Amy Byrne

Amy Byrne

Department of English Literature
Doctoral researcher

Contact details

PhD title: Assessing the Representation and Role of Racial Diversity in Children’s Picturebooks
SupervisorsDr Emily Wingfield and Dr Nicola Smith
PhD English Literature

Qualifications

  • BA(Hons) Key Stage 2/3 Education, Religious Education with QTS (Edge Hill University)
  • MA Early Years Education (University College London)

Biography

Having worked as a classroom teacher in the UK, Czech Republic and Thailand for eight years, my interest in children's literature is based on children's interactions and responses to books.

My MA dissertation focussed on gender inclusion in the Early Years classroom, igniting my passion for diversity and inclusion.

Research

My thesis explores picturebooks published between the late nineteenth century to the present day, tracking changes regarding how racial diversity is presented in both text and images. Building on the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education's quantitative Reflecting Realities studies, this thesis considers the role of schools, publishers and other mediums in ensuring that children have access to diverse picturebooks.

Split into two sections: theory and practice, the thesis aims to work with young children in UK Primary Schools to discover how children respond to racially diverse texts.

Other activities

  • Participant in the 2022 Made in Europe (Migration) EUniWell Winter School