ABSTRACT
In this concluding chapter, the issue of school-based literacy teaching and learning is addressed. I focus on schools because they continue to serve as the initial site for and primary sponsor of formal reading and writing instruction for most children. I begin with a brief review concerning what literacy entails, a review grounded on our previous analysis of the dimensions of literacy. Readers are then asked to re-visit the Literacy Beliefs Profile first introduced in Chapter 1. Following this re-examination, we turn our attention to an analysis of both the old and new literacy debates and consider what a dimensional view of literacy might contribute to this dispute. Finally, the political challenges to an expanded view of literacy teaching conclude the chapter and the book.
