Thread: On from yesterday’s post about #ReflectingRealities @clpe1 research into representation of BAME lives in kids books... I shared the Newsround report with @nikeshshukla @rapclassroom about it with some Y6s. See here if you wish to do the same - bbc.co.uk/newsround/4484…
A slow discussion followed, not a lively sparky one. One pupil said that an author has a right to create whatever characters they wanted, and nobody has the right to force an author’s hand. Interesting starting point and one to interrogate.
We unpicked a little about the role of children’s books and whether there is a responsibility for the stories to reflect society. Shared that 1% vs 32% statistic. Eye brows were raised.
The point that struck home most with the kids was when one mentioned Terror Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah, which they had all read earlier in the year. Whilst sharing its great merits, kids reflected on how their mundane lives are never read about.
So whilst they may see characters who resemble them in some of the books we read, those books tend to be on necessary but challenging themes of struggle - refugeedom, life in difficult circumstances (Terror Boy, Ghost Boys)- but rarely as ‘regular story characters’.
Unpicking what this meant was interesting, and Jo - another teacher in the room - reminded them of how, when they were doing creative writing, this group of children with names spanning the globe mostly gravitated to making Jacks, Jessicas, Billys and so on.
We ended the chat (for now) by sharing Zanib Mian’s award-winning ‘The Muslims’ as an example of a story that focuses on a BAME character and which is a funny book sharing the daily life of a Muslim kid going through school and family life.
And I mentioned I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan @mkhanauthor to them, and beyond their interest in the plot and characters, it was as interesting and meaningful for them to know that someone with a name like theirs and their family members can be a children’s/YA storyteller.
Valuable conversation and I would love to hear about how it goes in your classrooms. #reflectingrealities @clpe1 @storyriver
