The winner and highly commended authors are announced today for the UKLA Academic Book Award 2015
The panel- teachers, headteachers, consultants and HE lecturers considered the seven shortlisted books carefully. Subjects ranged from dialogic talk to diversity, from critical thinking through picture books to teaching Caribbean poetry, and from new literacies around the globe to building communities of readers and looking back at research into literacy over many years. All shortlisted titles evidence a passion for the teaching of English, all make distinctive contributions to the field.
After much debate, our worthy winner is:
Margaret M Clark for Learning to be Literate: Insights from research for policy and practice
This self-published book charts over half a century of research, and is a timely reminder that rigorous research is essential for an informed view about how best to support children’s literacy development. The panel found it a moving record, of vital importance to classroom teachers and those who steer the processes of education.
In addtion, the panel highly commended:
Mary Roche for Developing Children’s Critical Thinking through Picturebooks (published by Routledge)
The voices of children and teachers, richly engaged with picturebooks, resound enthrallingly in this enthusiastic, thoughtful and superbly well-informed account of productive classroom practice.
The award was presented at the UKLA 51st International Conference in Nottingham on Saturday 11 July.