Literacy and Social Responsibility: Multiple Perspectives

This volume brings together a number of people professionally engaged in the study of literacy, either because they are teachers or teacher educators of language and literacy, or because they are involved as social and/or educational workers researching or providing programs to address the needs of people at risk because of inadequate literacy skills. It thus sets up a dialogue between these two communities of writers, all bringing different perspectives to the issues, some from the context of Literacy Education, others from the context of Social Work. All are committed to the view that provision of effective literacy programs is a matter of equity and social justice, though the ways in which they address such a view can differ. Issues addressed include: the changing nature of literacy in the modern world; the impact of the multimodal environment in which literacy now functions; the implications of this environment for pedagogical practices in the teaching of literacy; the causes and consequences of social disadvantage in learning literacy among various groups; and means to address such disadvantage.

Frances Christie is Honorary Professor of Education at the University of Sydney and Emeritus Professor of Language and Literacy at the University of Melbourne. She has worked for many years in language and literacy education, and has had a considerable research and publishing record in the area. Recent books have included (2002), Classroom Discourse Analysis: A Functional Perspective. Continuum: London and NY; (2005) Language Education in the Primary Years. University of NSW Press: Sydney; (with J.R. Martin, eds.) (2007), Language, Knowledge and Pedagogy. Functional Linguistic and Sociological Perspectives. Continuum: London and NY; (2008) (with B. Derewianka), School Discourse: Learning to Write across the Years of Schooling. Continuum: London and NY. Alyson Simpson is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. She teaches in undergraduate and postgraduate pre-service teacher programs and supervises research candidates studying in the area of literacy / English education. Her research projects have examined designs for elearning and concepts of visual literacy in higher education and primary schools. She is the co-author of Children’s Literature and Computer Based Teaching Oxford University Press: London (2005) and author of Reading Under the Covers: Helping Children to Choose Books Primary English Teaching Association: Newtown (2008).