Surveys consistently reveal that reading behavior is changing. The average person reads less in print and more on screen. While digital reading tends to encourage cursory reading, it actually requires different—and sometimes better—text processing skills (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). Digital texts not only have to be understood; they often need to be assessed, evaluated, and integrated with other (Internet) sources. All of this requires an understanding beyond the text. Afflerbach, Cho, and Kim (2015) define higher order thinking, as being goal directed, responsive, and self-regulated. They argue that readers engage in higher order thinking as they try to make sense of complex texts and perform reading-related tasks. (Afflerbach et al., 2015). This combination of higher order thinking and performing complex tasks with equally complex texts certainly applies to reading in digital environments. Despite changes in reading and (con)texts, EFL reading instruction, in the Netherlands and elsewhere, still focuses primarily on print reading. Therefore, there is a call for a new reading pedagogy aimed at developing the necessary higher order skills for reading in (and for) digital contexts.

At TESOL 2017, we reported on a qualitative pilot study in the Netherlands in which two lesson study teams of three secondary EFL teachers each, collectively designed, observed, and redesigned a number of lessons with the aim of enhancing pupils’ higher order reading skills in an innovative and engaging digital reading environment. Lesson study originated in Japan as a model for teacher professional development about a century ago. In the 1990s it was introduced in the United States, after which it spread to other countries like Hong Kong, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. We used lesson study, because it allowed the teams to design and improve lessons systematically and collaboratively and because of its clear focus on student learning (Dudley, 2015). In addition, the teachers were given a high-quality information communication technology (ICT) application, Inanimate Alice (The BradField Company), around which to build their lessons. This “transmedia novel” for teenage readers integrates reading with the development of digital literacies and higher order skills.

The pilot study’s objectives were to learn more about the roles of the teachers involved in the lesson study and the language teacher cognitions (LTCs) that would emerge. According to Borg (2006), LTCs are concerned with what teachers know, think, and believe—in this case regarding higher order reading and learning in and for digital contexts. They are known to act as both drivers and filters for teaching and learning. Because LTCs are also within the realm of the invisible, we wanted to find out whether lesson study, together with the introduction of an ICT application (Inanimate Alice), would be a suitable method for enabling these cognitions to surface.

First results of the pilot study were promising. Findings revealed distinctive portraits of the teachers involved. In the lesson study meetings and team discussions, teachers’ cognitions clearly emerged. This included cognitions on (teaching) reading, on teachers and students as readers, and on the impact of digital media and contexts. Especially the ICT application, and the question of how to use it for teaching reading, sparked a lot of discussion within the teams. This confirms the relevance of cognitions for teachers’ actions and decisions in the attempt to drive forward the teaching of reading in digital contexts.

References

Afflerbach, P., Cho, B.-Y., & Kim, J.-Y. (2015). Conceptualizing and assessing higher-order thinking in reading. Theory into Practice, 54(3), 203–212. doi: 10.1080/00405841.2015.1044367

Borg, S. (2006). Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice. London, England: Continuum. doi: 10.5040/9781474219983

Dudley, P. (2015). How lesson study works and why it creates excellent learning and teaching. In P. Dudley (Ed.), Lesson study: Professional learning for our time (pp. 1–24). London, England: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203795538

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2006). New literacies: Everyday practices and classroom learning (2nd ed.). Maidenhead, England: Open University Press. doi: 10.1111/j.14679345.2007.00473_1.x

Manon Reiber-Kuijpers is a teacher educator and senior EFL lecturer at HAN University of Applied Sciences, Graduate School of Education, in Nijmegen, Netherlands. She is also currently working on a PhD at Radboud University Nijmegen.