Mechanical Dolphin

Comics in New Zealand Education: Interview with Jeremy Bishop of Gotham Comics

September 20, 2011December 8, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

Today, Books and Adventures continues a series of posts exploring the use of comics in New Zealand education. You can find my New Zealand Education Gazette piece on the subject here.

Gotham Comics, Auckland, New Zealand — Like a superhero's hideout, this mild-mannered shopfront conceals the geeky treasure trove that is Auckland's Gotham Comics

Publisher, bookstore manager, and former youth librarian, New Zealand’s Jeremy Bishop is a devotee of graphic literature whose passion has led him on an educational crusade to find the Kiwi comics creators of the future in Auckland schools.

Jeremy’s passion for spreading the word into schools is evident as we talk one busy lunchtime at Gotham Comics, the Auckland store which he manages. In between serving regular customers and hurrying his way through a sandwich, he explains:

‘Comic books are a great medium for education. They’re creative and innately interdisciplinary – bringing together English, art, media studies, but also history and social studies. One kid in our workshops pitched a story based on his history coursework – retelling the story of Genghis Khan….on Mars!’

Kiwi comics lead the world: Discussion with New Zealand Education Gazette

September 19, 2011June 28, 2012Mechanical Dolphin

My discussion with New Zealand Education Gazette Editor Geoff Vause can be found in the print-only curriculum support supplement to Volume 90, Issue 17 of the magazine, out today.

In it, we talk about New Zealand’s leading role in the use of comics in the classroom.

You can see more on using comics in the classroom under the comicsedu tag on this site.

Comic book learning in action at Alfriston College — Comic book learning in action at Auckland’s Alfriston College

Kiwi use of comics in education outstrips even that of New York, the hub of the global comic-book industry, according to British educator Dr Matt Finch.

“With its small population, New Zealand encourages contacts between comic book professionals, educators and students in a way that few larger nations can match – and with visual literacy a key element of today’s NZ arts curriculum, Kiwi comics are a more valuable educational resource than ever,” Dr Finch said.

Guest Post: Lee Castledine on Storytelling for Young Children, Part 2

September 18, 2011February 6, 2012Mechanical Dolphin

Today on Books and Adventures, we have the second part of a guest post by Lee Castledine, the Australian storyteller, youth librarian and secretary of the Australian Storytelling Guild.

You can find the first part of this post on Storytelling for Young Children using Props and Audience Participation here.

Props aren’t suitable for all stories and shouldn’t be used to prop up a bad story! It is important to choose simple props that enhance the telling. Don’t overwhelm the story by trying to use too many props or props that are difficult to manoeuvre, as they can distract the audience’s attention from the story. Once you choose your props, it is important to practise using them until you are comfortable handling them without constantly looking at what your hands are doing. Remember, it is vital to maintain eye contact with your audience. Props can help a storyteller to remember the sequence of the story, but if you become distracted with handling the props, you can lose your audience.

Many storytellers are of the opinion that the use of books in storytelling isn’t true storytelling. I agree somewhat, as there is considerable difference between story reading and the art of story telling. But to me, and to many other children’s librarians, a picture book can either be read to an audience, or it can be used as a visual prop for the audience. If a storyteller knows the book well, they don’t read it, they tell it, whilst showing the pictures to the audience to invite audience participation at certain parts of the story.

Guest Post: Lee Castledine on Storytelling for Young Children, Part 1

September 17, 2011September 18, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

Today on Books and Adventures, we’re joined by Lee Castledine, an Australian storyteller, youth librarian and secretary of the Australian Storytelling Guild.

I was lucky enough to see Lee’s workshop on storytelling with young children at the Annual Paint the Town REaD Convention this month. Lee demonstrated her accomplishments as a performer, educator and storytelling maven, and today, Saturday 17th September, I’ll be venturing over to the New South Wales Writers’ Centre to see a Storytelling Workshop Day organised by Lee. Therefore I’m very pleased to present a timely guest post from her on Storytelling for Young Children using Props and Audience Participation.

A candle, a book, an apron, a string, a puppet, a piece of paper….Props used in storytelling for young children can be anything the storyteller can think of, that enhances the story. Some props are useful for encouraging audience participation, and manipulation props enchant the audience. Not all stories need a prop – sometimes actions are the prop.

Guest Post: The Physics of Reading by Raymond Huber

September 14, 2011September 18, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

Continuing our Kiwi theme, today Books and Adventures is joined by New Zealand author and editor Raymond Huber with a guest post on ‘The Physics of Reading’. A skier, teacher, apiculturist and all-round adventurer, Raymond is currently in Australia promoting his novel for junior readers, Wings.

‘The universe is made of stories, not atoms’ (Muriel Rukeyser). There’s truth in the poet’s words: the universe is only 4% atoms while the rest (mysterious dark stuff) has barely been fathomed. Some scientists believe the universe is geared towards the development of mind – ‘The universe is aboutsomething’ (Paul Davies, physicist) . That’s why I think stories matter.

Consider the mental energy of reading for children. ‘When reading takes place, the brain is forever changed’ (Maryanne Wolf). Reading forges new neural pathways which then become available for innovative thinking. One reason for this is that reading a book encourages the brain to be active in constructing and imagining the story. Imagination is like the electromagnetic force which has infinite range. It’s the force behind the great children’s books. In the Moomin stories for example, Tove Jansson imagines a fantasy world populated with endearing creatures such as brave Moomintroll and the shocking Hattifatteners.

‘In a way, the quakes have pushed us to develop our community role’: Interview with Carolyn Robertson of Christchurch City Libraries, New Zealand

September 12, 2011December 8, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

There can be no greater challenge to a library service than a natural disaster – except perhaps that same disaster repeated.

That’s exactly what faced Carolyn Robertson and her team at Christchurch Libraries when, in September 2010 and again in February and June of this year, earthquakes struck their home city on New Zealand’s South Island.

Yet, as Carolyn explained to me recently, ‘In a way, the quakes have pushed us to further develop our community role. They’ve actually strengthened Christchurch Libraries’ vision of equity of access.’

Carolyn Robertson of Christchurch City Libraries, New Zealand — "We understand the word “library” in the widest possible sense." - Carolyn Robertson, Christchurch City Libraries

I visited Carolyn, Christchurch City Libraries and Information Manager, at the city’s South Library earlier this year. It’s one of the liveliest and most modern I’ve seen in on literacy adventures throughout Northern Europe, the USA, and Australia as well as New Zealand.

The community has clearly taken to this bright, multipurpose space which includes a great café, children’s play area and an exceptional periodicals collection. The only evidence of the quakes is a display of letters from well-wishers around the world, which brightens one wall of the reading area.

Yet this lovely headquarters for the library service is actually a fallback space, taken up as the city’s principal library after the February quake put the Central Business District out of bounds.

In the days immediately following the disaster, the librarians of Christchurch demonstrated the importance of libraries as a community service in times of need – a vital message at a time of increasing financial austerity around the world.

Australia’s Paint the Town Read Scheme Brings Communities Together

August 18, 2011September 1, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

Dr Matt Finch with Behind the Book's Comic Workshop in Brooklyn, NYC

Tonight, Thursday 1st September, I’ll be the guest speaker at the opening dinner of Paint the Town REaD’s Annual Convention in Sydney.

You can find them online at their new home, http://paintthetownread.info/

To discover more about this amazing Australian community literacy scheme, read my recent piece on the website of New York literacy organisation Behind the Book:

http://behindthebook.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/in-australia-communities-come-together-to-%E2%80%98paint-the-town-read%E2%80%99-for-early-literacy/

Writing, Designing and Acting Doctor Who – Holiday courses at NIDA Sydney

August 8, 2011December 29, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

Australia’s Cockatoo Island has a chequered past as a former shipyard and prison turned nature reserve – but recent school holidays saw it transformed once more. The UNESCO world heritage site in the city of Sydney became the scene for intergalactic adventure and time-travelling mystery as the BBC’s Doctor Who came to Australia in a whole new form.

Work from NIDA's Designing Doctor Who Course — A monster design from Designing Doctor Who at NIDA

For three years, NIDA, Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, has offered a range of Doctor Who-themed holiday courses for children and young people, taught by industry professionals. I dropped in to see what was on offer and speak with the team behind this unique education programme.

This year, Designing Doctor Who students spent three days creating their own detailed alien worlds and artefacts, while Writing Doctor Who students got the opportunity to devise mini-scripts performed by students on the Acting on Screen: Doctor Who course in front of an audience of parents and friends.

The holiday activities including location shooting on Cockatoo Island, where one student-penned adventure saw the Doctor and his companion Amy pursued by Fashion Police opposed to bow ties and short skirts!

Peter Mountford, Manager of Youth and Holiday activities at NIDA, said, “This was the third holiday program at NIDA to feature Doctor Who themed courses and I am pleased to say that it was the most successful yet. Both tutors and students had a fantastic time filming their self-devised Doctor Who stories out at Cockatoo Island – a setting that is perfect for time-travelling adventurers!”

Interview: Rebecca Wallace-Segall, Writopia Lab

July 16, 2011December 12, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

A lot of the schemes we feature on Books and Adventures involve encouraging reluctant readers and promoting literacy in the family or wider community. Some, like Wales’ Young People’s Writing Squads, offer support and encouragement to those who already have a talent for writing and want to develop it.

New York’s Writopia Lab project is one of these schemes.

So why do Writopia kids want to write?

‘I just want to have fun writing for myself, and do it for the rest of my life.’

‘I watched my friend cry when she read my story – I want to make kids feel things.’

‘I like to read newspapers and magazines. I want to be part of the conversation that I hear going on.’

That third “kid” was Rebecca Wallace-Segall, who grew up to found Writopia Lab in 2007. A journalist in New York, Rebecca spun off a residency at a private school into a non-profit organization giving children and young people the chance to hone their literary skills with professional writer-instructors.

Rebecca and I met earlier this year at her New York headquarters on the Upper West Side, a cosy place of pine floorboards, comfy sofas and beanbags, its walls decorated with images of books where the children can write the names and titles of their own work on the spines. These are the ‘library walls’ which provide a record of success for Writopia participants, but the available spaces are quickly filling up. ‘We’re going to end up having to go on the ceiling!’ says Rebecca.

She began by explaining to me how Writopia Lab’s mission differs from community literacy programmes which seek to engage reluctant readers and writers.

Teaching and testing – the Finnish case

July 11, 2011December 12, 2011Mechanical Dolphin

Helsinki Panorama by Flickr user Huzhead

A tweet from Trevor Cairney, a fellow writer-educator based in Sydney, led me to David Sirota’s recent article on Finnish education in Salon.com.

Sirota’s article gives the lie to claims that a culture of rigorous testing is the only way to improve standards in US schools – pointing to Finland’s success in creating a world-class education system by cherishing teachers, rather than imposing tests.

The Finns have a remarkable system which produced top scores in the last PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) study by the OECD.

Teaching staff lie at the heart of Finland’s achievement. Well-trained, well-supported and given a great deal of independence, Finland’s teachers are trusted academic professionals, choosing their methods and materials themselves. Testing is used as the teacher sees fit – for self-evaluation and development, rather than for league tables and outcomes.

The Finns’ success is a great riposte to forces in the UK and US who continually push intensive testing regimes on our schools. As I said at the House of Commons last year, the current culture of testing and targets is so harmful to learning, especially in the field of literacy.