Saturday, 31 October 2015

OUIL601 - Tutorial 30/10/15

-1500 words drafted of chapter 1
-Chapters need introduction/conclusion
-Conclusions should highlight the four or five key points and link in to the next chapter.
- Use citations to indicate where the info is coming from.
- Make the comparative and critical chapter.

Sunday, 18 October 2015

OUIL601 - COP Tutorial 16/10/2015

QUESTION:
How can Illustration inspire at interest in wildlife conservation in young children?

My arguments:
  • Illustrative books are really effective ways to educate children as well as entertain
  • Wildlife conservation is a big social problem that not enough people are aware of.
  • Our current social attitudes to animals are inhumane.
Structure
Intro - 500 words
3,000 - History of wildlife conservation
2,500 - Wildlife in childrens illustration books - how animals are shown/ does it back up societies views?
2,000 - Illustration materials/activities - RSPB/Scottish Wildlife Society. - A case study
Conclusion.

Thursday, 15 October 2015

OUIL601 - I'm doing a simple narrative

My idea of having a story about two girls who meet up, one living in the forest, one living in the city, was great however it would have taken an age to actually write and illustrate. So I realised that I needed to come up with an easier narrative, one that allowed for me to directly include my research without having to faff around creating this massive story around it, I can do that another time.

So after looking through some of my children's books, my favourite ones are the ones with very simple and straight forward story lines.

I've decided the main character will be a snail, everyone loves snails. The snail will read some bad news about wildlife and go on an adventure to speak to his fellow wildlife and get some inside knowledge.

OUIL601 - Childrens Illustrators

http://www.thebrightagency.com/artists/index
I found this agency that deal solely with childrens illustrators, there's quite a few pages, so I'm going to take some time to look through them all.

OUIL601 - Places I want to visit

Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Fairburn Ings.

Meanwood Valley Farm.


OUIL601 - WCS - Wildlife Conservation Society

http://www.wcs.org/educators/educational-materials/interactives

OUIL601 - Interviews with Illustrators

The Book Trust.org


OUIL601 - Scottish Wildlife Trust - Education

WILDLIFE EDUCATION

See, learn about and enjoy wildlife

Education is at the heart of the Scottish Wildlife Trust's work, with our 25-year vision aiming to inspire and engage people in wildlife and conservation.
Our People and Wildlife team encourages people of all ages to see, learn about and enjoy wildlife both on our reserves and in the wider countryside, creating opportunities to get involved in a range of activities and events.
Meanwhile, our Experts for Nature project is looking to train the ecological surveyors of the future, addressing the current skills gap in field surveying in Scotland.

People and wildlife

Our People and Wildlife department focuses on four key areas of development:
  • Maintaining and developing a vibrant network of local groups working for wildlife
  • Fostering a strong, inclusive relationship with members and volunteers
  • Engaging communities with our reserves and conservation work
  • Inspiring families and young people to reconnect with nature

The Scottish Wildlife Trust have set up different groups, to help get children involved in wildlife and the conservation effort, they are called Wildlife Watch Groups.

'Education is an important part of the Trust's work, with the aim of inspiring young people about the value of our natural world.'

http://blog.wcs.org/photo/?__utma=1.549936898.1444906645.1444906645.1444911224.2&__utmb=1.27.9.1444911679919&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1444906645.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=201675409

OUIL601 - The Wildlife Trusts - Wildlife Watch


http://wildlifewatch.org.uk
The Wildlife Trust's Wildlife Watch website is a group aimed at mostly children, and I guess their parents. 
There's loads of different pages, that take you to some useful resources, and has links to various educational packs. 
There's lists of activities that people can submit and review etc

'Wildlife Watch and The Wildlife Trusts organise hundreds of events every year for families and young people.  Most Trusts organise family events and Wildlife Watch groups, and some also organise holiday clubs, birthday parties, conservation volunteering for teenagers, and tots groups for the under fives.'

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

OUIL601 - New narrative, new start.

I feel like the initial idea I had for the narrative doesn't really work out. It's way too complicated.
So I've decided to start fresh and brainstorm some more ideas:

- A snail wants to explore Britain and expand his mind, he wears mini rollerskates, he's bored of his life, wants to explore, he befriends a pigeon and flies round with it.
- Snail wants to be a journalist, keeps seeing sad news stories on his snailbook, so he takes his old baby shells and gives them away to make other animals happy.

I don't know why I'm so obsessed with the idea of having a snail as the main character, but it seems like it's going that way now anyway.

OUIL601 - Mark Hearld



Mark Hearld's illustrations are gorgeous, especially how he makes the text part of the image and incorporates it into the movement and flow of the composition. I think he has the perfect balance of texture, shape and line, to create a detailed image with lots to look at, which isn't too overwhelming.




OUIL601 - Yasmeen Ismail




I've been thinking that I want to use a mixture of watercolour and pencil to make the illustrations for my book, they can create images using simple shapes yet have lots of texture to make the image really interesting.



OUIL601 - Allison Colpoys




Allison Colpoys uses colour very effectively, and I think the simplicity of the designs works really well with the colours to create an effective and beautiful book cover. 


OUIL601 - Follow up to the COP Lecture 13/10/15

Methodologies and Critical Analysis


  • Logic, reasoning and critical judgement

What is a methodology?
  • Best plane of action
  • a logical, systematic way of organising a research project.
  • Critically reflect on various research methods.
PALGRAVE STUDY SKILLS

  • What kind of research methods should you employ to best answer your questions?
  • What have you done to reduce problems with your research methods?
Your methodology may include:
  • Literature review - Find the key literature in your research topic.
  • A particular theoretical approach.
  • Questionnaires - Why are you using each method?
  • Interviews
  • Sketchbooks.
Are children disengaging from nature?

What theoretical lense will you use? - What theories? Feminism etc.

Outline your methodology at the start of your dissertation (introduction) - How I am approaching my investigations.
(Go to Fairburn and other wildlife places, get research from there and speak to people)

What limitations might I face? (People not replying to my emails)
State why you aren't looking at something.

Who has already written about wildlife conservation and education.

Critical Analysis
  • Try to consider different points of view.
  • Are your sources biased?
  • What is the writers agenda?
  • Self reflection - Am I biased? (Yes, very much so)
  • Context is everything.
  • When was your research made?

Marxist
Neoliberal
Physcological
Sociological
Post Modernist
Technological
Fundamentalist 
Positivist

Saturday, 10 October 2015

OUIL601 - First COP tutorial

So I found the first cop tutorials slightly confusing, I don't know if I'm exactly any clearer on the essay side of my project, but I know there are some definite holes that I need to plug in regards to missing research and some questions that need answering.

I need to pin down the exact reason I'm making the children's book, and what I'm trying to accomplish with it.
I need to decide exactly what I'm focussing on and do some deeper research behind it.
I also need to consider all my target audiences, because as well as the children, I need to appeal to their parents too.

- Target audience - ages 5-7 and their parents.