Angry outside: a study into Mairi Hedderwick’s Katie Morag stories and their potential to develop emotional literacy

Abstract

This dissertation considers using Mairi Hedderwick’s iconic Katie Morag picturebooks to develop emotional literacy in the Scottish primary classroom. The paper acknowledges the ways that the texts are commonly used in schools within Scottish cultural contexts or for geography-based topics comparing island life with city life and proposes that the stories also have much potential for developing children’s emotional literacy.

Literature around cognitive literary criticism, emotional literacy, picturebook semiotics and visual literacy is reviewed alongside relevant papers on both Hedderwick’s texts and the BBC television series. A general overview of the Katie Morag stories is presented before the research focuses on three key texts: Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted (Hedderwick, 1986), Katie Morag and the Big Boy Cousins (1987) and Katie Morag and the New Pier (1993). Using a cognitive literary lens, a framework is designed and then applied to the chosen texts based on features outlined in Nikolajeva (2013).

The methodology involved a close textual analysis of each double-page within the picturebooks, drawing attention to representations of basic emotions and higher cognitive emotions in both the verbal and visual texts. The written text was examined to glean examples of literal, metaphorical and implied statements of emotion. In the images, facial expressions and body language were explored as was composition, scale, colour and point of view and how this informs the reader’s understanding of the emotions presented within the stories. The results are presented thematically looking at Katie Morag’s emotions, how she responds to other people’s feelings, how the weather mirrors emotions through pathetic fallacy, as well as a discussion about Theory of Mind and empathy.

The study finds that there is much potential for using these texts to discuss emotional literacy in the primary classroom and in doing so boosting children’s visual literacy skills. The stories boast examples of embedded Theory of Mind for children to practise their mind-reading skills and opportunities to identify empathy between characters. A general discussion surrounding the importance of emotional literacy alongside visual literacy is then presented with reference to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes. Finally, some suggestions are offered for exploring these texts through holistic, cross-curricular classroom experiences.

Nikolajeva, M (2013) ‘Picturebooks and Emotional Literacy’, The Reading Teacher, 67 (4)