ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book inspired by research that examines the influence of dominant discourses of masculinities on the systematic under-performance of some groups of boys, compared to those of girls, in reading. Children's attitudes to reading have been investigated in many studies with attitude affecting the level of ability attained in reading due to attitudinal influences on engagement and practice. Inequality in educational opportunity and educational achievement are increasingly being associated with the future of a nation's prosperity and well-being as the long-term social and financial costs of educational failure are high. The book goes on to examine how different groups of boys' position reading with consideration for the immediate and wider contextual relationships involved. Traditionally literacy learning has been characterized as a set of cognitive skills involved in cracking the alphabet code, word formation skills, phonics, grammar and comprehension.
