PELAS Study Day: Analytical Approaches to Literature in Secondary Education at a Time of Curriculum Reform

The first PELAS study day will take place at ENS/IFÉ in Lyon on October 19, 2017.

It is organized in collaboration with the ESPEs (Higher Schools of Teacher Education) of the Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Grenoble-Alpes, Languedoc-Roussillon, Lille-Nord de France, Midi-Pyrénées, and Versailles academies / Catholic University of Louvain / IFÉ/ENS LYON / CRIPEDIS, LIRDEF, LITEXTRA (LITT&Arts), LLA-CREATIS, TEXTES ET CULTURES, and TELEM laboratories.

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STUDY DAY:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

ENS/IFÉ LYON

Analytical approaches to literature in secondary education
s at a time of curriculum renewal

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For nearly two decades, the field of research in literature education has been developing dynamically, constructing or reconfiguring notions and concepts (reader subject, reader text, literary reading) and carving out (seeking) a place for itself in the fields of literary studies and French language education. This development is based in particular on a scientific paradigm shift, as Annie Rouxel pointed out in 2006 during the inaugural session of an inter-university seminar (Mazauric, Fourtanier, Langlade, 2011:19-20):
Our research on literary reading is characterized, at the theoretical level, by a paradigm shift: from a conception of literary reading rooted in text theory, which posits the implicit or virtual reader (in other words, from the perspective of reception theorists), to a conception of literary reading that focuses on the reconfiguration of the text by the actual reader and presents multiple modes of realization. There is therefore a shift in focus: from the virtual reader to the actual reader, and, consequently, from the "text of the work" to the "text of the reader."

But what exactly are the implications of this "research on literary reading" in everyday secondary school classrooms, particularly with the implementation of new curricula in middle schools in France and in vocational classes in Belgium on the one hand, and the use of digital resources and tools on the other?

Research conducted in the field of literature teaching seems to influence institutional choices, relayed in particular in France by the (General) Inspectorate and in Belgium by official instructions. Nevertheless, for reasons related to its emergence, the conditions of its constitution, and the complexity of its subject matter (Ahr, 2015), this field of research has so far favored "the speculative (or epistemological, if you will) dimension [...] over the praxeological dimension " (Daunay & Dufays, 2007: 12). However, "didactic development cannot ignore reflection on the reality of practices" (Chanfrault-Duchet, 2001: 115), as these cannot be reduced to innovative practices or those of novice teachers. It is therefore necessary to examine the conditions under which analytical approaches to literature are effectively implemented in classrooms and, in doing so, to "confront concepts with real practices [because] we can only act on a situation if we know it, theory [having] meaning only when linked to facts" (Dufays, 2006: 79).

The notions and concepts of reader subject, reader text, and literary reading have been introduced into classrooms, particularly in relation to cursive reading of literary works. However, it is difficult to measure, to date, the impact of the scientific paradigm shift underlying these notions and concepts on the renewal of analytical approaches to literature in secondary education and their effects on the learning actually achieved by students. This is why the PELAS (Effective Practices in Analytical Reading in Secondary Education) team has launched a five-year research program (2014-2019) on this didactic subject, the contours and specificities of which remain to be identified, particularly from a curricular perspective. Comparing the results obtained in French classrooms with those obtained in Belgian classrooms, where the analytical approach to literature is not based on exactly the same school exercises, should facilitate this identification.

The PELAS team invites various stakeholders interested in secondary school literature teaching to share their thoughts and experiences regarding analytical approaches to literature. The aim of this study day is to raise the many questions that the possible renewal of these approaches raises. The study day will also examine the effectiveness of the methodological tools developed for processing the data collected (audiovisual recordings of class sessions, semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, written work, etc.). The results of this collective reflection will be discussed again at the conference "Analytical Approaches to Literature in Secondary Education: An Academic and Didactic Object to be Identified," which the PELAS team will organize on October 18 and 19, 2018, also at the ENS/IFÉ in Lyon.

In order to encourage the exchange of views on effective practices in the analytical approach to literature, discussions will focus on the following areas:

• Current programs in France and Belgium with regard to research: challenges of their renewal and obstacles, assumed and/or observed, to their implementation.
• Continuities and discontinuities in actual practices for teaching reading and literature at different levels of schooling.
• Analysis of effective practices: challenges and methods for processing data collected in classrooms.

Bibliography
AHR, S. (2015), Enseigner la littérature aujourd’hui : « disputes » françaises, Paris, Honoré Champion, coll. « Didactique des lettres et des cultures ».
CHANFRAULT-DUCHET, M.-F. (2001), "Didactique de la littérature : aborder l'analyse des pratiques," in Recherches en didactique de la littérature, M.-J. Fourtanier, G. Langlade, A. Rouxel (eds.), Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2001, pp. 115-122.
DAUNAY, B. and DUFAYS, J.-L. (2007), "Research methods in literature teaching," in La lettre de l'AIRDF, no. 40, Villeneuve d'Ascq, pp. 8-13.
DUFAYS, J.-L. (2006), "La lecture littéraire, des 'pratiques du terrain' aux modèles théoriques" [Literary reading, from "practices in the field" to theoretical models], in Lidil, no. 33, Grenoble, Ellug, pp. 79-101.
MAZAURIC, C., FOURTANIER, M.-J. & LANGLADE, G. (eds.) (2011), Le texte du lecteur, Brussels, Peter Lang, coll. ThéoCrit, vol. 2, pp. 19-25.

PELAS team
-Ahr Sylviane, Bazile Sandrine, Boutevin Christine, Brunel Magali, Cahen Françoise, Couteaux Cécile, De Croix Séverine, De Peretti Isabelle, Dufays Jean-Louis, Le Goff François, Moinard Pierre, Perrin-Doucey Agnès, Plissonneau Gersende