Browsing by Author "Fagerholm, Hanna"

(Objective.) Earlier studies have indicated, that reading can improve and refine one’s ability to empathise. Whilst completing my bachelor’s thesis, I indicated critically with research and studies surrounding the exploration on the effect reading and literature can have on human empathy. Four important matters were found and concluded in researches: transportation, narrativity, identifying with a positive character and customs of reading. The research purpose in this thesis is to explore the concept of preventing bullying through literary tools, based on the evidence of these four important matters. The aim of this study was to design, put into practise and evaluate pedagogical application, which is designed to use literature and these four important matters to prevent bullying. In pedagogical application, designed in this thesis, literature, narrativity, identifying with a positive character and customs of reading was used to help children accomplish experiences of transportation and perezhivanie. In the following thesis I propose to introduce and analyse the pedagogical application as an example to use literature as a concise example on how teachers and pedagogical staff can utilise literature as a measure of preventing bullying in schools. (Method.) I accomplished this study using methods of qualitative and action research. The participants of this study were eleven second-graders from an elementary school in Helsinki. As a study material I used interviews and collected textual material created by children, who took part in the pedagogical application. In the application I used drama and literature as a means as of which to work with our subject – bullying. We read one story of Pekka Töpöhäntä -book series written by Gösta Knutsson. I analysed the collected material by discursive analysis and researched the verbal content created by children. (Results and conclusions.) The results of this study attribute with experiences of transportation and perezhivanie. However, the results are by no means fully conclusive, as the research did not consider all means and circumstances surrounding the collection of data. The results give small indications of what may have created a feeling of transportation and perezhivanie amongst children responding at the time, it is however not possible to make generalized conclusions based on this evidence. The pedagogical application I have created is a partly successful tool, which aims to develop and improve understanding of how literature can be used as a successful method and tool to prevent bullying. By following research, it is possible to examine those parts of the pedagogical application, which have or have not shown effect on progressing the perceptions bullying in amongst children.