ABSTRACT
In this concluding chapter I want to discuss the context within which teachers of literacy – whether on Masters’ courses or not – and researchers have to work. This context shapes the way we think about literacy, it generates problems and issues for research, it determines what opportunities there are for professional development and for doing research, and it sets the parameters by which research may affect policy and practice. The main contextual features of which we need to be aware are national policies regarding literacy in education, regarding educational research and regarding professional development for teachers and tutors. The aim of the chapter is to encourage critical awareness of each of these, with particular reference to England where the current policy context emphasises actions over reflection, rather than a balance between the two.
