Wilhelm asks, "But are new literacies just fun?" Then he immediately answers, "Absolutely not--if we as teachers provide the right context and conditions of their use." Offering research-based advice on incorporating technology to increase motivation and deepen learning, Wilhelm boils it down to this bottom line: it's engaged, substantive,…

Lorenza Lara, Secondary Literacy Coordinator for the Denver (CO) Public Schools, specializes in secondary English Learner (EL) education. According to Lorenza, EL research has shown that educators often confuse youths' regular development in a second language with literacy difficulties. This research also has demonstrated the individuality of…

Critical literacy has been a particular focus in literacy education in the past two decades. Literacy models such as the "four resources" model provide a significant framework for a critical understanding of texts and the social and cultural practices that inform them. In this paper, I draw on the "four resources" model to argue that the success…

In this article, the author shares her practicum experience in a nine-month English program and a gruelling assessment schedule for her other five subjects. During her practicum several incidents occurred that caused a shift in the way she perceives the role of an English teacher, and they have informed her English teaching practices. She reflects…

Describes how a teacher's journey of documenting everyday literacy events on the streets in her community changes her understanding of what it means to bring the outside world and local literacies into her classroom. Concludes that educators must place value on who students are and where they come from. Suggests that educators and students must…

Presents a continuing conversation about the meaning of the term "environment" as it appeared in a newly-released environmental-education-policy statement. Studies how writing plays an important role in getting at the core assumptions and values of reflective teachers and researchers, and representing such thinking to the reader. (Author/CCM)

This book presents a feminist pedagogy of multiculturalism developed from Paulo Freire's theories on the politics of literacy. Freire has argued that literacy is the precondition for not only forms of social and political agency, but also social transformation and emancipation. In his view, teachers and students must refuse to be either experts or…

Teachers, parents, policymakers, and others interested in researching what is best for teaching children literacy skills will find literally thousands of resources purporting to be "best practices." This book suggests examining real classrooms--teachers and students actively involved in literacy learning--to determine what works in…

Janice Wearmouth is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University in the UK. She has many years' experience of teaching and research in mainstream secondary schools and of developing and leading postgraduate development courses for teachers in the area of special and inclusive education. In this article,…

Presents an interview with Mem Fox, a teacher educator and children's book author well known throughout the world. Discusses writing books for children, and the mistakes she made early in her career as a writer. Notes that Mem is a tireless advocate for meaningful literacy instruction, and her "Radical Reflections: Passionate Opinions on Teaching,…

In this article, the author features the Family Literacy Center, a service-learning project at the University of Utah's English education program. For the author and her students, Family Literacy Center has become a place to investigate the role of teacher-student or mentor-student relationships in learning and literacy development. The goals of…

In this book, an experienced elementary school teacher recounts how she and three other teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6 decided to relax the compartmentalization of learning into subject areas and shuffle subject matter into new patterns to offer students a voice in their education. The book describes how the teachers created a multiage…