A Creative Approach to a Literary Work in the System of Problem-based Teaching

The main aim of required reading in schools is to educate the reading audience who is capable of aesthetic communicating with a literary work. Supposing that the freedom of choice substantially defines pupil relationship towards required reading, the author reflects upon the effectiveness of planning and realization of the current curriculum. As for the system of required reading in the Croatian language, interpretative approaches based on the principles of contemporariness and comparativeness are applicable in both high school and vocational school curricula. The topical hit The Museum of Innocence written by Turkish Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk becomes a template for examining the possibility of the challenging combination of optional reading and system of problem-based teaching. Aimed at enhancing young readers’ analytic competences, the paper provides a model of a methodical interpretation of the novel in literature teaching in the fourth grade of secondary school. Contemporary system of problem-based teaching enables a creative approach to a literary work, regarding pupils as subjects who develop their creativity and ability of critical thinking.