Fiction in an interdisciplinary context - When pupils at the upper primary school level read fiction and learn about predators in outdoor education

Abstract

Pupils at the upper primary level from 6 different schools in Norway have read fiction and visited a Wildlife park to learn about predator issues and gain knowledge that can be used to understand various dilemmas involving the management of predators. This article explores the role and function of reading in this context, and is guided by the following research question: What can the reading of fiction add to the pupils' learning about, and interest in, predators and predator issues in outdoor education, and conversely: what can an interdisciplinary outdoor educational school didactic teaching program about predators add to the students' reading of fiction? 115 intermediate pupils were interviewed in groups before and after the project. Their teachers were interviewed afterwards. The findings show that reading fiction in this context can be fruitful in terms of developing knowledge, interest and attitudes towards predator issues, and that the interdisciplinary work can have a positive effect on the pupils' desire to read, and, to a certain extent, to literary understanding. In the article, the implications of this are nuanced and discussed.