Using postmodern picture books to support upper primary students’ text analyst skills

Abstract

This article examines how Year 6 students engaged with a postmodern picture book in an Australian classroom to develop knowledge and skills for critical analysis of texts. One aspect of being critically literate is to question the purpose and function of texts, realised through the knowledge and skills of the text analyst role (Freebody & Luke, 1990; Luke 2012b). Using a small-scale, case study approach, this research study examined the extent to which a postmodern picture book, exhibiting a device of multi-stranded narratives, supported students of differing reading levels to develop text analyst practices. Findings suggest that such postmodern picture books could support students to develop text analyst practices, while the practise of some knowledge and skills was more prolific than others, and students across the group did not demonstrate the same depth of understanding of the text analyst role. The study adds to growing research about the uses of postmodern picture books for building students’ enjoyment of literature, tolerance for ambiguity, comprehension of complex narratives and critical literacy.