Ms Alison Baker
Senior Lecturer
Primary English, children's literature
Department of Education , School of Childhood and Social Care
Alison Baker is a senior lecturer in the School of Childhood and Social Care, where she teaches modules on inclusion and subject knowledge in the Early Years, Primary English and reflective practice in Primary Teaching.
Qualifications
- BA, PGCE, MA, (pending) PhD
Areas Of Interest
- Children's Literature
- Reading for pleasure
- Social class
- Inclusive practice
- International and comparative education
- Social class in children's fiction
- Representation and picture books
- Developing reading for pleasure with primary teachers
OVERVIEW
Alison Baker is a senior lecturer in the School of Childhood and Social Care, where she teaches modules on inclusion and subject knowledge in the Early Years, Primary English and reflective practice in Primary Teaching.
She is in the final year of a PhD on white working-class children in children's fantasy fiction. She is interested in the representation of social class in fantasy, and how child readers perceive it.
She has published chapters in books on social class and inheritance in Harry Potter, children's comics, and journal articles on developing critical reading pedagogy in Higher Education, developing children's literature subject knowledge with PGCE students and her fieldwork in primary school.
External roles
- Children's programme coordinator, Eastercon 2019 (Ytterbium)
- Editorial Board, Journal of Historical Fiction
CURRENT RESEARCH
My interests include children's literature; reading for pleasure; social class; inclusive practice; and international and comparative education.
Children's sense of genre and development of reading taste. Social Capital in children's fantasy fiction. The use of social media in extending and supporting trainee teachers' knowledge of children's literature. UEL Goodreads discussion group.
"Every child should be able to relate to their literature": Trainee teachers investigating cultural diversity in picture books - Alison Baker
- Fieldwork in a Year 6 (10 and 11-year-olds) classroom, finding out whether children can identify social class in children’s fantasy fiction
- White working-class children and children's fantasy fiction
- Reading pedagogies
- Social class and reading
- Reading pedagogies for Higher Education
TEACHING
BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS
Train to teach the 5-11 age range. Study pedagogy and subject knowledge covering both the Early Years Foundation Stage and National Curriculum.
Read moreMODULES
- English Teaching in Primary Education
- Curriculum Subject Knowledge: Policy Development
- School-Based Training: Mental Wealth 2
- School-Based Training: Mental Wealth 3
Publications
Browse past publications by year.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications
- Do Children Perceive Social Class in Children’s Fantasy Texts? Initial Findings From Research in a Year 6 Classroom Research in Teacher Education. 10 (1), pp. 23-28. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.88z92
- Expert Voices: Reading comics and graphic novels Exploring Children's Literature: Reading for Knowledge, Understanding and Pleasure. SAGE Publications, pp.221-222
- Curiouser and Curiouser: What Happens After the Return from Wonderland? Fantastika Journal. 2 (1), pp. 141-143
- Early Reading Experiences of White Working-Class Trainee Teachers Research in Teacher Education. 7 (1), pp. 25-28. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.891x8