Dempster, Steven and Sunderland, Jane and Thistlethwaite, Jo and Oliver, Alice (2016) What has Harry Potter done for me? : children's reflections on their 'Potter experience'. Children's Literature in Education, 47 (3). pp. 267-282. ISSN 1573-1693
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Abstract
This article reports findings from a small-scale focus group study funded by the British Academy which examines children’s literacy practices in relation to the seven Harry Potter novels. Drawing on Marsh and Shavelson’s (1985) notion of Academic Self-concept, and Barton and Hamilton’s (1998) view of literacy as context-specific social practices, we examine what young British Potter ‘enthusiasts’ perceive as the influence of the novels on their subsequent reading behaviours and academic development. Specifically, we consider whether these children feel that Harry Potter has helped improve their reading, whether they think the books have changed their attitudes to reading, the role of the films, and whether there are any gender tendencies. We conclude that these Potter enthusiasts view the series as formative in terms of their literacy, but regarding gender, intra-group variation is far greater than inter-group variation.