Friday, June 21, 2013

Carnegie winner Gardner: children being 'examined into failure'

20.06.13 | Caroline Horn - The Bookseller

Dyslexic author Sally Gardner, the winner of this year's CILIP Carnegie Medal for Maggot Moon (published by Hot Key Books), has used her acceptance speech to call for a "divorce" between the state and education and has hit out at the exam regime for "examining children into failure".

Gardner was joined at the podium this morning by author and illustrator Levi Pinfold, winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for only his second picture book, Black Dog, published by Templar. Both Templar and Hot Key Books are part of the Bonnier Group.
Gardner, who was once branded "unteachable" at school, said, "In winning the Carnegie Medal, you join some of the greatest writers and illustrators this country has known, it's phenomenal, and especially as I have found writing very difficult because I am dyslexic."

 Gardner warned that the forthcoming changes to the National Curriculum and exam system will mean that more children who are dyslexic will be excluded from education "because they won't be able to spell". Yet, she added, "Dyslexic children have so much to teach us. We are seeing new technologies emerging that are beyond our wildest fantasy. In this world of magicians it's the seers that will inherit the world and dyslexic children have, in abundance, that ability to see in 3D."

 She called for "an annulment in the miserable marriage between state education and politics", arguing that "This relationship has deteriorated beyond repair, forced schools and teachers to accommodate the whims and egos of ministers with virtually no knowledge of the departments they take over, bringing in policies that damage the future of a whole generation of children".
Gardner also criticized a "hypocritical" government for actions including library closures and its failure to support libraries in schools. "It says it wants more children reading, yet it forces libraries to close; says it wants more students to go into higher education and yet raises tuition fees so only the rich can afford them. It says it wants great diversity and yet insists on uniform exams for all."

 Such changes, she added, are also threatening to democracy, a theme that lies at the heart of Maggot Moon. "My book is like a 'what if' for any time. It's about democracy and I believe that democracy is a very fragile thing and if we stop questioning those who threaten it, then we will find ourselves in a dictatorship.
"It's such a subtle change to shift from asking 'why', to being told, 'you don't need to ask because we know the answer'. Our democracy is being eaten away and schools and our education system are a watermark of what is happening, but it's happening in a lot of areas and people are not questioning it. It's time we all stood up and said something."

 In Gardner's Maggot Moon, an unlikely young hero Standish, who is dyslexic, stands up to a sinister dictatorship whilst friends and family around him 'disappear'. Pinfold's Black Dog is also a tale of triumph over terror, with a little girl called Small Hope facing fear head-on in the form of a monstrous giant black dog.

 Both Gardner and Pinfold are first-time winners of the awards. They have each received £500 worth of books to donate to their local library. Pinfold was also awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.
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