ABSTRACT
Family literacy programmes are a recent form of literacy pedagogy in this country, introduced by the Basic Skills Agency (BSA) in 1993 and spreading rapidly throughout the country with the help of government and other forms of funding, so they offer a new site to explore the struggles over changing understandings and uses of language and literacy near the turn of this century. In this chapter I will explore the connections between one representation of this new form of literacy education and the makings of a more egalitarian society. As a new century begins, can these new programmes help the participants to respond to changes in the way language is used, to changing demands in the workplace, to increasing complexity of life in the public and private domains?
