The Kids are All Right: Literature for 0-18 (11154.1)

Please note these are the 2027 details for this unit
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The Kids are All Right: Literature for 0-18
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
Online real-time
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Arts And Design
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
School Of Arts & Communication Level 3 - Undergraduate Advanced Unit Band 1 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 1 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
This unit provides students with the opportunity to engage with ongoing debates about childhood - the way it is constructed, portrayed, and catered for in literature, and to critically consider the ways that children's literature - from picture books to contemporary digital narratives - must constantly negotiate a space that is fiercely contested by numerous cultural forces and interests. Through critical reading, close textual analysis, comparative analysis and contextual study, this unit will encourage students to experience and critically evaluate a wide range of works for children and young adults, while developing key literary analysis skills and introductory research methodologies.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Critically evaluate the formal and aesthetic qualities of a range of works for children and young people;
2. Evaluate key critical and theoretical debates with the field of young people's literature studies; and
3. Plan and conduct a research inquiry into a current critical debate in children¿s or young adult literature studies.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas


Skills development

Unit description and learning outcomes

In this unit students will be able to read and respond to literature in many forms, including picture books, poetry, novels and game narratives, written for young people between the ages of 0 – 18 years of age. Students will read selections from critical and theoretical debates within the field of young people’s literature and literary studies.

Unit Outcomes: On successful completion of this unit, students will:

  1. Demonstrate in written and oral forms an ability to critically and creatively analyse the formal and aesthetic qualities of the studied works and;
  2. Demonstrate orally and in writing both a creative and a critical understanding of the key critical and theoretical engagements within the field of young people’s literature.


Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2027 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 16 February 2026 On-campus Dr Tony Eaton
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 16 February 2026 Online real-time Dr Tony Eaton
2027 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 15 February 2027 On-campus Dr Tony Eaton
2027 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 15 February 2027 Online real-time Dr Tony Eaton
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

Required texts/readings: It is essential that you read the following works in order to pass this unit. Most are available in hardcopy from the university and ACT Libraries. Several are  also available as e-books:

Fuller, L (2019) Ghostbird, UQP (Bookshop/Library)

Hall, L (2021) The Gaps, Text Publishing, Melbourne (bookshop)

Kostakis, W (2023) We Could Be Something,  Allen & Unwin(bookshop/library)

Foxlee (2021) Dragon Skin. Allen & Unwin  (Bookshop/online/library)

Nguyen, Trung Le (2020) The Magic Fish, Random House, New York (Bookshop/library/online)

Tan, S.

- (2000) The Lost Thing, Lothian, Melbourne. (Library Short Loan)

- (2018) Cicada, Lothian (Library short loan/Bookshop)

 

Required Readings on unit reading list for specific tutorial classes:

Bradford, C. (2001). Speaking for the Aborigines: knowledge, power and Aboriginalism (Ch. 4). In Reading Race (pp. 109-130). Melbourne University Press.

Dudek, D (2005), Desiring Perception: Finding Utopian Impulses in Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing, Papers – Explorations into Children's Literature, 15:2

French, J (2011) Nanberry: Black Brother White (excerpt)

Hateley, E (2013), Reading: From turning the Page to Touching the Screen in Wu, McGillis and Mallan [eds] (Re)Imagining the World: Children's Literature's Response to Changing Times, Springer, New York, pp 1-12

Lukashenko, M (2009) Muwi muwi-nyhn, binung goonj; boastful talk and broken ears, WQ (Writing Queensland), 186: 5-7

McLeod, D (2017) Try-error-try-it: Love, Loss, and the Subversion(?) of the Heteronormative Romance Story in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, in Papers, Vol 25, No.1

Nikolajeva, M (2008), Comparative Children's Literature: What is there to compare?, in Papers Vol 18, No.1

Stanton, S (2018),  Contemporary History: First Nation Representation in Black Brother White, in Papers Vol 26, no.1, pp 40-59

Recommended Additional Reading:

- (2002) The Red Tree, Lothian, Melbourne. (Library short loan)

- (2006) The Arrival, Lothian, Melbourne. (Library short loan)

- (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia, Allen  & Unwin, Sydney. (Library short loan)

- (2013) Rules of Summer, Allen & Unwin, Sydney (Library short loan / bookshop)

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Note that part of the assessment requirements for the In Class Critical Reading Presentation requires you to upload a copy of your chosen reading to Canvas, as either a .doc, .docx or .pdf file at least one week prior to your selected presentation class date. Timely uploading of your passage is one of the grading criteria for this assessment item.

Please also note the information provided earlier in this unit outline, and on the front page of the unit canvas site, and in the first lecture for the semester, and from the universtiy in the information below, about the use of generative AI in this unit.

ARTIFICIAL 'INTELLIGENCE'

Students are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in assessments for this unit.

GenAI may only be used in authorised ways when completing assessments at UC. This means that GenAI can only be used for an assessment when:

  1. the Unit Convener has authorised GenAI use for that assessment
  2. the student uses GenAI in the way that the assessment instructions allow
  3. the student fully acknowledges their use of GenAI, with proper citations, references and a GenAI Acknowledgement Statement in line with the assessment instructions.

Where the assessment instructions do not specifically state that GenAI may be used and how, then its use is not permitted for that assessment. Students must still provide the required GenAI Acknowledgement Statement to indicate whether GenAI has or has not been used in the preparation of the assessment. If unsure, students should seek advice from the Unit Convener.

The GenAI for StudentsLinks to an external site. Library Guide provides further information, including how to reference GenAI.

Supplementary assessment

Supplimentary assessment will be offered in this unit to elegible students who meet the requirements of the UC Assessment Policy

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

As this unit is a Literary Studies unit, it is worth noting that to do well, you will need to put aside some significant time throughout the semester to read - not just the course set texts and readings, but also to engage with children's and young adult writing outside the prescribed texts. This will greatly assist you with both the proposal and final assignments, and also allow you to provide greater context in your discussion and critical reading presentation assessment item.

Participation requirements

While attendance at classes in this unit is not mandatory, students should be aware that material covered in the tutorial classes and lectures will provide essential background knowledge and information that will be necessary in order to succeed in both the research proposal and final research essays. Historically, students with low participation rates struggle to succeed in this unit. It will also be necessary to attend tutorial classes at some point between weeks 4-10 in order to present your critical reading analysis assessment item.

If you have issues attending class, or presenting in front of your peers, and have documentary support or a recommended action plan in place, then you are strongly encouraged to contact the unit convener as early in the semester as possible, so that other possible approaches to this assessment item can be considered.

Required IT skills

Students will need access to Canvas, the ability to research using databases and online journals, and standard word processing ability.

Work placement, internships or practicums

This unit does not require practicums or work placements.

Education students who will have placements during the course of the semester are encouraged to let their tutor, or the course convener know as early in the semester as possible, so that adjustments to deadlines can be made if required.

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