AustLit

'Nurturing young people’s creativity seems to have become one of the foremost goals of education over the past few years. However, a minimal amount of attention is paid to the challenges that teachers face in achieving this goal in the classroom. In this interview-based article, children’s author Libby Gleeson indicates that while an assessment-driven curriculum undermines teachers’ efforts to promote creativity, equally detrimental is their own inability to position themselves as creative practitioners. Based on her professional experience as a writer and educator, Gleeson suggests that teacher education and development can play a pivotal role in helping teachers to nurture their personal creativity.'

'With the centenary of World War I (WWI) commemorative events taking place, Australia’s involvement in this conflict is popularly seen as inextricably linked to a definitive national identity. Numerous children’s books have been published that represent events from WWI. Eight such picture books, aimed at primary school students and published post-2010, are selected for analysis. This analysis comes at a time when there is significant attention being paid by governments, community organisations, media outlets and the general public to the anniversary of WWI. Therefore, it is timely to analyse representations of this conflict, particularly to understand contemporary representations aimed at children.'