Shared Practice: Developing knowledge of contemporary children's literature

To nurture a love of reading in children and young people, teachers need rich repertoires of contemporary children's literature and other texts. In the UK, research regularly reveals that teachers' knowledge of contemporary children's literature could be much improved. Across studies of primary teachers, high school teachers and student teachers, a reliance on popular authors and texts from teachers' own childhoods has been evidenced (Cremin et al, 2024).

In this webinar, the Scottish Book Trust team will share practical and inspiring ways in which our programmes and resources can help widen school staff’s knowledge of contemporary children’s literature. There will also be the opportunity to hear from other learning professionals, who will share some of their top tips on how to easily integrate ideas into your setting.

If you are working towards Reading Schools accreditation, this will support fulfilment of key area 1.2.5 Staff Knowledge of Contemporary Children’s Literature of the Reading Schools Framework.

This session is aimed at staff working in primary or secondary settings in Scotland. It will be held as a meeting on Microsoft Teams. For the best experience, we recommend joining the webinar using the Microsoft Teams app rather than using the browser.

Reading Schools is a national accreditation programme for schools which are committed to building a reading culture with and for their learners and communities. Research indicates that reading for pleasure positively impacts on learners' attainment across the curriculum, supports wellbeing, critical thinking, creativity, empathy and resilience.

NB: We have two self-directed e-learning modules containing curated elements to help give programme participants the relevant knowledge to commence and achieve their Reading Schools accreditation. These can be found here.