Att utmana sina epistemologiska övertygelser

Lärares föreställningar om komplexa texter och en komplex lärarroll

Resumé

This article presents findings from an interview study conducted with ten lower secondary school Swedish teachers who participated in a year-long intervention aimed at improving the quality of literature discussions on complex texts. The purpose of the interview study is to make visible teachers’ epistemological beliefs regarding the instructional practice of literature discussions after participating in the intervention, in which they had to relate to two aspects: a discussion model that was unfamiliar to them and the use of complex texts. The intervention led the teachers to deepen their reflections on literature discussions as teaching practice and, to some extent, to modify this practice during the intervention period. The interviews reveal that, although the teachers recognized many positive effects of the intervention, they found it difficult to abandon their epistemological beliefs – particularly the notion that texts must relate to students’ everyday lives and their own role as the expert in the classroom.