Heath's thesis was written in the 3rd and final year of her Teacher Training at City of Birmingham College of Education where she studied from September 1970 till June 1973, gaining a full Certificate of Education, with Merits in the Study of Education and also in the Main and Subsidiary subjects, Drama and Music. In 1972 Heath married and changed her surname to Linstead. She has since reverted to using her maiden name, Heath.
On deposit, Heath provided the following context and information: 'The study, or dissertation, is titled The Appeal of Comics and their Potential Influence on Children, and reflects my early interest in children's reading, and an ongoing fascination with the acquisition of reading skills. I have enjoyed a long and varied career in teaching, initially full- time in middle schools, then, after raising a family, as a supply teacher for the last 25 years. This has included many different teaching environments and situations, from language support in state schools to music at the local Montessori school, from nurseries to 6th forms, special needs, private tuition and whole class teaching. My daughter chose a Steiner education for her son. At his school, only Capital letters were used in the early stages, as is the case with comic strip speech bubbles. I gave her my study, as my young grandson soon became an a avid reader of comics. Now he is 15, competently literate, studying for GCSEs. It was during their recent house move that this document came to light. I dipped into it and found its naivety slightly embarrassing, until I reminded myself it was a work of its time by a 20 year old. I then read most of it again with some amusement. With a general election imminent and a government currently populated with public school boys, the attitudes and antics of Winker Watson at Greytowers, (pages 67-69) take on a contemporary flavour. Certainly the prevalence of the comic teacher in this study, and the issues discussed regarding that role will have helped me question and shape my own stance in the classroom, by default! Historically, this study is a bit of a relic from a point in time when significant change was happening. For instance, at a time when colleges were making requests for all work to be typed, it is probably one of the last degree level dissertations to be written by hand! Although, at that time, the Cert. Ed. did not officially count as a degree, the B Ed had recently been introduced, requiring a further year of study. Meanwhile, the James Report gave rise to new regulations. Graduates taking teaching posts needed a teaching qualification in addition to their specialist subject. Consequently, in 1973, our college population swelled with the influx of Post Graduate Certificate of Education students. They were quick to socialise and some gamely joined the 'extras' in our final Drama assessment production of the Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss. Innovation in the 70's is a familiar subject. In education, middle schools were emerging, bridging the division between junior and secondary schools; a new subject, drama, appeared on some timetables. Interested in both, I chose the junior/secondary age range and Drama as my main subject. Middle schools came and went, Drama eventually became a GCSE subject, now taught in many secondary schools. It was a good time to study. The modest grant, available for students from low income families, taught domestic economy and facilitated a great opportunity to learn to live independently. The necessity to take holiday work broadened social awareness. College policy of assessed Teaching Practice every year, increasing in length and responsibility, ensured readiness for the classroom, a probationary year, and, finally, registered teacher status complete with a number.' Heath also commented on the presentation and condition of the thesis: 'In the days before scanning, sellotape was my method of presenting source material for illustration. After 42 years it is perishing and has left rectangular stains where I have rolled it round to make an invisible mount. (If 2-sided tape was available, then, I hadn't heard of it!) Several cuttings from comics have become detached, but seem to be in the right places. There may be some confusion as to which side should be showing. If the context isn't clear, the way the cutting has been trimmed round the frame may indicate the right way up. Also the sellotape stains show through to the right side and can be matched to their original place on the page. Where there are several cuttings on one page, the arrangement is not significant. I think one or two cuttings are missing. Some full page examples are included, and are referenced at the foot of the page. Some were stuck together in pairs, back to back with small rolls of sellotape. In these cases, only the outer sides are relevant to the study, and are referenced at the foot of the page. Sample pages from large format comics have been mounted on 2 sheets of A4, joined with sellotape at the outer edge to reinforce the fold. They open out from the centre. Before photocopiers and computer print outs, the quality of the sample survey sheets in the Appendix was typical of formal duplicated print outs in schools and colleges at the time. I think I had these done, for a fee, at the college office. Just a little more history: When multiple copies were needed, the Banda machine was the source of all worksheets, and in my case, song sheets too. Text, illustrations and notation were done by hand on a choice of plain, lined, or squared, shiny, carbon-backed paper. Writing out music for songs became much easier when I came across a pack of carbon 'Masters' with blank music staves.'
