In many countries, school populations are becoming increasingly socially and culturally diverse, and delivering effective literacy programmes is becoming more challenging and complex. This book shows schools how to address difficulties with literacy learning experienced by students of diverse backgrounds, by employing strategies that respond to and affirm difference. This "responsive approach" actively engages with students' prior knowledge and experiences and ensures that these are fully validated in the literacy activities of the classroom. The responsive approach includes members of students' homes and communities collaborating to facilitate their participation in defining and delivering literacy programmes. This book illustrates ways in which teachers and other adults can create responsive social contexts at school and at home, to enable all children to participate fully in reading, writing and oral language activities in the classroom. This book contains the following nine chapters: (1) Understanding responsive social contexts for literacy learning; (2) Responsive classroom pedagogies; (3) Responsive oral contexts for literacy; (4) Responsive contexts for reading; (5) Responsive contexts for writing; (6) Responsive approaches to spelling; (7) Responsive approaches to assessment; (8) Collaborative community and school partnerships in literacy; and (9) Summary and conclusions. The book concludes with a list of references; a glossary; and an index.