Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ReflectingRealities
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Thread: On from yesterday’s post about #ReflectingRealities @clpe1 research into representation of BAME lives in kids books... I shared the Newsround report with @nikeshshukla @rapclassroom about it with some Y6s. See here if you wish to do the same - bbc.co.uk/newsround/4484…
A slow discussion followed, not a lively sparky one. One pupil said that an author has a right to create whatever characters they wanted, and nobody has the right to force an author’s hand. Interesting starting point and one to interrogate.
We unpicked a little about the role of children’s books and whether there is a responsibility for the stories to reflect society. Shared that 1% vs 32% statistic. Eye brows were raised.
If you are an author and you’re wondering what you can do about @clpe1’s #ReflectingRealities report (because you should be), here are some suggestions.
1. Put BAME characters in your books. You need to do this thoughtfully. You need to research, you need to listen, you need to make them actually different to your white characters. But you need to do it!
Look around at the human beings you share your life with. I’m willing to bet that many of them are actually not white (if they *are*, then perhaps consider why this is). ‘Write what you know’ is a good general rule, but remember that what you know is more than whiteness.
