No. 15 Rainbows in our windows: Childhood in the time of corona. Edited by Roby Turok-Squire
In March of this year, as I walked around the suddenly empty streets in my new hometown, I started seeing rainbows appearing in windows, some with cotton wool for clouds, some with sequins for raindrops. These rainbows, all entirely unique, appeared to speak on behalf of the children who had made them. “Look at us, listen to us”, they said through the glass. “Our schools and playgrounds may be closed, but we are still wishing to be together, and we are all experiencing this time in our own, different, and equally vivid, ways.” How to hear those voices more clearly? How to respond to them?
These questions motivated my colleague Li Liu and I to create a conference, “Rainbows in Our Windows: Childhood in the Time of Corona”. We brought together a diverse group of presenters from around the world, with a common interest in finding new ways to communicate with and support children during the pandemic, and in using the pandemic as a “pause” in which to think creatively about education and the experience of childhood. All of the speakers graciously volunteered their time, and over 250 people registered to attend. We organised the whole conference on a budget of 0. Discussions filled the breaks between presentations. While chairing the sessions, it was wonderful to see our speakers’ ideas colliding, and new ideas emerging.1
The idea behind this special issue is to preserve our unique gathering, and to develop the lines of thought introduced within it. Each piece in this issue stems from a conference presentation; some speakers have chosen to elaborate upon their conference presentations, and some have submitted edited transcripts. As you explore each of the five themes in this issue, I hope you will see how each illuminates the others. You will find authors of children’s books contributing alongside academics who study children’s literature, psychologists and neuroscientists contributing alongside humanitarian organisations and a community group implementing psychological support programmes, and teachers contributing alongside government advisors on education and academics who study education. My hope is that this special issue will demonstrate the benefits of a truly interdisciplinary approach for all involved.
My thanks go to the Warwick Retired Staff Association at the University of Warwick, who at the last minute awarded us a grant of 100 pounds to record the conference. Those recordings will soon be published on the English Association’s website, to complement this special issue. My thanks also go to Dr Becky Fisher at the English Association, for all of her assistance in preparing and publishing this special issue and the accompanying recordings. And with that, please do delve into the smorgasbord of pieces that we have assembled for you here.
1 The conference schedule remains online. “Rainbows in Our Windows”, The University of Warwick (11 July 2020), <https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/research/conferences/coronachildhood> [Accessed 31 October 2020]
ISBN 978-0-900232-36-7 | 168pp
Watch the conference sessions
Keynote
Andy Hargreaves, Research Professor in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, Past President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement, recent Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario, and currently to the First Minister of Scotland, founder of the Atlantic Rim Collabatory, and author of, among others, What’s Worth Fighting for in Education?, The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future for Educational Change, and Moving: A Memoir of Education and Social Mobility: Beyond the pandemic: what should we start, stop and continue in our schools?
Panel I
- Kate Wilson, Managing Director at Nosy Crow, and Elizabeth Jenner, Nonfiction Editor at Nosy Crow and author of ‘Coronavirus: A Book for Children’: Making it Fast and Making it Free – “Coronavirus: A Book For Children”
- Helen Patuck, co-founder of Kitabna children’s books, creative consultant to the United Nations and Norwegian Refugee Council, PhD candidate at SOAS University of London, and author and illustrator of the Inter Agency Standing Committee’s ‘My Hero is You’: “My Hero Is You”: Using storytelling to package mental health advice in 130+ languages during the pandemic
- Jennie Bristow, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Politics and Sociology, Canterbury Christ Church University, and Emma Gilland, Year 11 secondary school student, co-authors of ‘The Corona Generation’: Coming of age in a crisis
Panel II
- Daniel Wright, Headteacher at St. Anne’s RC High School, Manchester: 0-100mph: from physical to virtual school in three days
- Kathryn Spicksley, PhD Student in Education at the University of Worcester: The centre cannot hold: Primary teachers, futurity, and COVID-19
- Camilla Lodi, Psycho Social Support and Social Emotional Learning Regional Adviser for the Middle East Regional Office of the Norwegian Refugee Council: Focusing on wellbeing through the Better Learning Program
- Lucy Jenkins, National Coordinator of the MFL Student Mentoring Project, and Claire Gorrara, Professor of French and Dean of Research Environment and Culture at Cardiff University: Supporting post-16 language learners online: a multi-lingual approach
- Loredana Polezzi, Professor of Translation Studies, School of Modern Languages, Cardiff University and President, International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS) – COVID-19 and multilingual education: opportunities and challenges
Panel III
Dr Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature and Childhood Culture, and director of the Centre for Childhood Cultures, Dr Rachel Bryant-Davies, Lecturer in Comparative Literature, and Dr Lucie Glasheen, Teaching Associate, all at Queen Mary University of London: Childhood heroes: storytelling survival strategies and role models of resilience to COVID-19 in the UK
Panel IV
- Yvonne Vissing, Professor of Healthcare Studies, Salem State University, Founding Director of the Salem State University Center for Childhood & Youth Studies, Child Rights Policy Chair for the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child from the International Hope for Children Child Rights Policy Center, and author of, among others, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children in Small Town America, Changing the Paradigm of Homelessness, and How to Keep Your Children Safe: A Guide for Parents: The pandemic and housing-distressed children
- Maram Abdelaal, Psychologist, Mohammad Daraghmeh, Social Worker, Abed Ezzat, Co-ordinator, all of the Alukhowah Club Organization, and Elayen Sawafta, Translator: Primary research into children’s behaviour during lockdown and community activities for children in Tubas, the West Bank, Palestine
- Gabriella Conti, Associate Professor in Economics in the Department of Economics and in the Department of Social Science at University College London: Supporting parents and children in the early years during (and after) the COVID-19 crisis
- Louise Dalton, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and Elizabeth Rapa, Post-doctoral Researcher, both at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. The importance of effective communication with children about illness and death
Panel V
- Xue Bao, PhD student at the SAiL Literacy Lab, and Tiffany Hogan, Director of the SAiL Literacy Lab and Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, USA: Literacy loss in kindergarten children during COVID-19 school closures
- Rosie Allison, e-Bug Project Manager, Public Health England, and Tanyella Evans, Executive Director, NABU: My Back to School Bubble: Strategies to help UK school children understand new COVID-19 protective measures and tackle anxiety about returning to school
- Mays Imad, Professor of Genetics, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, Pima Community College: Leveraging the neuroscience of now to help students learn and thrive in tumultuous times
Panel VI
- Madeleine Hunter, PhD student in Children’s Literature at the University of Cambridge: Bits, Bytes and Tykes: Kidtech in the context of COVID-19
- Gabriel Duckels, PhD student, and Amy Ryder, MEd student, both at the Centre for Research in Children’s Literature at the University of Cambridge: How to have children’s literature in a pandemic
- Stella Pryce, PhD candidate and ESRC scholar at the University of Cambridge: Spectral Cycles: Children’s literature, trauma and memory in the time of COVID-19
