Practical strategies for primary and early-years teachers: how picture books can provide a safe space for children to explore issues
Join us for our second webinar exploring reading for pleasure in the primary and early years classroom. Megan will be joined by Head Teacher Donna Lewis and Lecturer Stephanie Hilder to discuss the power of books when it comes to introducing and discussing sensitive and challenging topics with children. Referring to a selection of picture books, we will explore how books can provide a safe space for children to explore issues in a nuanced way, and offer practical ways that teachers can use books in this way.
Our speakers
Megan Dixon has a wealth of school leadership, school improvement and policy experience, including working for the Education Endowment Foundation, as a MAT Executive Leader, as a Local Authority English consultant, as a Head Teacher, teacher trainer and a teacher. She has balanced a career in school with an academic career and is currently studying for a doctorate at the University of Sussex, UK. Her specialist interests lie in the teaching and learning of literacy (in particular reading comprehension), early years, special educational needs, language development and leadership. Megan writes a weekly column for the Times Educational Supplement, regularly presents at conferences and is often found writing in collaboration with researchers and academics.
Stephanie Hilder is a Lecturer in Reading for Pleasure at the Open University.
Stephanie combines a number of roles as a consultant and lecturer for Primary English. As a Lecturer in Reading for Pleasure at The Open University, she works with schools developing their culture of reading through a transformative, year-long school development programme. As an independent consultant for primary English and assessment, Stephanie works in settings and locations across the UK collaborating on all manner of issues and priorities related to the English curriculum. She joined the editorial board of English 4-11 magazine in 2018 and loves supporting the EA Picture Book Awards, as well as working with authors prior to publication. Stephanie relishes all things English curriculum: drama, reading and writing are both professional and personal interests. But if there is one thing threading everything together, Stephanie believes it is books and reading. The more we read, the better we think, talk and write. The better we do these things, the better we understand.
Catch up on the first webinar in this series, Reading for Pleasure in the Classroom, in which we explored the shortlisted books in the 2023 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards.
