‘The Waiting Place’ Featured on BBC News
Dina Nayeri, lecturer in the School of English, has been visiting schools around Scotland to share the key messages from her award-winning book, The Waiting Place. In these events, Dina invites children to think about and discuss complex topics such as displacement and the refugee crisis, alongside more fundamental ideas including welcome, empathy, and home. Since she began conducting the events in November, they have been met with a hugely positive reaction from teachers and students alike.
BBC News joined Dina on a visit to Craigmount High School in Edinburgh, which was given free copies of The Waiting Place as part of a campaign funded by the Tay Charitable Trust. Watch the clip from BBC News below:
In the clip, Dina explains the motivation behind her project: “Maybe, when a new child arrives at your school, they haven’t had the easiest time, and maybe they need a different kind of welcome. Children have such natural kindness and big hearts but, when something catches them by surprise, I think it’s easy to be insensitive.”
Read more about Dina’s work with schools across Scotland and its inspiration, her book The Waiting Place, in our blogpost covering her work.