ABSTRACT
In a short story called “Quality Time,” Barbara Kingsolver introduces readers to Miriam, who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Teaching, like parenting, is, for much of the day, automatic. For example, although early instructional interventions focus overwhelmingly on children’s phonological awareness, their orientation toward literacy learning situations may be even more important. Children who focus on getting praise or on not looking foolish have a much harder time becoming literate than children who focus on engagement in learning activities. To be meaningful, teaching children to become literate is about the here and now, and what children can do with literacy to serve their interests. The possibility of an evolutionary democratic society depends on children’s understandings of who they are (and might become), their epistemological understandings, what they take to be normal relationships with others, and the narratives they can imagine for themselves.
