Effects of a literary intervention on interaction quality in small-group discussions in the upper elementary grades

Abstract

Background Literary discussions represent a promising interaction context for the development of social, linguistic, and cognitive skills among children and adolescents. The one-year intervention of this study is based on a critical-analytic approach (Gasser et al., 2022; Murphy et al., 2009), focusing on the argumentative and inclusive quality of interactions in small group discussions about high-quality children's literature. Aims The goal is to study the effectiveness of this literary intervention on observed socio-emotional and instructional interaction quality in small group discussions about a moral dilemma text. Sample The sample included 51 teachers and 159 small groups from fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms. Method The study is based on a cluster-randomized control group design with three measurement occasions, considering the multi-level structure of the data (L1: measurement occasions, L2: small groups, L3: teachers). Interaction quality in discussions was measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Results Multilevel growth curve analyses show positive changes in both socio-emotional and instructional interaction quality in small group discussions in the intervention group, but not in the control group. Conclusions The results are discussed with reference to the potential of literary discussions for an integrated approach to promoting socio-emotional and academic learning