Growing into Literature: Advancing Theories and Practices in Literature Education

What does literature education look like in Finland in the 2020s? How might it evolve in the coming decades, and on what theoretical foundations does it rest?

Within this project we aim to build a comprehensive view of literature education from the earliest grades of basic education to upper secondary school. We also seek to refocus literature teaching on the act of reading itself, the artistic processes it entails, and the aesthetic experience of literature. Our goal is to strengthen the emphasis on literature as an art form and to explore the ways in which children and young people enter the literary world – including the emotions, experiences, and questions it contains and evokes. Through this project, we are interested in analyzing and critically discussing the status and role of literature education as described in curricula and teaching materials, while also exploring new possibilities for its future.

The project brings together theories and methods from literary studies and pedagogy. Research materials include curriculum texts, teaching materials, selected literary works, literature assignments from matriculation exams, video recordings of poetry workshops, and teacher interviews. The research is carried out at Tampere University, the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University by a research team representing both comparative literature and pedagogy, including teacher education.

The project contributes knowledge about the state of literature education at all educational levels, examines the theoretical approaches that shape it, and deepens our understanding of arts-based literature teaching.