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Dr Mary-Louise Maynes

Louise has been teaching at Bishop Grosseteste University since 2008, initially as a visiting tutor and as a full-time member of staff from 2012. Prior to working at BGU Louise worked as a primary teacher in Kent and Lincolnshire and for a Schools Library Service, where she advised teachers on how to set up and manage school libraries. She has also had a career as a museum educator, working with children and young people in a variety of museums including the Apprentice House at Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire and the Natural History Museum in London where she managed their hands-on ‘discovery centre’. Teaching Louise teaches on the undergraduate Early Childhood Studies programme. Her teaching interests include the history of childhood, early literacy and working with babies and children under three. She has a particular interest in Children’s Literature and in developing ways to encourage students and practitioners to extend their knowledge and use of books with babies and young children. She has also contributed sessions on informal learning for the Education Studies programme.

Louise's research for her Doctorate of Education explored children's responses to poetic non-fiction picture books. her particular research interests lie in reader-response, how children perceive truth in non-fiction texts and emotion and empathy in children's non-fiction.Louise is a member of the Literature and Literacies Research and Knowledge Exchange Unit.

Louise has a particular interest in how early years settings are adapting to meet the needs of two year olds following recent changes in government policy and has been working with a nursery in Lincoln as they develop their two year old provision. She has also been involved recently with practitioners in a large nursery in Leicester to develop their creative practice in collaboration with an arts practitioner from the Children’s Charity Children’s Links. Louise is working with the International office to develop links and short courses with Chinese Nursery Headteachers. She is also working with the Literature and Literacies RKEU to develop a master's programme in Children's Literature and Literacies.

Adams, K., Bull, R. and Maynes, M-L. (2015) Early childhood spirituality in education: towards an understanding of the distinctive features of young children's spirituality. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 24 (5). pp. 760-774. ISSN 1350-293X Gilluly, S., Allison, S., Maynes, M., & Simpkins, R. (2017). Spirituality and the whole child: Interdisciplinary approaches. International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 22(1), 102-103. doi:10.1080/1364436X.2017.1279593

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