Plotting Ahead... Diversity, inclusion and belonging
Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging in children’s literature.
In early 2020, the Pearson Plotting Ahead roundtable series launched its inaugural event.
Educators, independent publishers and third sector organisations came together to discuss the existing lack of diversity, inclusion and belonging in children’s literature across the UK. Since that time, the world has faced one of the greatest challenges in modern times but the collective commitment to diversity and inclusion in literature has not wavered.
Following the event and with the help of all of those in attendance, we wanted to identify what we should and could do to improve diversity in literature for children and young people across the UK – as individuals, as organisations and as a nation.
Our Roundtable Report
Our chair and speakers
Jaz Ampaw-Farr
Jaz is an author, keynote speaker, coach and ‘resilience ninja’ who will facilitate our event. A former primary school teacher, literacy is close to her heart. Jaz champions the power of ‘everyday heroes’ in her TedTalk and has also been a contestant on The Apprentice.
Sharon Hague
Sharon is a Senior Vice President at Pearson where she has worked for 20 years. She is responsible for the development and delivery of qualifications and assessments together with providing primary and secondary with high-quality teaching and learning resources. She has extensive experience of working closely with government, schools and other partners to provide services that help children and young people make progress in their lives. Sharon is an advocate for inclusivity both in the workplace and within education.
James Aidoo
Founder and lead trainer of Innerscope, James is an inspirational speaker, trainer and coach. His gift of communication enables him to deliver engaging and impacting talks that have been well received nationwide. His “Are You A Talker?” assembly makes use of storytelling, spoken word poetry and theory rooted in emotional intelligence. As a result, students are taken on a dynamic journey that challenges, changes and inspires them through exploring themes such as resilience, goal setting and more. His work was recognised by the Metropolitan police and as a result he received the borough commander’s award for making a significant contribution to the community.
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Farrah Serroukh
An experienced teacher and senior leader, Farrah taught across the primary school age range before holding several leadership posts in areas including Literacy, EAL, EMA and Inclusion. She has always been a passionate advocate of every child’s right to access high quality literature and experience the best education possible. Her interests in this regard led to her study of an MA in Bilingualism in Education. She coordinates CLPE’s partnership and regional work and is the author of CLPE’s Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature 2017, which is the first of its kind in the history of UK children’s publishing. Farrah was awarded the Brenda Eastwood Award in recognition of her pioneering work on ethnic representation in children’s literature at the UKLA’s 55th International Conference 2019.