Module manager: Dr Lucy Taylor
Email: l.taylor@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module integrates the study of children’s literature with the study of childhood and children’s literacy learning. By studying literature written for children from early years to young adult the module focuses on the ways that children and childhood are represented in contemporary and classic literature for children. Children’s literature is situated within the social and cultural context in which it is produced, and the module analyses the ways that children’s literature reflects social constructions of childhood. Constructions of childhood are implicit in education systems, and by analysing the role of children’s literature in the classroom and the curriculum, this module examines the relationships between children’s literature and the development of literacy skills in children.
The key objectives of the module are:
To explore social and cultural aspects of children’s literature
To analyse the literacy skills supported and developed by children’s texts
To interrogate the role of classroom practice and curricular requirements in relation to children’s literature
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of a range of children’s literature including picture books, multimodal texts, classic and contemporary writing for children, young adult fiction.(Assignment 1 and 2)
2. Identify constructions of childhood implicit in the texts and relate this to understanding about ideas about children and childhood. (Assignment 1)
3. Demonstrate understanding of formal and informal learning developed through different texts for children. (Assignment 2)
4. Evaluate the ways that children’s literature is used to develop literacy skills from Early Years to the beginning of secondary education. (Assignment 2)
5. Synthesise a range of ideas and perspectives about children’s literature and its place in formal and informal education. (Assignment 1 and 2)
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Communicate ideas about children's literature to specific audiences
5. Creatively apply ideas about children’s literature in innovative ways and to new texts
6. Search for and use information in the literature relevant to the chosen article focus.
Indicative content: italics
Literature and learning in the early years; becoming a reader
Visual and textual literacies through multimodal texts, language development and comprehension, representation of childhood in picture books, literacy in early years settings, literacy in homes and communities
Developing skills; middle childhood and the primary years
Classic and contemporary children’s novels, literacy skills supported and developed through texts, contrasting representations of childhood, uses of literature in primary classrooms, learning in informal contexts
Moving on; fiction for teens, curriculum and classroom literacies
Classic and contemporary fiction for teen/young adult audiences, challenging ideas and growing up, debates about literature in the curriculum, the literary cannon and learning for exams
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Seminar | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Independent online learning hours | 15 | ||
| Private study hours | 155 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 30 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will be required to prepare and review learning resources available on the VLE independently prior to and following up lectures and seminars.
In private study they will be expected to undertake reading of 8-12 children's literature texts which are part of the module and to read critical literature surrounding those texts. Up to six of the texts will be children's novels.
In preparation for the module assignment they will need to do independent research to enable them to choose texts which are appropriate to the task and engage in further reading from the literature.
Students will be allocated study groups in which they will undertake tasks in between lectures.
A draft assignment may be submitted for feedback in the form of a plan, or introductory paragraph and plan, no longer than 2 pages.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Coursework 1x 1,500 words | 50 |
| Coursework | Coursework 1x 1,500 words | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Two short assessments: In the first assignment, students will write an analysis of one of the picture books studied in the module, focusing on one double page. In the second assignment, students will design a resource for teaching and learning using one of the books from the module, for any group of learners of their own choice. These will be collated into an activity bank that will be shared with other students on the module.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 18/06/2025
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