
Dr. Rachel Heydon, PhD
Professor - Curriculum Studies and Studies in Applied Linguistics
Dr. Rachel Heydon, PhD
Professor - Curriculum Studies and Studies in Applied Linguistics
In The News
Recent Publications
Selected Books Authored
Heydon, R., McTavish, M., & Bainbridge, J. (2021). Constructing meanings: Literacies pedagogies K-8 (7 th ed.). Nelson.
Heydon, R., & O’Neill, S. (2016). Why multimodal literacy matters: (Re)conceptualizing literacy
and wellbeing through singing-infused multimodal, intergenerational curricula. Sense.
Heydon, R. (2013). Learning at the ends of life: Children, elders, and literacies in intergenerational curriculum. University of Toronto Press.
Selected Books Edited
Heydon, R., Fancourt, D., & Cohen, A. J. (Eds.). (2020). Routledge companion to interdisciplinary studies in singing: Vol 3. Well-being. Routledge.
Hamilton, M., Heydon, R., Hibbert, K., & Stooke, R. (Eds.). (2015). Negotiating spaces for literacy learning: Multimodality and governmentality. Bloomsbury.
Selected Edited Encyclopedias
Heydon, R. (Regional Ed.), & Waniganayake, M. (Ed.-in-Chief). (2018-2020). Set: Early childhood (Volume: Canada). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R. (Regional Ed.), Menter, I., & Tatto, M. T. (Eds.-in-Chief). (2018-2020). Set: Primary education (Volume: Canada). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R. (Regional Ed.), Tatto, M. T., & Menter, I (Eds.-in-Chief). (2018-2020). Set: Secondary education (Volume: Canada). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R. (Regional Ed.), & Jacob, W. J. (Ed.-in-Chief). (2018-2020). Set: Higher education (Volume: Canada). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R. (Regional Ed.), & Corsaro, W. (Ed.-in-Chief). 2018-2020). Set: Childhood (Volume: Canada). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R. (Regional Ed.), & Tilleczek, K. (Ed.-in-Chief). (2018-2020). Set: Youth (Volume:
Canada). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury.
Selected Chapters in Books
Heydon, R., McKee, L., & O’Neill, S. (2020). Connecting intergenerational voices: Curricula to foster the wellbeing of young children and elders. In R. Heydon, D. Fancourt, & A. J. Cohen (Eds.), Routledge companion to interdisciplinary studies in singing: Vol. 3. Well-being. Routledge.
Heydon, R., & Davies, E. (2020). Experience. In J. Wearing, M. Ingersoll, C. DeLuca, B. Bolden, H. Ogden, & T. Christou (Eds.), Key concepts in curriculum studies: Perspectives on the fundamentals (pp. 90-95). Routledge.
Khattar, R., Heydon, R., Cooper, E., & Callaghan, K. (2019). Embedding families and communities: Policy intersecting with pedagogy. In L. Gibbs & M. Gasper (Eds.), Thinking about pedagogy in early education: Policy intersecting pedagogy. Routledge.
McKee, L., Heydon, R., & Davies, E. (2019). Making spaces in professional learning for
democratic literacy education in the early years. In M. Hamilton & L. Tett (Eds.), Resisting the neo-liberal discourse in education: Local, national and transnational perspective (pp. 57-74). Policy Press.
Heydon, R., & Davies, E. (2019). Intergenerationaling: Children, elders, and researchers making meaning. In D. Hodgins (Ed.), Feminist research for 21 st-century childhoods (pp. 63-72) . Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R., & Du, X. (2019). This is the stuff that identities are made of: Children learning with grandparents and other elders. In N. Kucirkova, J. Rowsell, & G. Falloon (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of learning with technology in early childhood (pp. 217-233) . Routledge.
Heydon, R., & Gagliardi, L.-M. (2019). Reconceptualizing early childhood art: The lessons of intergenerational art curricula and postdevelopmental theorizing. In J. Osgood & M. Sakr (Eds.), Postdevelopmental approaches to childhood art (pp. 87-110). Bloomsbury.
Heydon, R., Zhang, Z., & Bocazar, B. (2017). Ethical curricula through responsive, multimodal literacy and pedagogy: Illustrations from a Kindergarten classroom curriculum. In C. Forlin & A. Gajewski (Eds.), International perspectives on inclusive education: Ethics, equity, and inclusive education (pp. 189-213). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Zhang, Z., & Heydon, R. (2017). Being open to the other: K-12 teachers’ multimodal reflections on Hong Kong curricula. In S. Choo, R. Vinz, D. Sawch, & A. Villanueva (Eds.), Educating for twenty-first century global capacities: International perspectives and practices (pp. 425-445). Springer.
Heydon, R., & O’Neill, S. (2017). Children, elders, and multimodal arts curricula: Semiotic possibilities and the imperative of relationship. In M. Narey (Ed.), Multimodal perspectives of language, literacy, and learning in early childhood: The creative and critical “art” of making meaning (pp. 149-167). Springer.
Du, X., Stooke, R., & Heydon, R. (2016). Ordinary objects tell extraordinary stories: Chinese children’s multimodal literacy explorations. In W. Ma & G. Li (Eds.), Beyond test scores: Understanding the hearts and minds of Chinese students in K-12 schools a global context (pp. 41-54) . Routledge.
Heydon, R., & Rowsell, J. (2015). Phenomenology and literacy studies. In K. Pahl & J. Rowsell (Eds.), Routledge handbook of literacy studies (pp. 454-471). Routledge.
Selected Journal Articles
Heydon, R., Stooke, R., Cameron, A. C., Cooper, E., & O’Neill, S. (2020). Making visible the literacy practices of elders through the Day in the Life methodology: Considerations for literacy education across the lifespan. Literacy, 54(2), 60-68.
McKee, L., & Heydon, R. (2020). “Enabled to play, enabled to explore”: Children’s civic engagement, literacies, and teacher professional learning. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2020.1769939
Heydon, R. (2019). From the guest editor: Reconceptualizing children, teaching, and learning through inter/intragenerational educational opportunities. Journal of Childhood Studies, 44(5), 66-70.
Malins, P., Heydon, R., & Cooper, E. (3 December 2019). Gender and sexual identities in early childhood curricula: The case of Canada. British Educational Research Association (BERA) Blog. https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/gender-and-sexual-identities-in-early-childhood-curricula-the-case-ofcanada
Zhang, Z., Heydon, R., Li, W., & Malins, P. (2019). Literacies and identities in transnational
education: A case study of literacy curricula in a Canadian transnational education program in China. Curriculum Journal, 31(1), 132-156.
Moffatt, L., Heydon, R., & Iannacci, L. (2019). Helping out, signing up, and sitting down: The cultural production of read alouds in three kindergarten classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 19(2), 147-174.
Heydon, R., McKee, L., & O’Neill, S. (2017/2018). Singing our song: An exploratory case study
of singing as a multimodal literacy practice in an intergenerational program. Literacy 52(3), 128-136.
Heydon, R., McKee, L., & Daly, B. (2017). iPads and paintbrushes: An exploratory case study of integrating digital media as placed resources in an intergenerational art class. Language and Education, 31(4), 351-373.
Heydon, R., Cooper, E., & Tran, A. (2017). Literacy lessons: Core concepts from multiliteracies for language teachers in contemporary times. Contact: TESL Ontario.http://contact.teslontario.org/literacy-lessons/
Loerts, T., & Heydon, R. (2017). Multimodal literacy learning opportunities within a grade six classroom literacy curriculum: Constraints and enablers. Education 3-13, 45(4), 490-503.
Heydon, R., McKee, L., & Phillips, L. (2016). The affordances and constraints of visual methods in early childhood education research: Talking points from the field. Journal of Childhood Studies, 41(3) , 5-17.
Zhang, Z., & Heydon, R. (2016). The changing landscape of literacy curriculum in a Sino-Canada transnational education programme: An actor-network theory informed case study. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(4), 547-564.
Heydon, R., Moffatt, L., & Iannacci, L. (2015). 'Every day he has a dream to tell': Classroom literacy curriculum in a full-day kindergarten. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(2), 171-202.
McKee, L., & Heydon, R. (2015). Orchestrating literacies: Print literacy learning opportunities within multimodal intergenerational ensembles. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(2), 227-255.