Guidelines for the Teacher

1. Purpose of the Toolkit

The purpose of the toolkit is to provide useful tools for:

1. a) investigating students’ in-school literacy practices
2. b) investigating students’ out-of-school literacy practices
3. c) comparing in-school and out-of-school literacy practices and identifying convergences and divergences

2. The Methodology Behind the Toolkit

👥Participants

Depending on their type, each tool is addressed to:

1. a) students
2. b) the teacher
3. c) students’ parents and guardians

Each tool is linguistically and visually adapted to the characteristics of each group of participants. Thus, for example, questionnaires addressed to students are written in simpler language, include a variety of examples, avoid complex concepts, and are visually more appealing to children. The participation of each group and the selection of individual tools depend on the teacher’s research design and can be adapted to the needs and characteristics of each classroom.

⚒️Tools

The toolkit includes a set of methodological inquiry tools, designed to collect data on students’ in-school and out-of-school literacy practices. Depending on their purpose, the tools are addressed to different groups of participants and employ different data collection methods, allowing literacy practices to be explored from multiple perspectives.

The tools include, among others, questionnaires, interview protocols, observation tools, and recording diaries, which can be used individually or in combination. Their selection and combination depend on the purpose of the inquiry, the characteristics of the classroom, and the time available to the teacher.

The toolkit does not require the mandatory use of all tools. Instead, the tools function as flexible suggestions that the teacher can adapt to the needs, age, and characteristics of the students, as well as to the context of their own classroom.

Each tool generally follows a common structural framework in order to facilitate teachers in the subsequent organisation, analysis, and comparison of the data. Thus, each tool primarily explores the following three dimensions:

1. a) The technological media used at school or at home. More specifically, the teacher is encouraged to investigate the availability and use of printed, digital, multimodal, or monomodal texts in each context. The term “multimodal” refers to texts that use more than one mode of meaning-making (e.g. image and spoken language in a video, or written language and image in a magazine).
2. b) The content, interests, and themes identified in in-school or out-of-school practices. Specifically, the aim is to identify the themes or categories of themes in which children engage at home and at school and to relate them to popular/mass/everyday/youth culture or high/more sophisticated culture. In this way, the teacher can determine whether the school draws on children’s interests or whether it remains focused on specific themes and cultures.
3. c) The degree of agency that children enjoy in in-school or out-of-school practices. Within literacy practices, agency refers to students’ ability to select, shape, and create the content with which they engage, according to their interests, needs, and purposes, deciding on their own initiative what they will do, what they will read or watch, what they will create, and how they will do it. It should be noted that, for reasons of clarity and familiarity, the term “initiative” is used instead of “agency” in the tools addressed to parents and guardians, as it is a more familiar and immediately understandable term.

Tools for investigating in-school literacy practices

The tools available for investigating students’ in-school literacy practices, that is, the activities, technological media, and themes in which children engage at school, are the following:

• Student interview (used by the teacher)
• Student questionnaire (completed by the students)
• Classroom observation (used by the teacher)
• Educational material analysis model (used by the teacher)
• Teacher reflective questionnaire (used by the teacher)

Tools for investigating out-of-school literacy practices

The tools available for investigating students’ out-of-school literacy practices, that is, the activities, technological media, and interests/themes in which children engage outside school, are the following:

• Student interview (used by the teacher)
• Student questionnaire (completed by the students)
• Observation during break time/at a school trip (used by the teacher)
• Parent/guardian interview (used by the teacher)
• Recording diary (completed by the students’ parents/guardians)
• Family questionnaire (completed by the students’ parents/guardians)

Model for analysing in-school and out-of-school literacy practices and comparing them

The model for analysing and comparing students’ literacy practices is used by the teacher after the completion of data collection, using all or selected tools from those presented above.

The model is based on the theory of Halliday and Hasan (1989)*, according to which a communicative situation can be studied in terms of three dimensions: mode, field, and tenor. To facilitate teachers, the model has been simplified and adapted to the structure of the tools, using more familiar terms: medium, content, and agency.

*Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, context and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Oxford University Press.

3. Implementing the Toolkit

The toolkit has been designed as a flexible framework for inquiry rather than as a process that needs to be followed in the same way in every classroom. The tools it includes are indicative and can be adapted by the teacher according to the age, needs, and characteristics of the students, as well as the time available and the aims of the inquiry. It is not necessary to use all the tools; the teacher can select those that best respond to the context and needs of the classroom.

The implementation of the toolkit can be organised into the following steps:

Step 1: Exploring my students’ in-school reality

Starting with the school context, which is more familiar to the teacher, they can select the tools they consider appropriate for investigating students’ in-school literacy practices, that is, what and how they engage with things in the school environment. Where possible, it is recommended that different tools be used in combination, so that practices can be approached from multiple perspectives. For example, a questionnaire can be used to record students’ perspectives, an interview to explore their responses in greater depth, and a reflective questionnaire to investigate the teacher’s perspective.

Step 2: Exploring my students’ out-of-school reality

In the second step, the teacher investigates students’ out-of-school literacy practices, that is, the activities, interests, and practices in which they engage at home and during their free time. To collect data, they can use the corresponding tools in the toolkit, selecting those that best align with the aims of the inquiry.

At this stage, parents or guardians can also be involved, as they have direct insight into children’s everyday and out-of-school experiences. Their perspective can complement the information provided by the students themselves and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of their literacy practices outside school.

Step 3: Analysing and comparing literacy practices

After the teacher has collected data on the students’ in-school and out-of-school realities, the next step is to organise and analyse the data. The analysis model includes three corresponding diagrams: one for analysing in-school practices, one for analysing out-of-school practices, and one for comparing them.

To complete the first diagram, the teacher studies the data collected on students’ in-school literacy practices and organises them according to three dimensions: medium, content, and agency.

• Medium: The media most frequently used by students at school are recorded, such as digital, printed, or multimodal media.
• Content: The themes and types of content with which students engage are recorded. The content can, indicatively, be examined by the teacher in terms of its connection to elements of mass/popular or high culture.
• Agency: The degree of freedom and initiative students have in determining the type and content of their in-school literacy practices is examined.

The second diagram is completed in the same way for out-of-school literacy practices.

In the third and most important diagram, the two frameworks are juxtaposed in order to identify convergences and divergences in terms of medium, content, and agency. Specifically, for each dimension (medium, content, agency), the teacher can record their observations, thoughts, and interpretation regarding the extent to which children’s out-of-school practices are incorporated or marginalised at school in terms of medium, content, and agency.

And what next?

After identifying the points of convergence and divergence between students’ in-school and out-of-school literacy practices, the teacher is encouraged to reflect on their pedagogical role and consider ways in which they can bridge the gap between school and home. The aim is for students’ out-of-school literacy practices to be incorporated into the school context not as superficial or merely supplementary elements, but as meaningful starting points for the learning process, which can be connected to school content, enrich the learning process, and highlight students’ knowledge, experiences, and interests.

For this purpose, our website includes teaching suggestions for using texts from students’ everyday lives (see the Teaching Proposals section). These suggestions can either be used as they are, when the specific texts and practices form part of the students’ out-of-school experiences, or serve as examples and sources of inspiration for designing similar activities adapted to the respective learning context.

4. Ethical Considerations

The investigation of students’ in-school and out-of-school literacy practices needs to be conducted with respect for the rights, privacy, and safety of all participants.

Before collecting any data, the teacher should ensure that:

• students and their parents/guardians have been appropriately informed about the purpose and procedure of the inquiry,
• the necessary consent for children’s participation and, where required, that of their parents/guardians has been obtained,
• participation is voluntary and participants can withdraw without consequences,
• data are collected and used in a manner that protects participants’ anonymity and confidentiality,
• no more personal data are collected than are necessary for the purpose of the inquiry,
• data are stored and managed securely and are not shared with unauthorised individuals.

Particular attention is needed when the inquiry concerns children’s out-of-school lives. The aim is not to evaluate family practices or lifestyles, but to better understand students’ experiences, interests, and literacy practices.

Finally, the use of data should be non-evaluative and non-stigmatising, recognising the value and diversity of literacy practices developed at home, at school, and in other contexts.

5. A Few Tips

• Start with what you know.
  The school context is a familiar starting point and can facilitate a gradual transition towards investigating students’ out-of-school practices.
• Choose the tools you need.
  It is not necessary to use all the tools. The teacher can select and combine those that best correspond to the aims of the inquiry and the needs of the classroom.
• Listen to the children.
  Actively listening to students allows the teacher to better understand their practices, interests, and experiences without making assumptions about what they do or what interests them.
• Look at practices from different perspectives.
  Students, parents/guardians, and the teacher may have different perceptions of the same practices. Drawing on different perspectives can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of literacy practices.
• Do not evaluate; investigate.
  The aim of the process is not to evaluate practices as “good” or “bad”, but to understand students’ choices, preferences, and the ways in which they engage in them.
• Leave room for unexpected findings.
  The inquiry may reveal practices, interests, or experiences that were previously unknown to the teacher. These findings can provide a starting point for further reflection.
• Connect the findings to teaching.
  The value of the inquiry is not limited to documenting students’ practices. The findings can be used as a starting point for designing learning activities that connect their in-school and out-of-school experiences.
• Adapt the process to your classroom.
  The toolkit constitutes a flexible framework of suggestions. The teacher can adapt the tools, process, and activities according to the age, needs, and characteristics of the students.