ABSTRACT

This chapter explores ways that literacy educators at all levels, classroom teachers to teachers of literacy education in higher education, can achieve higher levels of consensus and collaboration. For effective collaboration to occur, groundwork of basic principles needs to be established. It is simply a literacy involvement program for parents that are based on the principles of effective parent and family involvement identified earlier. Other programs that are equally effective can be developed by teachers committed to parent and family communication and collaboration in literacy. Parents and their families may themselves have distinct differences in the way they look at literacy, and how literacy is best taught, from literacy scholars. S. B. Heath’s classic study of language and literacy learning in two culturally different communities separated by only a few miles demonstrates how differences exist. Clearly, there is lack of consensus between literacy professionals, whether researchers or practitioners, and the general public, specifically parents of children who receive instruction in literacy.