What should and should not be : teachers’ and student teachers’ beliefs about picturebook selection

Abstract

The medium of the picturebook is a literary genre that has undergone a major transformation in terms of narratology, genre typology and media. Innovative and challenging picturebooks are used less to convey obvious educational lessons and messages (Ommundsen et al., 2022). Rather, it is the multi-layered presentation of topics that invites readers to become active. Thus, the literary-aesthetic qualities of picturebooks make them a suitable subject for literary education. Nevertheless, the choice of picturebooks for children is essentially determined by adults as gatekeepers. At school, the teachers select literature for their lessons. But what orientations determine the selection of picturebooks by teachers and student teachers? How are picturebooks received by teachers and student teachers in teaching programmes (Arizpe & Styles, 2016)? How are selection decisions justified? What knowledge and beliefs underlie professional competence? As part of a qualitative study, primary school teachers and student teachers were tasked to read and assess picturebooks accompanied by interviews. These interviews were analysed in a reconstructive manner employing the documentary method (Ritter & Ritter, 2020a; 2020b; 2021). By analysing the justifications on several levels, structures of picturebook selection and justification are to be established. We discovered three different professional perspectives of handling picturebooks: using, experiencing and exploring them. These approaches are used by both, student teachers and teachers, to make didactic decisions. The perspectives are by no means permanently fixed for one person; they can also vary from picturebook to picturebook, especially emotionally moving or irritating picturebooks are worth taking a closer look at. Student teachers can consider for their own purposes, but also for the selection of picturebooks for the classroom, what appeals to them, what would they choose for the classroom and why.