Textual resources in the classroom: the challenge of integrating critical approaches

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on teachers’ and students’ use of textual resources offline and online in two Grade 6 classrooms. Using analysis of video recordings, the paper presents the ways in which the textual resources are used, and what critical approaches emerge within the teachers’ and students’ repertoires of teaching and learning. We then investigate what characterizes these repertoires and discuss consequences and possibilities for students’ own learning talk in relation to critical approaches and with regard to diversity and participation. The analysis reveals that it is when students ask authentic questions or respond to their teachers’ or peers’ reflections, that critical approaches appear in relation to content, the surrounding world and themselves. Drawing on the results, we argue that these critical approaches can be deepened in relation to ethical issues, source criticism and redesign, and regardless of whether textual resources are online or offline. Since Swedish national curriculum standards have contributed towards a greater focus on knowledge outcomes, we are concerned that processes of meaning making and criticality might be downplayed. We believe that one of the biggest challenges for future education is how criticality can be linked to teaching and learning in dialogic ways.

KEYWORDS:

• Classroom practices
• textual resources
• offline and online and critical approaches

Introduction

This paper focuses on teachers’ and students’ use of textual resources offline and online in two Grade 6 classrooms, drawing on two tasks, Law & Justice and Information & Advertising, and integrating the subjects of civics, Swedish and Swedish as a second language. More specifically, it focuses on the repertoires for teaching and learning that are offered and what kinds of critical approaches are integrated within these when various textual resources are drawn upon. It is in classrooms practices and through the use of texts that critical approaches can be introduced. At the same time, every classroom, and every teacher, is affected by institutional conditions, and by curriculums and guidelines that set standards for education, connected to ideas negotiated on national levels in Sweden, and within the EU and OECD (Wahlström & Sundberg, 2018). In Sweden, the national curriculum standards, which formulate the knowledge requirements in all subjects for various grades, have contributed since 2011 to a shift from a focus on participatory democracy towards more of a focus on knowledge outcomes (Wahlström & Sundberg, 2018). Teachers are required to interpret core content, aims and knowledge requirements, which are part of national curriculum standards. Drawing on the curriculum, teachers design ongoing themes, stretching over a sequence of lessons linked by their content, in which two or more subjects are often integrated. These themes are defined by Doyle (1992, p. 505) as curriculum tasks. For this purpose, pedagogical plans are designed and used by teachers in ways which set the agenda for how a certain curriculum task should proceed (Adolfsson & Alvunger, 2018).

A digitalized and diverse society

A majority of Swedish children are exposed to and actively partake in online social media of various kinds (Swedish Media Council, 2017a). During the three last decades, classrooms have increasingly become more and more digitalized when it comes both to the use of various devices and the massive flow of information and ideologies on the Internet (Fransson, Lindberg, & Olofsson, 2018; Mårell-Olsson & Bergström, 2018). These latter aspects, including obvious disinformation, shape conditions for online social media, and influence classrooms in various ways. Also, educational settings in Sweden have become targets for various actors that are ready to suggest and influence what textual resources and digital software to use, include and rely on (Fransson et al., 2018; Player-Koro, Bergviken Rensfeldt, & Selwyn, 2018).

In relation to the motivation for this study, the textual repertoire within Swedish classrooms has become more pluralistic and complex for both teachers and students. Further, unfavourable socioeconomic conditions in certain areas, such as higher unemployment, lower income levels and lower educational achievement levels (Aldén & Hammarstedt, 2016), can lead to children facing narrower access to literature and/or media technology (Fransson et al., 2018; Schmidt, 2018; Swedish Media Council, 2017b). Pedagogy within classrooms in general, and hence also the two classrooms in this paper, brings together all the above-described conditions of standardized curriculums, diverse classrooms, rapid digitalization and increased socio-economic inequalities.

National curriculum

As noted by Alford, Schmidt, and Lyngfelt (2019), it is difficult to identify a consistent message in the national Swedish curriculum, Lgr 11, about what it means to be critically literate, but there are some indicators worth observing. In Lgr 11, fundamental values and guidelines for education are presented in Part One and followed by syllabuses with aims, core content and knowledge requirements for each subject (Swedish National Agency of Education, 2011). According to Part One, “education should impart and establish respect for human rights” (p. 9). Moreover, the curriculum accentuates diversity by stating that no one should be subjected to discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion or another belief system, sexual orientation and age. Tendencies towards discrimination should be actively combated and “confronted with knowledge, open discussion and active measures” (p. 9). In civics, critical approaches are strongly emphasized. The teaching in this subject should give students “the opportunity based on their personal experiences and current events to express and consider their views in relation to others who hold different views” (p. 218). The ability to evaluate different sources and their trustworthiness is emphasized throughout Lgr 11.

In 2017, new knowledge requirements regarding what is referred to as digital competence were included in Lgr 11. The reasons for these changes are, in short, to enhance the students’ abilities to use and understand digital systems and to relate to media and information in critical and responsible ways (Swedish National Agency of Education, 2011). These changes largely concern the ability to use digital tools and media technology, and to understand the basic idea of coding. Critical awareness and responsibility are emphasized but to a somewhat lower degree compared with the ability to use digital technology. However, together with the democratic aspects of participation and influence that shape the very fundament of Swedish education, and the critical approaches that are to be found in both the aims and within the knowledge requirements of several subjects, we interpret critical awareness as being embedded within the Swedish curriculum.

Aim and structure of the paper

This paper focuses on teachers’ and students’ use of textual resources offline and online during 10 lessons (2016–17) in two Grade 6 classrooms, and drawing on the curriculum tasks, Law & Justice (Classroom One¹) and Information & Advertising (Classroom Two), in which the subjects civics, Swedish and Swedish as a second language are integrated. The aim is to investigate in what ways textual resources and their content are introduced and drawn upon, and which critical approaches, including source criticism, emerge.

We ask:

1. What textual resources are included?

2. In what ways are these resources introduced and used?

3. What critical approaches emerge?

Drawing on the ethnographical records of video observations and field notes from the two classrooms, we will investigate the research questions above, which we will then discuss. First, however, we will present our theoretical standpoints and the methodology of this case study.

Theoretical standpoints

Reading texts in critically reflective ways relates to the research field of critical literacy (CL) (e.g. Comber, 2013, 2016; Janks, 2010; Lankshear & McLaren, 1993) which is solidly grounded within classroom practices and closely connected to New Literacy Studies (NLS), where literacy is and has been studied within various social contexts (e.g. Barton, 1994; Heath, 1983; Rowsell & Pahl, 2007; Street, 1984, 1993). Gee (2008) explains the assumptions required for these “new” studies to view literacy from its “full range of cognitive, social, interactional, cultural, political, institutional, economic, moral, and historical contexts” (p. 2). Through literacy research based on these assumptions, the connection between power and literacy has become transparent, positioning text users in different ways.

When the concept of digital literacy emerged during the twenty-first century, it was related to the “new” technology at that time, such as the Internet, and emphasized the ability to assemble knowledge, evaluate information, search the internet and navigate hypertext (e.g. Gilster, 1997). These abilities are essential, but there is a risk that the understanding of literacy as social practice, involving meaning making and critical analysis, will be downplayed. As stated in the introduction of this paper, it is in classrooms practices and through the use of texts that critical approaches can be introduced for students. In the following, we will outline the role which communicative meaning making plays in such text work. Also, we will present and problematize what critical approaches might mean in classroom practices, and the role which redesign plays in this.

Repertoires for communication and meaning making

According to Kress and van Leeuwen (2001), all communication is multimodal, including several interacting semiotic systems of meaning making. Hence, a multimodal perspective on literacy highlights how different modes, such as talk and gestures or script and images, are combined within communication. Jewitt (2008) emphasizes pedagogical classroom work as being made up of multimodal processes, since it includes interaction between students and teachers, and a multifaceted and multimodal text repertoire of various printed material, as well as digital devices and technology.

Drawing on extensive research on classroom discourses and the possible repertoires for teaching and learning they create, Alexander (2008) stresses teacher-led discussions (exchange of ideas and shared information) and dialogues (achievement of common understanding through structured conversation and questioning) as crucial for students’ learning. This does not mean that other repertoires of “teaching talk” (Alexander, 2008), such as recitation, aimed at the accumulation of knowledge and understanding of a specific content, or instruction, where students are informed on how to proceed, are not significant for students’ learning. As we understand Alexander (2008), the importance of discussions and dialogue is highlighted because these repertoires are equivalent to what he apprehends as transformation. Transformation refers here to the ways in which students are supported in learning to reflect and develop as people and as such revise knowledge or solve problems (Schmidt & Skoog, 2018, p. 85). Such transformation, as a consequence of education, relates to highly qualitative and complex aspects of teaching and learning, where dialogue and active use of content and language become crucial (Cummins, 2001; Schmidt & Skoog, 2018).

Discussions and dialogues can result in the students being supported in what Alexander refers to as “learning talk”. The repertoire of learning talk refers to students’ own talk, and implies an active use of language and literacy. Possibly ways of interacting through students’ learning talk are, according to Alexander (2008), narrating, explaining, asking different kinds of questions, analysing and solving problems. It can also mean opportunities to imagine, explore and evaluate ideas, as well as to discuss, listen to others, argue and negotiate (ibid.). The possible repertoire of learning talk depends on the repertoire of teaching talk, the possibilities this creates and supports, and also in what ways classroom teaching and learning are organized, in terms of whole-class work, group/pair work and individual work.

Critical approaches

Critical approaches start from the assumption that reading and writing are about social power, and that a “critical” literacy education across the curriculum has to go beyond individual skill acquisition. To work with and draw conclusions from texts, and critically scrutinize them, then, is about setting the conditions for students to engage in textual power relationships and to use their existing and new discourse resources for social exchange in the social fields where texts and discourses matter (Luke, 2004). According to Janks (2010), critical literacy work means holding the interdependent elements of power, access, diversity and design in productive tension. The concept of power highlights the dominant discourses which a certain text represents, produces and distributes, and which might have both positive and negative consequences for different individuals (Foucault, 1978). The concept of access raises the question of which texts students have access to and should have access to in various social practices. Diversity, according to Janks (2010), involves reading and writing in the broadest sense, including a variety of semiotic systems and modalities, but also a multiplicity regarding social identities, languages, literacies and cultures. To design means to “use and select from all the available semiotic resources for representation in order to make meaning” (ibid., p. 25).

From our understanding, redesign in this context refers to processes involving reflections about the design of the content of texts as well as about underlying conditions, like senders and their motives. Such reflections might lead to texts being, in some way or another, questioned or challenged, and as a result redesigned. This means that we see redesign as depending on reflective conversations, with the possibility of the invention of new materialized texts in various forms. The redesigned text might, as we interpret Janks, be a spoken, visual, audial or a written text as well as any multimodal combination of these forms. In line with Janks, Comber (2013) argues that critical approaches with the goal of redesign involve moving “between micro features of texts and the macro conditions of institutions, focusing upon how relations of power work through these practices” (p. 589).

Thinking about texts and their content online and offline relates to how texts are designed and materialized in terms of, for example, images, gestures, sounds and animations, and how these modalities are combined in multimodal ways (Jewitt, 2008). As we understand Janks (2010) and Comber (2013, 2016), critical literacy also means reflecting on what ideologies are produced, i.e. exploring reasons for certain claims and viewing texts from different perspectives, as well as using empathy and imagination when doing this. Lastly, but not least, critical literacy approaches concern source criticism, in terms of being able to find out about the source or sources behind texts. In this way, source criticism implies forming an opinion of the trustworthiness of a certain source, drawing on solid reasons and sound judgement.

Methodology

The study presented in this paper has an ethnographic approach. A fundamental starting point of ethnographic research is to understand human actions within the social and cultural contexts in which they occur, in order to capture the character of different practices on a local level (Pole & Morrison, 2004). Ethnographic fieldwork is accordingly about participating in people’s everyday lives over a period of time in order to gain knowledge about what is going on in this particular context at this particular time, and furthermore to understand how individuals and groups make meaning in relation to situations and institutional context (O’ Reilly, 2012; Whyte Reynold, 1999). Through ethnographic studies of children’s literacy practices, Heath (1983) revealed the different “ways with words” that children from various socioeconomic and cultural-ethnic backgrounds have. These studies also revealed how literacy is shaped and constructed in schools, and how the selective traditions of school literacy can contribute to the marginalization of students on the basis of their gender, and cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The work of Heath (1983) illustrates how power works in relation to uses of languages and literacies, something which we strove to be aware of and take into consideration when conducting this study, and above all when analysing the ethnographic material.

Underlying contemporary ethnography, and also this study, is the idea that all ethnographic research is interpretive (Heath & Street, 2008). In relation to this, Heath and Street (2008) argue that “reflexivity, rather than innocence, characterizes contemporary ethnography” (p. 34). As researchers we are (more or less) a part of the social world under study, and thus have an influence on the social phenomena we study. However, according to Hammersley (1992), it is still reasonable to assume that we are trying to describe phenomena as they are, and not merely as we perceive them or as we would like them to be. This also means that in this case study, we strive to analyse what is seen as “autonomous” or taken for granted.

Research context: approaches and analysis

This case study² was carried out during one school year in two Grade 6 classes in two different schools and municipalities in Sweden, where each class consisted of 23 students. The two schools represent one urban and one more rural area, and both classrooms were characterized by being linguistically diverse. Both classrooms had access to the Internet and a projector, and each student had access to a laptop. Altogether, 24 lessons were video recorded in the two classrooms, and a total of eight curriculum tasks were covered. In this paper, we focus on two of these: Law & Justice and Information & Advertising. The video recordings from these two tasks comprise a sequence of lessons, 10 in total, over an extended period of time. The lessons occurred in different phases of the classroom teaching and learning, identified as the initial, the intermediate and the final phase.

The data was collected by video recordings, and also field notes from classroom observations. We used one stationary video camera in each classroom. During the actual video recordings, we alternated between being in the classroom and outside the classroom depending on the teacher’s planning of the lesson. This made it possible to follow students who, with the teacher’s permission, chose to sit in adjacent corridors or in a group room during individual work or group work.

The study was carried out in accordance with the general requirements for research ethics (Swedish Research Council, 2011) with regard to information, consent, confidentiality and the use of data. The participating schools and informants have been given fictitious names in order to protect their identities during and after the project. The students, as well as their parents, were informed about the aim of the study, and then asked to give their written consent for participation in the study, which they all did.

The analytical process took the form of a three-step procedure that aimed to describe and explore teachers’ and students’ use of textual resources, and to relate this to critical approaches. The analysis of the empirical material was guided by the research questions, and Alexander’s (2008) methodological framework on teachers’ teaching talk and students’ learning talk was used as an analytical tool in this process:

1. Analysis of video recordings including fieldnotes and the transcribed teaching and learning talk in the two classrooms with the purpose of mapping the textual resources, in line with research question 1.

2. Analysis of repertoires of teaching talk in relation to the textual resources and what this means for the introduction and use of these texts, in line with research question 2.

3. Analysis of classroom communication with a focus on the students’ learning talk and the possible critical approaches that emerge through this, in line with research question 3.

Results

The textual resources are analysed within the initial, intermediate and final phases of the two curriculum tasks in relation to what textual resources are included, in what ways they are introduced and used, and what critical approaches are integrated. The classroom activities include whole class teaching followed by individual work in which some peer-interaction is made possible (Classroom One) and whole class teaching in which pair discussions are integrated (Classroom Two).

Textual resources

The aim with Law & Justice is, according to the teacher’s pedagogical plan, to learn about the Swedish legal system and for students to individually create websites where their knowledge about the legal system is shown. Also, the students are supposed to develop abilities to search for and critically examine information on the Internet. The following textual resources³ are included:

As illustrated in Table 1 above, the teaching practice within this curriculum task draws upon one information leaflet, one streamed movie and a number of websites. The leaflet provides information about the role of the district court, and the movie, which is 20 minutes long, focuses on the history of the legal system. Both the leaflet and the various government agencies’ websites, such as the Swedish Police and the Swedish courts, provide information about the legal system in Sweden.

Table 1. Textual resources: Law and Justice.

Printed resources	Online resources
Information leaflet: The District Court	Movie: The Swedish Law. Government agencies’ websites: The Swedish Police, www.polisen.se The Swedish Prosecution Authority, www.aklagare.se The Swedish Courts, www.domstol.se

The main purpose of Information & Advertising is, according to the teacher’s pedagogical plan, for the students to reflect on the dissemination of information in media in relation to gender stereotypes, and to be able to use source criticism. The following textual resources are drawn upon within this curriculum task:

As illustrated in Table 2 above, the teaching practice within this curriculum task draws upon one textbook and three websites, including eight video clips from one of the websites, and one TV programme available on UR⁴. The textbook, Puls, focuses on communication and information in society and the role of media and commercials regarding this. The website, The Swedish Advertising Ombudsman, receives complaints about advertising and assesses whether commercial advertising is following legal regulations, and also provides examples of complaints that are upheld or not upheld regarding commercials. The website Media Smart focuses on the role that commercials and media play in society. The eight video clips from Media Smart last on average 5 minutes and consist of a clip with information of some kind, a news item or a commercial. The TV programme focuses on source criticism and strategies for this.

Table 2. Textual resources: Information & Advertising.

Printed resources	Online resources
Textbook for social sciences, Puls.	Websites: The Swedish Advertising Ombudsman, www.reklamombudsmannen.org Eight video clips collected from Media Smart, www.mediasmart.se TV programme: Is it true? www.ur.se

The textual resources within the two curriculum tasks are produced, designed, distributed and financed in different ways. The textbook, Puls is produced and distributed by the publishing house Natur & Kultur and each student has one copy, financed by the local school. The information leaflet is ordered cost-free from the Swedish courts. To get access to the various websites is “cost-free” for the two schools, but self-evidently this use depends on access to digital devices and the Internet. The government agencies’ websites are produced, designed and financed by the responsible authority and have no commercial advertising. The websites, The Swedish Advertising Ombudsman and Media Smart, are both produced, designed and financed by industry and representatives of business, marketing and advertising, and these sites have no commercial advertising. The film about the Swedish law is produced and distributed by two private actors: the company Kunskap & Upplevelse [Knowledge & Experience] in cooperation with Suntower Entertainment Group. In this case, the regional media centre has financed the access to the film. Lastly, the TV programme, Is it true?, is financed by Swedish national public television (SVT) and is accessible at UR.

Law & Justice

In Law & Justice, the teacher and the students initially watch the whole of the movie about Swedish law and its history without a break. Afterwards, the teacher asks closed-ended questions about the content of the film, like for example about the legislation in Sweden and the Swedish Parliament, and some students give brief answers to these questions. The same pattern continues when the teacher recites the duties of the police and prosecutor, and explains subject-specific words. Next, the whole-class teaching continues with shared reading from the information leaflet, where the students take turns in reading aloud. After each paragraph is read, the teacher summarizes and elaborates on the content. Occasionally, a student is asked to explain a word, but mostly the teacher explains the meaning of various concepts.

After this, shared writing of a factual text about the course of events in a legal case takes place. The teacher writes eight words on the whiteboard, including “prison”, “innocent”, “lawyer” and “court”, and then starts to write one sentence at a time on his laptop, made visible through the classroom projector, while the students simultaneously write down the same sentence on their laptops. Now and then, the teacher pauses, asking what words from the whiteboard to put into a certain sentence. As the text emerges, the teacher continues to recite on the topic.

At the end of the initial phase, the teacher instructs the students on how to individually create websites, based on the factual knowledge they have acquired so far, and on other information sources to be found on the agencies’ websites. In short, each student is supposed to create a website about the legal system with the help of Google Sites. The website is to include one main page and ten subpages with at least one hundred words of clear language on every page, and ten internal and external links, as well as one movie⁵. While giving these instructions, the teacher presents the pedagogical plan, where two quotations from the national curriculum are given. The first quotation is taken from the core content for civics in Lgr 11, stating that teaching in this subject should deal with “society’s need for legislation, some different laws and their consequences, crime and its consequences on the individual, family and society” (Swedish National Agency of Education, p. 191). The second quotation, to be found within the aims of the same subject, states that students should develop an ability to “search for information about society from the media, the Internet and other sources and assess its relevance and credibility” (ibid., p. 189).

In the middle phase, the focus is on how to technically handle and create the websites, as well as searching for factual information on government agencies’ websites. The classroom work is organized through individual work, and the main repertoires for teaching and learning are one-to-one interaction between the teacher and a student. Even though the students are supposed to carry out the task individually, they are encouraged to help and support each other during the ongoing work. Thus, the students are given some opportunities for peer interaction, such as sharing ideas and/or solving problems together. At the end, the students hand in their individually created websites to the teacher by e-mail.

Information & Advertising

Initially, the teacher presents the pedagogical plan to the students, about why and how they will learn about this task, and how they will be assessed. The pedagogical plan draws on aims in civics concerning the ability to express and evaluate various standpoints and argue on the basis of facts, values and different perspectives. In addition, this plan draws on aims in Swedish and Swedish as a second language regarding the ability to seek information from different sources and evaluate their relevance and trustworthiness (Swedish National Agency of Education, 2011, pp. 218–219, 253). The students are informed that they will learn about advertising, dissemination of information, the influence of various media on public opinion, in relation to sexuality and gender roles, and being able to use source criticism when comparing and evaluating the trustworthiness of sources. Also, they are informed that they will be assessed in terms of their engagement in classroom conversations and discussions.

Next, the teacher and the students watch each video without pausing, at least twice. The students are encouraged to discuss in pairs after each video, after which whole-class discussion takes place in which the teacher urges the students to reflect on whether the video can be identified as information, news or advertising. For example, the students watch a trailer for a programme to be broadcast on Swedish television about some children staying overnight at a museum and discuss whether this is information or advertising. Also, discussions take place regarding a video clip about improvements to the traffic situation in Stockholm and another regarding the Swedish football player Zlatan’s role in a commercial for a Volvo car. During these discussions, the teacher poses questions and listens to the students’ thoughts and questions. The students are also encouraged to look out for masked advertising, both when watching the videos in the classroom and in their spare time.

The students’ experiences of masked advertising are discussed in whole class, and after this, the website, Swedish Advertising Ombudsman, is introduced as “a government agency that looks at advertising”. This website is, however, funded by industry and does not carry out its work on behalf of any government agency. Then the teacher and the students watch a video commercial for Boxer⁶ for which a complaint was upheld. The teacher reads aloud from this verdict and afterwards instructs the students “to look for commercials which have been convicted or acquitted and find out why”. After this, half of the students present what they have found in pairs in front of the class, reading aloud from the written judgements. After these presentations, the teacher asks the class: “What have you learnt in this lesson?”. Turning to an individual student, the teacher receives the answer: “It is good that there are rules for commercials”. The teacher writes “There are rules for commercials” and “You can report commercials” and also writes “Swedish Advertising Ombudsman” and “Swedish Consumer Agency” on the whiteboard, and the students copy this by hand into their notebooks.

Next, shared reading of the textbook, Puls, takes place where first the teacher and then some of the students read aloud. After each paragraph is read, the teacher summarizes and elaborates on the content, explaining subject-specific words and concepts. For example, the teacher asks the students about their experiences and habits regarding media, such as their use of various media online and whether they read daily newspapers or go to the cinema. Also, the teacher and the students watch the TV programme, Is it true?, which again is followed by whole-class discussion, this time with a focus on source criticism and strategies for this.

In contrast to Law & Justice, the classroom repertoires for organization, teaching and learning in this curriculum task continue to be the same in the middle phase as in the initial phase, namely discussions in whole class with some pauses for conversation in pairs. The focus in the middle phase is to a large extent on the students’ own thoughts and experiences of information, news and commercials in various media. At the end, the students take part in a ten-minute test about the impact of and legal restrictions regarding commercials. The test is designed by the teacher and carried out through the digital application, Kahoot, so that the students can view the questions and their results simultaneously.

Textual resources: teachers’ talk and students’ talk

The analysis reveals that during pauses in the shared reading, the printed material in both classrooms, i.e. the leaflet and the textbook, is elaborated on, and words and concepts are explained. In contrast, there are no pauses during a video or a film to allow the possibility of explaining a concept or contextual phenomenon or analysing any visual/audial information regarding the design in a specific sequence. The films and videos are hence treated as whole packages of texts that are discussed afterwards. This is in contrast with the printed texts, which are elaborated on during shared reading and afterwards.

The identified repertoires for teaching talk in Law & Justice are mainly recitation and instruction in which the teacher is the central actor. In contrast to this, repertoires of teaching talk in terms of teacher-led discussions where the students can take part, are offered in Information & Advertising. However, a majority of the students in both classrooms remain silent during whole-class work. Some students occasionally interrupt their teacher’s recitation on the Swedish legal system and likewise some students participate in the teacher-led discussion about media and commercials.

Critical approaches

It is when students ask authentic questions or respond to their teachers’ or peers’ reflections that critical approaches appear in relation to the content, the surrounding world and themselves. In Law & Justice, reflections emerge on universal rights and particular considerations relating to the content of this curriculum task. In Sequence 1:1 below, the teacher comments that a person who is suspected of a crime has the legal right to be defended by a lawyer.

Sequence 1:1 Law & Justice

Teacher:

To be a lawyer can certainly be a rather tricky job sometimes … especially if you are defending someone who has committed a very heinous or terrible crime, you still have to do your work … there are lawyers who for example have defended people who have committed genocide and things like that … it can be tough … the easiest thing is of course if you really believe that the suspected person is innocent … so it can really be (…)

Through the repertoire of recitation, offered in a personal manner and from a moral and ethical perspective, a space is opened leading to reflective comments from some students, as illustrated in Sequence 1:2 below.

Sequence 1:2 Law & Justice

Jane:

But [name of the teacher], what if a lawyer does not want to defend someone who has committed murder, does he or she have to do it anyway?

Alima:

Perhaps they don’t have to take the job

Petra:

No

Adam:

Oh yes it is their job … it is like if you put cucumbers in a tomato can at a pizzeria [Some students laugh]

Petra:

It was not a good comparison

Jane:

Do they have to take … [The teacher hushes the students]

Teacher:

You probably don’t have to take on every case … for different reasons … but there are also rather strict ethics for lawyers to stick to … they really must believe that everyone, no matter what they have done, has the right to be defended … to get a fair trial … and this certainly can be very difficult and challenging … actually there are examples of that … some lawyers have almost quit their job after they have had very serious clients

Jane’s question above relates to the teacher’s earlier comments about the dilemma faced by lawyers. Jane and three other students spontaneously respond to this issue, introduced by the teacher in Sequence 1:1. After the student exchanges, the teacher enters into the conversation and again shares his views on lawyers’ obligations. Through the teacher’s and some of the students’ talk, moral and ethical dimensions in relation to Swedish legislation are brought forward, which opens up possibilities for continued learning talk. In this way, critical approaches are touched upon regarding power relations from the perspectives of the lawyer as well as the prosecuted. At the same time, borders emerge regarding the depth at which these discussions can take place and hence the critical reflections that can be made regarding this topic.

Drawing on Information & Commercials, the analysis reveals that the students are supported in grasping the underlying conditions of public or independent television. The teacher and the students watch a trailer for a TV programme on Swedish national television about some children staying overnight at a museum. In the discussions afterwards, learning talk involving reasoning and negotiation is used regarding the difference between information and advertising:

Sequence 2:1 information & commercials

Will:

The children’s channel does not have any commercials, they have only, like they show what is going to come.

Rut:

Then it is not advertising really.

Sofia:

But isn’t it that you get more money the more people who watch.

Teacher:

No, SVT⁷ does not get more money the more people who watch. I would imagine that this [the trailer] is more like information about a programme that is going to be broadcast.

Lotta:

But [name of the teacher], many TV programmes like this one have contact with one another.

Teacher:

SVT does not have any commercials.

Anders:

But TV 4 [an independent TV channel] …

Teacher:

SVT costs a little bit, you have to pay something that is called a TV licence.

Jesper:

My uncle does not pay.

Tim:

Do I have to pay?

Teacher:

I think your parents probably do that.

In Sequence 2:2 below, the issue of sender is again touched upon. The teacher and students watch a commercial by Electrolux in which the Swedish cross-country skiing team takes part. Again, learning talk involving reasoning and speculating emerges, in this case regarding the issue of who gains from this commercial and why.

Sequence 2:2 information & commercials

Teacher:

Why do you think companies sponsor different teams or competitions? What do they gain from that? Why do famous people want to be part of sponsoring? [Watch video]. What company was it?

Jesper:

The Swedish cross-country skiing team.

Teacher:

Why do you think they want to do commercials for kitchens, yes Tim?

Tim:

Because they earn money for that. They get more and more famous and then they get more money.

Teacher:

You mean that Electrolux gets more famous?

Tim:

Yes, but the Swedish team also gets more famous.

From our contextual understanding, the students are not quite sure whether Electrolux or the Swedish skiing team is the sender behind the commercial. Taken together, the analyses of both subject areas reveal that the senders behind various sources are talked about to some degree, e.g. government agencies as well as various companies, like Electrolux, being the senders behind commercials. In Sequence 2:3 below, the teacher and the students are discussing the role that blogs play in current society, and in relation to this gender roles are touched upon:

Sequence 2:3 information & commercials

Teacher:

So you can earn a lot of money as a blogger (…)

Tim:

People check out the blogs. They get more famous, get money and if they become really big, Facebook will give them money (…)

Teacher:

Do you think it is girls or boys that follow blogs? Those of you who think it is girls, raise your hands [a majority of the students do]

Tim:

It is, it is!

Will:

I know why, if boys do that, they will be called gays.

Tim:

No, Will, that is not true, you can’t say that gay is a bad word, they are really great.

Will:

No, but some people think so.

Teacher:

Ok, did you get what mass media means? Now we will go deeper in to what this means.

As in Sequence 1:2, borders emerge in Sequence 2:3 regarding the depth that the discussion can reach, this time regarding gender roles, and critical reflections on this topic. The analysis reveals no examples of teachers’ and students’ collaborative reasoning and comparing, which could have created opportunities of learning talk, in terms of drawing reasonable conclusions as well as arguing and negotiating about various standpoints. Likewise, the analysis does not reveal processes of judging the trustworthiness of a particular source of information in serious and reflective ways. As a result, there are no examples where texts, through reflective conversations about design and content, have been redesigned. However, aspects which create the conditions for commercials, such as how they are financed and their impact on people, are addressed, and in that way, there is also a focus on how power relations work through these practices.

Discussion

In this case study, we investigated the textual resources introduced and used in authentic classroom settings. As this is a small-scale case study, we are aware that wide-ranging generalizations cannot be drawn. However, we argue this may be seen as a “telling” case, and one from which lessons can be learned beyond the specific context, with the possibility of being compared with other small-scale studies. The results show that the students’ possibilities of participating in learning talk, such as listening to others, arguing and negotiating, depend on the teaching talk carried out in the classroom, including the teacher’s recitation and instruction as well as teacher-led discussions and dialogues. In line with Alexander (2008), we stress the importance of teacher-led discussions and dialogues, since they can lead to transformative learning, in terms of fostering students’ conscious and critical reflection, which in turn may lead to the students revising knowledge and solving problems. Furthermore, the results accentuate that the students’ learning talk is fundamental for their possibilities of developing critical approaches, in terms of developing a critical awareness of micro- and macro conditions of texts and media, both offline and online, and the way that these resources/texts are designed and used.

In the following, we will discuss the results in relation to moral and ethical issues, source criticism and possibilities for redesign.

Moral and ethical issues

The analysis reveals certain possibilities for students’ learning talk (Alexander, 2008) and active language use (Cummins, 2001). However, borders emerge regarding the students’ opportunities for asking questions or responding to their teachers’ or peers’ reflections in relation to the content of the two curriculum tasks, the surrounding world and themselves. From our point of view, the welcoming of moral and ethical issues in classroom practices is essential. Students’ sharing of thoughts on content creates possibilities for them to use and deepen their understanding of this content, and it might also mean that their motivation increases (Cummins, 2001; Schmidt & Skoog, 2017, 2018). The results show that critical reflections depend on the “soil”, the context of subject-specific content. In addition to this, we argue, along with Janks (2010), that in order to reach understanding about how power works, these critical reflections have to be connected to diversity and equality, which in this study concerns gender roles or the legal right of having access to a lawyer regardless what you are suspected of. In that way, students can be supported in gradually reaching an understanding of how power works (Comber, 2013). Also, such critical work needs to be articulated and practised through teachers’ and students’ own talk (Alexander, 2008; Schmidt & Skoog, 2018).

To sum up, we view the thoughts and emotions expressed by the students during whole class teaching, as possible gateways for critical literacy work. In Classroom One, these thoughts and emotions were initiated through dialogic recitation and in Classroom Two through discussions with some pauses for converstions in pairs. When comparing the pattern of learning talk within the two classrooms, it is obvious that, in Classroom Two, more possibilities were created for the students to express what they reflect on as well as to think aloud. In both classrooms norms and values that target issues of human rights as well as gender stereotypes are present, which we believe can be deepened in relation to the content and in relation to Part One of the Swedish curriculum. At the same time, the results show that a majority of the students do not partake actively in whole-class discussions. The classroom discourses are hence dominated by the teacher and a minority of the students. Although this means that all students can listen and learn from the exchange of thoughts, it also means that a majority of the students are not participating in terms of investing from their personal identities. We therefore suggest further research to look into the rather complex task of how to organize and conduct classroom teaching when addressing, explaining and discussing norms and values in relation to subject-content and with regard to social justice.

Judging the source

When introducing and using various textual resources in classroom teaching and learning, teachers can act as role models on how to judge the trustworthiness of a specific source, something that the results do not give many examples of. Being a role model could also mean that teachers are admitting to their students that for the time being, they do not have an accurate answer on a specific issue relating to source criticism or a critical question, but that they will find out if possible, and share this with their students. The results show that the teachers in this case study draw on government agencies’ websites, but also on websites from industry, and that these different conditions are not made clear in Classroom Two. At the same time, the students in Classroom Two were given possibilities of discussing examples of information and commercials that surround them in their everyday life. Since private actors increasingly dominate what kind of textual resources, devices and platforms are being used in classrooms (Fransson et al., 2018; Player-Koro et al., 2018), this is also an area for future research on both macro- and micro-levels. In Classroom One, one-to-one interaction between the teacher and a student, as well as interaction between peers, was made possible, when the students were working with their individual tasks. This interaction, and the possibilities of learning talk it might have created was, however, not part of the analysis.

Redesign

The analysis reveals no examples where texts, through reflective conversations on design and content, are redesigned (Janks, 2010). Regarding Information & Commercials, there are many rich possibilities for redesign in relation to diversity, for example, the possibility of summarizing the message after a commercial video, then watching the video a second time, stopping somewhere in the middle or near the end, and giving the students instructions to work in pairs to change the plot, the characters or the actions of the characters. This could provide opportunities for active language use, drawing on the content, as well as opportunities for critical literacy work (Comber, 2013, 2016; Janks, 2010).

Holding the same copy of a printed text, being on the same page and reading the same words, seems in this case study to lead to processes where subject-specific words and concepts are unpacked and explained, but might also say something about ways and traditions that are associated with printed texts. In relation to redesign, we believe the issue of multimodality, and in particular visual information, to be a fruitful area of future classroom-based research. Stopping a video might also mean bringing attention to multimodal systems of meaning making and how they are integrated (Jewitt, 2008; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001), and allowing students to use this knowledge in their own collaborative and individual text production with an critical awareness of how and why to design a text.

Concluding words

In order to compare and evaluate information, and to create knowledge from textual resources, offline and online, students need to be supported in the beginning of and throughout the learning process (Alexander, 2008; Cummins, 2001; Schmidt & Skoog, 2017, 2018). One way to support such processes is to make room for dialogic classroom conversations that are closely connected to the subject’s content and, at the same time, carried out with an openness regarding students’ different thoughts and reflections. Dialogic and reflective discussions do not, as we see it, have the goal of consensus. Instead, we argue, that such learning processes are dependent on opportunity for students to elaborate their answers in relation to what is being discussed. These processes must always be framed by an emphasis on human rights as expressed in, for example Part One in the national Swedish curriculum.This puts, self-evidently, demands on teachers awareness of students’ different backgrounds and positions in the classroom as well as on the teacher’s own factual knowledge and critical awareness regarding what is being discussed. Dialogic discussions about texts, both printed and digital, emerge here as a key aspect of critical literacy. Such talk opens up for multiple readings and negotiations and may create opportunities for students to consider their own understandings against those of others, and perhaps revise, adjust, defend or abandon their own interpretations. Such classroom negotiations are dependent on both teachers (teaching) talk and students’ learning talk (Alexander, 2008), but also on students’ possibilities of redesigning texts in terms of, for example, images, sounds and written information (Comber, 2013, 2016; Janks, 2010).

Relating students’ particular experiences and thoughts to subject specific content, addresses one of the most crucial questions of ethical and critical awareness in society, namely how students in the same classroom can respect and learn from each other while having different backgrounds, values, beliefs and dreams. At the same time, we are concerned that an increasing standardization of the Swedish national curriculum with its focus on knowledge requirements, and assessment has narrowed the pedagogical agenda, thereby reducing teacher agency (Alford et al., 2019; Wahlström & Sundberg, 2018). As we see it, the Swedish, standards-based curriculum, Lgr 11, therefore risks generating a form of teaching which creates a limited space for dialogues and deliberative discussions. Too much emphasis placed on the achievement of knowledge criteria, we see as a red flag. Regarding the new knowledge criteria on digital competence, we are further concerned that processes of meaning making and criticality might be downplayed in relation to the ability to use digital technology, such as, for example, creating digital websites. Another aspect worth paying attention to, is the fact that the teachers in this study are borrowing time from the subjects Swedish and Swedish as a second language, i.e. hours from the stated national timetable for various subjects.

In conclusion, we believe that one of the biggest challenges for future education is how criticality can be linked to concrete subject teaching and learning in dialogic ways. This will be one of the strongest defences in maintaining and developing democracy in our society.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catarina Schmidt

Catarina Schmidt is a senior lecturer in Pedagogy at the Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and Professional Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research focuses on conditions and possibilities for children’s Literacy learning, and with a special interest in Critical Literacy and linguistic scaffolds across the curriculum.

Marianne Skoog

Marianne Skoog is a senior lecturer in Pedagogy at the School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences at Örebro University, Sweden. Her research interest focuses on conditions and possibilities for children’s Literacy learning in preschool and early school years, including aspects of Critical Literacy across the curriculum.

Notes

1. Two papers have already been published that partially draw on the results from this specific task in relation to classroom interaction and the role of teachers’ questions (Schmidt & Skoog, 2017, 2018).

2. The case study is part of a larger research project exploring the understanding of a Swedish curriculum reform at different levels of the school system (Wahlström & Sundberg, 2018).

3. The subjects Swedish and Swedish as a second language were included in such a way that student abilities regarding seeking, evaluating and summarizing information from different resources, in line with the syllabuses of these subjects, were integrated. However, no textbooks in Swedish/Swedish as a second language were used.

4. UR is part of the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company. It is a public-service corporation with the aim of providing educational programming on radio and television.

5. The students insert a video clip taken from a government agency’s website.

6. Boxer TV Access is a Swedish company providing pay television channels.

7. SVT is the Swedish national public television broadcaster.