NO-410 Children's Literature

The course is connected to the following study programs

• Subject didactics in Teacher Education Level 1-7, 2-year Master’s Programme
• Master's 5-Year Programme in Teacher Education, level 1-7

Teaching language

Norwegian

Prerequisites

Students in the teacher education must have completed and passed NO-155 Norwegian for Lower Primary Level 1, Norwegian for Lower Primary Level 2 and Norwegian for Lower Primary Level 3.Other students: Completed and passed teacher education aimed at primary and lower secondary school with a minimum of 60 ECTS credits aimed at teaching Norwegian at level 5-10, or general teacher education with at least 60 credits of Norwegian.

Course contents

Through attending the course, the students shall acquire advanced knowledge about literature and literature as a school subject. Working with children’s literature will be emphasised. Students will achieve in-depth knowledge about important research in the field of children’s literature, and be able to see how different theoretical approaches may give different perspectives on texts. Students will also reflect on the role of varying views on literature in teaching. Through working with the course, the students will obtain advanced insight into teaching literature, so that the link between theoretical models and their practical usage becomes more evident.

The subject in the practice period

Through attending the course, the students will further develop their scholarly abilities to plan, implement and assess teaching literature at level 1-7 in primary school. The course prepares the student for advanced didactical reflection related to classroom work. The students’ experiences from the practice period will be important for further work with the theme.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:

Upon completion of the course the student shall

• Have advanced knowledge about teaching literature in initial training and at lower primary levels, and about the didactics of literature in a historical perspective

• Have advanced knowledge about literary theory

• Have advanced knowledge about how teaching literature can be adapted to pupils with various learning abilities and needs

Skills:

Upon completion of the course the student shall

• Be able to critically reflect on literature’s place in Norwegian as a school subject

• Be able to reflect on the relation between literary theory and didactics

• Be able to analyse texts from children’s literature at an advanced level

• Be able to orient him-/herself in and utilize national and international research in his/her own work with children’s literature

• Be able to analyse digital texts and resources and critically assess their uses

• Be able to use assessment of literature as a subject in such a way that makes pupils conscious of their own learning and development

Examination requirements

The mandatory attendance requirements must be met.

• Mandatory tasks published on Canvas when the semester starts, must be completed and passed.

• Students in the teacher education must have completed and passed the practice.

• Students taking free-standing courses must have completed and passed a didactic work.

Teaching methods

The students will meet a variety of teaching forms. Emphasis will be placed on active student work like group work, oral presentations and written assignments. The students will be expected to be able to participate in academic discussions at an advanced level.

The course includes work with digital tools that may be useful for teaching literature at level 1-7 in primary school.

Mandatory attendance requirements will be published on Canvas when the semester starts.

For students in the teacher education, there will be a practice period of 5 days, preparing for the practice period in the 8^th semester.

For students taking free-standing courses, a didactic work will replace the practice.

The workload is estimated at 400 hours.

Evaluation

The study programme manager, in consultation with the student representative, decides the method of evaluation and whether the courses will have a midterm- or end of term evaluation, see also the Quality System, section 4.1. Information about evaluation method for the course will be posted on Canvas.

Assessment methods and criteria

Individual home exam. Graded assessment. The students may choose either language variant (bokmål or nynorsk), but both variants must be used in an exam this semester. If bokmål is chosen for the home exam in NO-410, nynorsk must be used for the school exam in NO-409.

Reduction of Credits

This course’s contents overlap with the following courses. A reduction of credits will occur if one of these courses is taken in addition:

Course	Reduction of Credits
NO-405 – Norwegian as school subject and academic discipline	5