Literature education: Reading Lesson or Life Lesson?
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2024-02-06
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en
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Abstract
This thesis aimed to find out the preferences, perceptions and practices of first-degree English
teachers regarding the integration of literature education as a tool for citizenship education. As
of 2021, the Netherlands has taken on a law that obligates schools to explicitly shape their
curriculum to educate students about citizenship. How teachers of subjects such as English
should incorporate citizenship education into their lessons, was not disclosed in the legal
assignment. Therefore, teachers are dependent on their schools, their departments and their own
input.
Through a questionnaire and focus group interview, this thesis collected data from sixty firstdegree English teachers. It concludes that teachers have a preference for literature lessons to
teach students culture and history, but that this is often impossible in practice, due to
departmental or school agreements and time constraints. Despite challenges in the curriculum,
participants acknowledge the potential for literature to teach empathy, critical thinking, selfawareness and awareness of the perspective of others and therefore its potential to function as
a tool citizenship education. Participants indicate that curriculum changes tailored to a school’s
operating areas, teacher training, and clear guidelines are needed for citizenship to be
successfully implemented into literature education and to effectively align with the legal
assignment of 2021.
Key words: citizenship education, literature education, first-degree teachers, English, modern
foreign languages, Common European Framework of Reference, end terms
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Faculteit der Letteren