Methodology

Introduction

The first OIW ‘Reading the Way’ project identified a range of inclusive and accessible titles from around the world. (Information about these books can be found in our extensive research report of 2015.) 

The ‘Reading the Way 2’ project would allow a small selection of these titles to be explored in greater depth. This would be done by taking them to the selected schools and introducing them through an initial workshop, which would be followed by a school project.  Following the project, a second workshop would allow the participants’ feedback and recommendations to be collected. 

The books included ‘accessible’ titles (so books including tactile elements, braille, sign language and symbols) and ‘inclusive’ books (books featuring a disabled character).

The Books:

• A total of 22 books from around the world were assessed.
• 11 countries included: France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Italy, Korea, Sweden, Spain, Syria and the UK.
• 9 titles had been translated into English for the first RtW project by OIW.
• Languages included: French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Arabic, Korean, Spanish and Swedish.
   

The Workshops

OIW conducted ten workshops with five schools and one university (the University of East Anglia). The make-up of these workshops involved an author/illustrator or translator, facilitator, children, students and teachers.

The workshops comprised groups of children and students ranging from a small group of five up to groups of thirty. 

Participant Artists and Facilitators

• Rosa Tiziana Bruno, author, Italy
• Dr Rebecca Butler, writer, lecturer and researcher
• Susie Day, author
• Julia Donaldson, author
• Daniel Hahn, translator and editor
• Franz-Joseph Huainigg, author, Austria
• Nadine Kaadan, author and illustrator
• Annie Kubler, publisher Child’s Play
• Denise Muir, translator
• Jane Ray, illustrator and author

Participating Establishments

• Guildford Grove Primary School – Years 3-4 children, including 6-8 deaf children from the Lighthouse unit and some of their hearing peers.
  
• New College Worcester, School and College for Visually Impaired Students – 9 students, including one AS level student from the art group and 8 students from Year 7.
  
  
• River Beach Primary School, West Sussex – Workshop 1: 12 pupils from Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6 and six children from the Special Support Centre for Deaf children, West Sussex – two focus groups with children in the SSC, aged five to 11 years. Workshop 2: two groups of 45 Y2 children.
  
  
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, London – Two sessions of groups of 30 Y2 children including children from the Hilary House unit for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
  
  
• St Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary School, Surrey – Four pupils from Y5 and four from Y6.
  
  
• University of East Anglia, Norwich – a group of MA students of Translation and BA students of children’s literature.

Resources

As a result of the outcomes of the workshops and individual school projects, OIW has created a resource pack that can be used in schools and downloaded from our website.