"But then it will be unfair for those who do not get!"

Picturebooks as a starting point for critical thinking in primary school

Abstract

Critical thinking is one of the 21 century skills emphasized in the Norwegian curriculum (Kunnkapsdepartementet, 2017), but it is somewhat unclear how this skill may be em­bedded in teaching (Vincent-Lancrin et al., 2019). This article investigates how literary conversations regarding a picturebook may foster critical thinking, hence develop learners’ critical literacy. Our research question is: How is students’ critical thinking visible when reading a fictional picturebook?

A lesson plan targeting literary conversations was designed and carried out in two fourth grade classrooms. The conversations were structured according to Langer’s (2011) framework of readers’ envisionment. Preceding the literary conversation, a pre-reading activity targeting the picturebook’s theme was conducted. The filmed lessons were analyzed using Lim’s (2015) six premises for students’ critical thinking: connec­tedness, contextualization, power relations, multiperspectivity, a variety of solutions, and compromises through alliances.

The findings suggest that students voice critical perspectives related to the picture­book’s theme and content. Moreover, the pre-reading activity is seen to support the students’ comprehension of the core theme. Some of Lim’s (2015) premises, e.g. con­nectedness, are more dominant in the data material than some of the other premises like finding compromise through alliances. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that students’ critical approach regarding the multimodal affordances in the picturebook, is less present in the literary conversations (Nikolajeva, 2010; Nikolajeva & Scott, 2006). This study contributes to expanding our knowledge about students’ critical thinking and fiction, in this case a picturebook, and how literary conversations may develop critical literacy.