'Representations of dyslexia have a history of educational and literary scholarship primarily concerned with how dynamic characters with learning disabilities are and if they are positively portrayed. This article uses narrative theory to analyze how diagnosis operates on a structural level to create what I call the dyslexic diagnosis paradigm. Examining school stories featuring characters with dyslexia published between 2007 and 2020, I demonstrate how this paradigm functions through a structural closure of struggle, diagnosis and accommodations, and a psychological closure consisting of shame, declaration, and acceptance within these novels. Variations or polytypes of this narrative are also common within this corpus which maintain the psychological closure of shame, declaration, and acceptance present within the prototypical narrative. While some disability counternarratives or dyslexic persistence narratives nuance the school story, the dyslexic diagnosis paradigm ultimately remains prevalent and upholds the medical model of disability within the educational system, promoting the flawed status quo of disability rather than asking readers to question the validity of the systems which enforce them.' (Publication abstract)
'Children’s literature about the ocean is a valuable learning tool for increasing ocean literacy in formal education. This instruction is, nonetheless, reliant on teachers’ capacity to explore, appreciate and understand the different ways in which elements of picture books convey ocean concepts. As researchers who work collaboratively in marine science education and children’s literature, we analysed a targeted sample of picture books about a largely unknown temperate reef system on the southern coastline of Australia, the Great Southern Reef. Our exploration of these picture books' verbal and visual strategies showed how they can be used as model examples of scientifically accurate educational resources to deliver ocean concepts, increase awareness of a local marine environment, and promote positive attitudes towards science. The portrayal of scientists, particularly female scientists in these texts can also expand children’s perceptions and beliefs about who scientists are and how they work, and ultimately impact young people’s career choices. We argue that the analysis modelled in this article can be adapted to different selections of ocean-themed picture books. Therefore, we provide recommendations for educators in other regions of the world choosing picture books to improve ocean education in the context of other local marine environments.' (Publication abstract)
