Effects of a literary intervention on interaction quality in small-group discussions in the upper elementary grades

Literary discussions represent a promising interaction context for the development of social, linguistic, and cognitive skills among children and adolescents. The one-year intervention of this study is based on a critical-analytic approach (Gasser et al., 2022; Murphy et al., 2009), focusing on the argumentative and inclusive quality of interactions in small group discussions about high-quality children's literature. The goal is to study the effectiveness of this literary intervention on observed socio-emotional and instructional interaction quality in small group discussions about a moral dilemma text. The sample included 51 teachers and 159 small groups from fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms. The study is based on a cluster-randomized control group design with three measurement occasions, considering the multi-level structure of the data (L1: measurement occasions, L2: small groups, L3: teachers). Interaction quality in discussions was measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Multilevel growth curve analyses show positive changes in both socio-emotional and instructional interaction quality in small group discussions in the intervention group, but not in the control group. The results are discussed with reference to the potential of literary discussions for an integrated approach to promoting socio-emotional and academic learning. • The literary intervention enhanced interaction quality in text-based discussions. • Interaction quality improved both in the socio-emotional and instructional domain. • Not only the teacher but also small groups contribute to interaction quality.