ABSTRACT

This book provides a range of interdisciplinary and international perspectives on difficulties in literacy development. The high-profile team of contributors provide ethical and policy discussions, as well as contextualising individual and collective strategies to addressing difficulties in literacy development. The chapters break new ground by encompassing a wide range of perspectives related to critical literacy, socio-cultural, cognitive, and psychological viewpoints, to help inform practice, policy and research into literacy difficulties.

Issues addressed include:

*the different ways literacy can be conceptualised through social-science based disciplinary perspectives
*the issues at the centre of current public and professional debates surrounding literacy difficulties and how these have impacted upon pedagogical responses
*the impact of these wider political and social issues on individual students.

This reader forms the basis of the Open University’s Difficulties in Literacy Development course, but will also be of interest to postgraduate students, teachers, researchers, education professionals and policymakers who are keen to address difficulties in literacy development.

part |13 pages

Introduction

part 1|44 pages

What is literacy: a simple or complex process?

chapter 2|30 pages

Literacy

In search of a paradigm

part 2|55 pages

Are there increasing difficulties with literacy?

part 3|70 pages

Political and historical considerations

chapter 9|16 pages

A veteran enters the Reading Wars

My journey

chapter 10|19 pages

Reading Recovery and Pause, Prompt, Praise

Professional visions and current practices

chapter 12|19 pages

Developmental dyslexia

Into the future

part 4|59 pages

Impact of social class, culture, ethnicity and gender

chapter 13|14 pages

Texts in context

Mapping out the gender differentiation of the reading curriculum

chapter 14|10 pages

The literacy acquisition of Black and Asian EAL1 learners

Anti-racist assessment and intervention challenges

chapter 15|15 pages

Bilingualism and literacies in primary school

Implications for professional development

part 5|39 pages

How can political, social and cultural factors impact upon individual difficulties with literacy?

chapter 17|20 pages

Myths of illiteracy

Childhood memories of reading in London's East End

chapter 18|18 pages

New times! Old ways?

part 6|35 pages

Ethical and social justice issues

chapter 20|18 pages

Reforming special education

Beyond ‘inclusion’