A Secondment to Fab Lab Berlin
I am contributing to the MakEY research blog. My latest post shares my reflections from my first secondment with Fab Lab, Berlin.
I’m excited to be guest editing a new themed issue of the Media Education Research Journal (MERJ), alongside Becky Parry, Cary Bazalgette, Ashley Woodfall and Michelle Cannon.
In both dominant research paradigms and public discourse young children’s engagements with media continue to be seen narrowly in terms of the risks or benefits that may be involved. Meanwhile very young children are increasingly engaging with media at home in ways that influence their talk, their play, their developing identities and indeed their orientation to literacy. A growing new body of research also suggests that digital meaning making offers very young children distinct opportunities to explore, experiment and negotiate with assets and resources in an enticingly liminal space. In this ‘elastic’ space, children feel empowered by the extent of their control and are not limited or obstructed by the written form (Potter, 2012; Cannon, 2016). Continue reading “Themed issue of MERJ: Media Learning & Engagement in Early Childhood”
The sociologist, Ulrich Beck, famously described social class as a ‘zombie category’, suggesting that thinking in terms of social class was blinding academic researchers to the real experiences and ambiguities of modern life. And yet, inequalities in the UK not only persist, but are in fact growing. The UK ‘suffers from high levels of relative poverty and the poor in Britain are substantially poorer than the worst off in more equal industrialised societies’ (Diamond & Giddens, 2005, p. 102). Continue reading “The C Word – children, TV and social class”
For an early childhood and television researcher based in Sheffield, July brings with it the promise of two very different (but equally enticing) children’s conferences.
The Children’s Media Conference (CMC) is a national conference for the children’s media industry, taking place every year in Sheffield. Meanwhile, the University of Sheffield’s Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth (CSCY), hosts a biennial academic conference in July, also in Sheffield. This year, for the first time, the two were scheduled slap-bang, one on top of the other.
Continue reading “CMC / CSCY 2016: A Tale of Two Conferences”
Preschool child development and TV: revisiting CMC 2015
I am a contributor to the Children’s Media Foundation research blog. My latest post thinks about traditional approaches to child development in the context of research about TV.
As a postgraduate student living and working in Sheffield, I’m incredibly lucky that the industry-led Children’s Media Conference takes place every year right here in my home city.
Last year, I was invited to present my research on the transitionary preschool audience alongside presentations from Ofcom and The Pineapple Lounge. I used my session, ‘Sm(all) Change’ to bust three big myths about very young children watching television: that their engagement with TV is sedentary; that their engagement is solitary; and that they can’t make reality judgements about TV and advertising. You can watch my full presentation, alongside others, on the CMC website or Vimeo or read more about it in the CMC blog. Continue reading “Revisiting The Children’s Media Conference 2015”
On 4th July, 2016, I’ll be presenting as part of a masterclass on innovative visual methods for including children & young people in research. Click above for more information or contact Dawn Lessels to book (d.j.lessels@sheffield.ac.uk)
Using Sound to Spark Children’s Creativity
I have recently been working as a Research Associate on a project called ‘Storying Doncaster Sounds’. This research has some interesting interim findings about the potential of sound as a resource to support children’s literacy practices.
Following a busy start to 2016, 2015 now seems like another lifetime. However, having been asked to write a reflection on my travels for my grant awarders at the White Rose Doctoral Training Centre has jogged a lot of happy memories of my time ‘Down Under’.
My trip to Australia came at exactly the right time in my PhD journey. I had been extremely busy with data collection and teaching. I actually spent the day before my flight with one of my wonderful research families, rather than packing my oversized suitcase (a constant companion on my trip and affectionately nicknamed ‘Big Yella’).
Continue reading “Reflections from a trip Down Under a.k.a. ‘A Suitcase Full o’Roos’”
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