Researchers have documented bilingual family literacy programmes in terms of their structure and programming as well as their effect on children's language and literacy development and parents' ability to support such development within the home. What is missing from the discussion is a description of how facilitators mediate understanding within…

Scotland provides an interesting context for studying adult literacy in that it is one of the few countries that explicitly acknowledge the idea of literacy as a social practice. By drawing on two initiatives we illustrate literacy learning derived from a mixture of social practice and critical literacy perspectives. Together they provide insights…

Samoan school children living in New Zealand were given disposable cameras and asked to photograph examples of the uses of reading and writing outside the school. Interviewed later, they explained their photographs including information about literacy in church and family. Rote learning and oral presentation of biblical texts that were read and…

Practice in working with parents is changing and communicating with parents is increasingly a part of teachers' responsibilities. Besides focusing on supporting their children's learning, many schools now involve parents in education for themselves. Yet despite the expectation that they will work to engage parents in their children's learning, in…