Home-schooling project to inspire hope and celebrate BAME diversity

A home-schooling project geared towards inspiring hope and celebrating Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) diversity has been awarded funding from the OU’s COVID-19 Rapid Response scheme.

Teresa Cremin, Professor of Literacy and Dr Sarah Mukherjee, Post Doctoral Research Associate both in the OU’s Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, have been awarded £10,000 for a project which focuses on supporting young children’s emotional wellbeing through picture fiction that focuses on hope and celebrates BAME and diversity.

The team will identify picture books that can be used during Reading Together (adults reading to and with children sessions). This responds to concerns during the COVID-19 crisis that children’s emotional wellbeing has been and will continue to be adversely affected due to ongoing uncertainty, fear and local lockdowns.

Professor Cremin said:

“The book recommendations and resources offered by this research will be designed for use by parents and teachers as they support children in the event of self-isolation, via online classes (during future lockdowns), after school and in school holidays.

"Those included in the recommended lists will foreground picture books which reflect the diversity of children’s lives and offer hope in challenging times.  We all need hope, and parents and teachers need to know high quality books that offer support in overcoming adversity.”

The list of book recommendations and resources are due to be available by the end of summer 2021