Picturebooks and Development Education: the story of a

research projectAnne Dolan

You, Me and Diversity: the potential of picture books for

teaching development and intercultural education

(forthcoming) Trentham Books and DICE

A picturebook• Typically, a picturebook is 32

pages long with a balance between text and illustrations (Lewis, 2001).

• A work of art!

• As an art form, it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages and on the drama of the turning page.

• 1 wordless book• 2 picture story books• 3 illustrated books

It's a Book

Of thee I Sing

What does it mean to be global?

2013 50th anniversary of I have a dream

Timeline

• Picturebooks and geography• Funding from DICE• Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators

Summer 2011• 2011-2012 Research• May 2012 Contacted Publisher• Funding, professional leave of absence• 2012-2013 Write up

Funding from DICE

• Picturebooks and geography• Funding from DICE• Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators

Summer 2011• 2011-2012 Research (Analysis of over 500

picturebooks)• May 2012 Contacted Publisher• Funding, professional leave of absence• 2012-2013 Write up

Current context

• Literacy and numeracy• Less focus on critical literacy• Opportunities and challenges provided by ICT• Status of picture story books (only for young children).• Teachers are unaware of the existence of these books• When they are used they are used in a surface capacity

with more focus on the text rather than the illustrations

• Restriction of picture books to literacy time

Relevance?

• A resource for our students!!!!• A resource for teachers• A resource for children and their parents

Curriculum Framework

Respect

Understanding

Action

• Self-respect and self esteem

• Respect for others and for the environment

• Issues of social injustice• Social Movements

• Raising Awareness• Action

You, me and diversity• Contents• Introduction• Chapter one: Picturebooks• Chapter two: Culture, intercultural education and development education• Chapter three: A culturally diverse classroom• Chapter four: Critical literacy and critically reading the world• Chapter five: Learning about respect and how to develop respect through

picturebooks• Chapter six: Understanding• Chapter seven: Raising awareness and taking action• Chapter eight: Exploring the journey of refugees through picturebooks• Appendix one: Building a curriculum based on respect, understanding and

action• Appendix two: Resources

INTO publicationsInTouch, Magazine of Irish National Teachers’

Organisation (INTO)Earthquake! Tsunami!) (May, 2011).

Teaching about the North Pole and Polar Bears (November, 2011)

Celebrating International Women’s Day (March, 2012)

Reading the World! (September, 2011)

The Colour of Home (December, 2011)

Mama Panya’s Pancakes: A Story from Kenya (April, 2012)

Celebrating Trees Through Picture Books (October, 2011)

Africa is not a country (January/December, 2012)

Dolan, A. M. (2013) Creative Geography Teaching Through the Use of Picture Story Books in Scoffham, S. (ed.) Teaching Geography Creatively, Oxford: Routledge pp.31-46.

Dolan, A. M. (2013) ‘Critically reading the world through picture story books in O’Riordan, J. Horgan, D. and Martin, S. (Eds) Early Childhood in a Global Context. Oxford: Peter Lang

Conference Presentations• Dolan, A. M. (2013) Making development issues accessible for children through picture

books. IASSEE Annual Conference Meeting the Challenges of a Globalised world. June 20th and 21st.

• Dolan, A. (2013) Picturebooks and development education, Geographical Association (Primary Geography) Presented at Charney Manor Geography Conference, Oxford.

• Dolan, A M. (2012) ‘The Potential of Picture Books for Teaching Migration as a Geographical Theme. 33rd IBBY International Congress : Crossing Boundaries: Translations and Migrations 23rd -26th August 2012, Imperial College, London.

• Dolan, A. M. (2011) ‘You , Me and Diversity’: The potential of picture books for teaching development and intercultural education. DICE Annual Conference: You, Me and Diversity, 25th and 26th November, 2011.

• Dolan, A. M. (2011)’ Picture Story Books and the Futures Dimension in Primary Geography. Primary Geography Conference (Geographical Association). Charney Manor, Oxfordshire. England. Geography in the revised primary curriculum: looking forward. February 25th -27.th

• Dolan, A. M . (2011) ‘Windows on the World: Use of picture books for teaching geography’. IASSEE Conference: Learning for the 21st Century, From Research to Practice. 4-5th of February, 2011, St.Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.

• Dolan, A. M. (2010) ‘Teaching primary geography through the medium of picture story books’. Primary Geography Conference (Geographical Association). Charney Manor, Oxfordshire. England. Geography in the revised primary curriculum: looking forward. February 19th – 21st

Journal Articles• Dolan, A.M. (forthcoming) Intercultural education, picturebooks and

refugees: a multidimensional perspective. Children’s literature in English language education

• Dolan, A.M. (2012) Making a connection. Primary Geography. Sheffield: Geographical Association Vol. 79, (3) pp.16-17.

• Dolan, A.M. (2012) Futures talk over story time. Primary Geography. Sheffield: Geographical Association Vol. 78, (2) pp.26-17.

• Dolan, A.M. (2012) Picture Books, Geography and Climate Change. Journal of Children’s Literature Studies. Vol. 8 (2).

• Dolan, A.M. (2011) ‘Introducing Children to extremities such as Climate Change through Picture Story Books’, Primary Geography Journal. Sheffield: Geographical Association Vol. 76, (3) pp.10-11.

Lessons learnt

• Time for research….it takes a lot of time• Support……from within the college• …..outside the college• …..mentors• Keep writing ….start small …..find avenues for publication• Establish leverage…

Refugees

The Refugee Diaries