Led by Professor Nina Christensen, who also directs the Centre for Children's Literature and Media, the project brings together researchers and practitioners from VIA University College, DOKK1 and schools in Aarhus. The team has received a grant of DKK 5,899,999 from the VELUX FONDEN.

The project will develop methods and practical tools to help schools and libraries create reading activities and partnerships designed in collaboration with children themselves. By involving children in shaping literary experiences, the researchers aim to ensure that activities reflect children's own perspectives, interests and wishes.

- We hope that both children and adults will gain new ways of engaging in conversations across generations and professional boundaries. In doing so, the project may also help strengthen children’s opportunities to move out of vulnerable positions, says Nina Christensen.

Pilot project points to stronger social connections

The research team has previously collaborated on the pilot project Small Voices – Great Stories, which provided encouraging indications that reading communities can make a meaningful difference.

- Our pilot project showed that children in vulnerable situations benefit from coming together around stories. We saw signs that shared activities such as reading, writing and drawing stories strengthened both their social relationships and their sense of agency, says Nina Christensen.

The pilot project also suggested that the library can provide a valuable space between school and home where these communities can flourish.

- The library offers an 'in-between space' that combines freedom with a shared creative purpose built around reading, writing and drawing. This creates unique opportunities for children to choose to participate in a community. Together with the children, researchers and practitioners will explore more closely what these activities make possible, she says.

Supporting participation and inclusion

The project addresses a broader societal challenge: around one in five children leave school without functional reading skills, increasing their risk of exclusion from both social communities and democratic participation.

- We hope that the children who take part in the project will experience becoming part of supportive communities that strengthen their opportunities for participation—not only in reading activities, but more broadly in social life, says Nina Christensen.

The project is funded through the VELUX FONDEN’s HUMpraxis programme, which supports collaborations between research and professional practice.

Read more:

Shared Stories builds on the pilot project “Small Voices – Great Stories”

The project is also discussed in the anthology “Alliances: Children, Adults, Literature and Media”, edited by Nina Christensen and Ayoe Quist Henkel. The volume includes contributions on the pilot project, including articles on reading culture and co-creation between authors, illustrators and children in library settings.

Contact

Nina Christensen
Professor of children's literature
Department of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric
School of Communication and Culture
Aarhus University
Phone: +45 21 65 38 59
Email: [email protected]