Are problematic topics to young readers, who are entering the world of reading, uncomfortable, unpleasant?
Problematic literature gives concerns and unclear responses from all sides – the teachers, professional and non-professional public. What are the views and responses of pupils to the mentioned topics?
The master's thesis gives responses and positions of not yet well-literate students to both, problematic and non-problematic topics, and compares them with each other.
For the most relevant results, the choice of the author Babette Cole and her picture books, which cover a wide range of contets and have, in addition, high-quality illustrations, is the best choice. Her picture books in Slovene primary schools have not been chosen much, although she wrote and illustrated them in total over seventy. Different topics, both problematic and not problematic, are presented in a humorous, funny and fearless way.
In addition to the research, there is also presented the opinion of teachers and parents of pupils about covering problem literature. That together is the whole picture of all those involved in the educational process.
The study uses a descriptive method of pedagogical research, and the research approach is empirical qualitative research, namely a case study. The case study covers 4 works by Babette Cole and the responses of 2nd graders. The selected sample includes 35 pupils of the 2nd grade, their parents and 2 teachers from the elementary school.
I watched pupils by participating in class lessons, interviewing teachers, and I provided parents with questionnaires. For each lesson in class, an analysis with own reflection is made, followed by the opinion of teachers and parents. By researching and studying teaching lessons, I presented the author to the pupils. I found out that their view on problematic picture books is positive. Actually there is no difference between the problematic and non-problematic topics. The research confirms that parents and teachers approve dealing with problematic topics in literary lessons.
I think that research is useful for teachers when choosing texts for reading. I hope that they will be able to select content with a problematic topic several times without any doubts, and uncover the child more than conceal.
|