to categorize the questions in the textbooks. Our analyses revealed that they focus heavily on the retrieval of explicitly stated information to the detriment of higher level comprehension skills. Portuguese fourth grade textbooks rarely challenge students to make connections between their knowledge and the ideas in the texts and to adopt a critical and evaluative reading stance. This is in sharp contrast to what students are asked to do in the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study, conducted every five years since 2001, and it may help explain the poor results Portuguese students have in national assessment and in PISA. The findings are discussed in light of the curriculum frameworks currently adopted in Portugal and suggestions are made as to how we can improve reading literacy achievement.