How do Norwegian second-grade teachers use guided reading? The quantity and quality of practices

This paper documents how teachers use guided reading practices in Norwegian second-grade class-rooms. In a two-part study consisting of teachers’ self-reports (Study 1) and video-observations of guid-ed reading sessions (Study 2), we analyzed the frequency and characteristics of guided reading practic-es. Findings from Study 1 indicate that guided reading is a common practice of Norwegian second-grade teachers and that discussing word meaning, text, and pictures are the most frequently addressed liter-acy components. Findings from Study 2 illustrate that the teachers regularly make optimal use of the before-reading phase, while the after-reading phase is relatively lacking. The observational data also indicate that teachers are more likely to simply check students’ understanding of word meaning rather than to work in-depth with vocabulary. Likewise, teachers were more likely to supply help in the de-coding process rather than scaffold students’ decoding with strategies. In sum, the data indicate that teachers may not fully use the benefits that guided reading instruction can afford. We discuss how to help educators use more of the potential of guided reading, arguing that the benefits of guided reading can be strengthened by (1) more in-depth planning, (2) greater use of strategies, and (3) routines for observing and assessing.publishedVersio

Leseleksens plass i norskfagets begynneropplæring

Lekser har lange tradisjoner i skolen, til tross for blandede funn når det gjelder verdien av disse. En positiv verdi av lekser vil være avhengig av hvordan lekser rammes inn og følges opp i den daglige undervisningen. Basert på filmede observasjoner fra seks andreklasser undersøker denne artikkelen hva som kjennetegner det lekserelaterte lese- og tekstarbeidet i norskfaget. Vi stiller følgende forskningsspørsmål: (1) Hvilken plass har leselekser i norskundervisningen?, og (2) Hva slags tekstarbeid finner sted i tilknytning til leselekser? Vi finner betydelig variasjon i hvor stor del av opplæringen som er knyttet til lekserelatert arbeid og hvordan dette arbeidet rammes inn og følges opp. Mest effektivt og meningsfylt framstår leksearbeidet når det er en integrert del av undervisningen. Elevene får, ikke uventet, mest øvelekser fra læreboka for å utvikle kodekompetanse og leseflyt, men formålet med leksene er ofte underkommunisert ut over at teksten skal leses tre ganger. Det fokuseres i liten grad på at elevene skal lære strategier for avkoding og forstå hva leseflyt innebærer. Hva tekster som helhet handler om, får lite oppmerksomhet, og elevene inviteres ikke til å reflektere kritisk over teksters form og innhold. Mye tid går dessuten med til organisering av leksearbeidet, med tilhørende lavt læringstrykk.Leseleksens plass i norskfagets begynneropplæringpublishedVersio

Dialogic space in Norwegian early-years literacy education

This study explores and analyses conditions for student participation in Norwegian Year Two classrooms. It is inspired by the concept of dialogic space (Wegerif, 2013) and by Segal and Lefstein's (2016) model for the realization of student voice. Six classrooms were observed for one week. This yielded field notes and summaries from 105 lessons across all subjects and video data from all 47 Norwegian (L1) lessons. Our analyses show that there is practically no pair or group work and that station work is predominantly silent, leaving whole-class teaching as the most prominent space for dialogue. Our analyses aim to identify events in whole-class teaching with dialogic potential, i.e., where the interaction displays features that might indicate a shift from recitation to conversation (Nystrand & Gamoran, 1991). In these conversational events, we find increased teacher dominance when dealing with disciplinary content. When students are given the floor, the focus tends to be on non-disciplinary content. Students' talk about texts and disciplinary ideas is suggested as a productive ground for creating dialogic space in early-years literacy education.publishedVersio

Literacy practices in co-taught early years classrooms. Study protocol: The Seaside case.

The present protocol describes the background, theoretical framework and methods for a qualitative study of co-taught, Norwegian, L1 classrooms—The Seaside case. The participants are six classes and their teachers from six different schools in the Seaside municipality. All classes had one extra teacher in all 8 L1 Norwegian lessons each week, in Year One and Year Two. Co-teaching provides pedagogic potential and flexibility and can enhance students’ learning. However, evidence from teacher–student ratio research is inconsistent across contexts (Solheim et al., 2017; Solheim & Opheim, 2018), and there is also a need for studies exploring connections specifically in the Norwegian school context. Our overarching research questions are: (1) What characterizes literacy practices in L1 initial co-taught literacy lessons? (2) How is the extra teacher resource utilized in L1 initial co-taught literacy lessons, and what characterizes interaction, patterns of discourse, organization and roles in the classroom (teachers and students)? (3) What are the students’ conditions for participation, engagement and dialogue in L1 initial co-taught literacy lessons?publishedVersio

Side by Side or Side-lined?

The idea of a change in educational practise is a central aspect in Norwegian curricular reforms in this millennium. Several governmental initiatives were introduced as a means to bring about such changes. Teacher-student ratio is among these initiatives. Large scale research projects were initiated by educational authorities (2016-2023) in order to explore the effects of increased teacher-student ratio, and a national norm for student-teacher-ratio was implemented in 2018. Still, research evidence remains inconclusive as to the effects of this initiative. In order to better understand this inconclusiveness, our article explores six Year 2 Norwegian literacy classrooms with two teachers in the class. We find that the teachers seem to fall into accustomed forms of collaboration and roles, with homeroom teachers who “own” the class, and co-teachers who take on the waiting and watching role before taking out specific students. We also find a somewhat counter intuitive use of organisational forms together with a tendency towards “shift work”. Co-teaching clearly represents pedagogic opportunities as well as challenges concerning ways to share professional responsibility and roles, and we discuss why the potential is not fully released

Leseleksens plass i norskfagets begynneropplæring

Lekser har lange tradisjoner i skolen, til tross for blandede funn når det gjelder verdien av disse. En positiv verdi av lekser vil være avhengig av hvordan lekser rammes inn og følges opp i den daglige undervisningen. Basert på filmede observasjoner fra seks andreklasser undersøker denne artikkelen hva som kjennetegner det lekserelaterte lese- og tekstarbeidet i norskfaget. Vi stiller følgende forskningsspørsmål: (1) Hvilken plass har leselekser i norskundervisningen?, og (2) Hva slags tekstarbeid finner sted i tilknytning til leselekser? Vi finner betydelig variasjon i hvor stor del av opplæringen som er knyttet til lekserelatert arbeid og hvordan dette arbeidet rammes inn og følges opp. Mest effektivt og meningsfylt framstår leksearbeidet når det er en integrert del av undervisningen. Elevene får, ikke uventet, mest øvelekser fra læreboka for å utvikle kodekompetanse og leseflyt, men formålet med leksene er ofte underkommunisert ut over at teksten skal leses tre ganger. Det fokuseres i liten grad på at elevene skal lære strategier for avkoding og forstå hva leseflyt innebærer. Hva tekster som helhet handler om, får lite oppmerksomhet, og elevene inviteres ikke til å reflektere kritisk over teksters form og innhold. Mye tid går dessuten med til organisering av leksearbeidet, med tilhørende lavt læringstrykk

Literacy practices in co-taught early years classrooms. Study protocol: The Seaside case.

The present protocol describes the background, theoretical framework and methods for a qualitative study of co-taught, Norwegian, L1 classrooms—The Seaside case. The participants are six classes and their teachers from six different schools in the Seaside municipality. All classes had one extra teacher in all 8 L1 Norwegian lessons each week, in Year One and Year Two. Co-teaching provides pedagogic potential and flexibility and can enhance students’ learning. However, evidence from teacher–student ratio research is inconsistent across contexts (Solheim et al., 2017; Solheim & Opheim, 2018), and there is also a need for studies exploring connections specifically in the Norwegian school context. Our overarching research questions are: (1) What characterizes literacy practices in L1 initial co-taught literacy lessons? (2) How is the extra teacher resource utilized in L1 initial co-taught literacy lessons, and what characterizes interaction, patterns of discourse, organization and roles in the classroom (teachers and students)? (3) What are the students’ conditions for participation, engagement and dialogue in L1 initial co-taught literacy lessons