Teacher perceptions about students' encounters with biographies in the classroom

Abstract

This paper explores teacher perceptions of students´ encounters with nonfiction, with particular focus on biographies. The study tries to answer the following questions: What views about students' encounters with biographies are communicated in interviews with three literature teachers? What is the educational potential of biographies in a teaching context? The teachers' perceptions are examined through an empirical case study in which three Norwegian teachers are interviewed about their teaching experiences. The study is grounded in theory about how teacher perceptions are a result of different experiences and knowledge (Levin, 2015), and genre theoretical perspectives on the complexity of non-fiction literature (Sanders, 2018). The results show that the teachers are less concerned about developing critical readers through work with biographies, but seem to be more aware of the aesthetic and emotional experience that arises in these encounters. However, aesthetic and emotional experiences do not exclude developing critical awareness. The visual and textual variations in various biographies encourage different reading experiences and participation, and this is crucial in classroom discussions about nonfiction.