Help! Literature in Education

I am starting a new subject at uni called "Literature in Education" and I'm putting out the call for help.

What children's literature is in your school library? How is children's literature being used to enhance the education of children at all levels of schooling?

I am looking specifically at Contemporary Realistic Fiction for my first assignment. What are the current trends and themes in this area of children's literature? Can you suggest any current examples that are popular, relevant, and used in schools?

I appreciate your help! If you can post a link to this blog entry on your blog, or tweet a link to it so it gets to as many people as possible, that would be wonderful :)

Thanking you in anticipation.

Josh is a Good Citizen - Values in Education

My gorgeous boy Joshua received a "Citizen of the Month" Award today at school.

Here he is proudly showing off his certificate.

In the second photo you can see the badge he received pinned to his shirt.

Citizen of the Month is something that Josh's school does in response to the Australian government's push for values education in all schools. The nine values for Australian schooling are:

• Care and Compassion
• Integrity
• Doing Your Best
• Respect
• Fair Go
• Responsibility
• Freedom
• Understanding, Tolerance and Inclusion
• Honesty and Trustworthiness

Josh received his award for Fairness - "Pursue and protect the common good where all people are treated fairly for a just society."

If you want to find out more about Values in Australian Schooling, head here.

What value do you think schools should teach?

And, for my overseas readers, a special treat! Here is a close up picture of the spider Josh and I found outside when we were taking the photos.