An Introduction to Diverse Literacies in Primary Classrooms: Perspectives on Pedagogy and Practice

How can teachers be prepared to support all children in becoming literate? How can teachers best mediate the technical aspects of literacy and make these meaningful and relevant to their children? What kinds of pedagogical practices can enable children to become creative and critical users and producers of digital and non-digital texts?

An Introduction to Diverse Literacies in Primary Classrooms brings together the voices of academics, classroom teachers, student teachers and children to answer these questions.

Research into children's literate lives illustrates that literacy is very much integrated into children's ongoing home, community and school experiences, and these rich and diverse literate lives are very often digitally mediated. This essential and practical book explores key themes in literacy education such as diversity, drama, literacy and play, reader response, grammar and children’s authorship to understand the interrelationship between children’s diverse literacy practices and ways that these can be mediated within the English school curriculum.

Written by a team of outstanding ITE English tutors and esteemed literacy researchers, this book is an essential reference for all student and practising teachers, and a must read for literacy coordinators and those interested in literacy research.

Karen Daniels is Associate Professor of Early Literacies at Sheffield Hallam University. Karen began her career as a primary and early years teacher and moved into higher education in 2010. Her current research involves exploring the relationships between embodied meaning making and children’s early literacy practices.

Marie Helks is an Associate Head at Sheffield Institute of Education (SIoE). Before joining Sheffield Hallam University in 2012, Marie taught in a number of primary schools and universities, holding responsibility for English subject development work. Her main research interest is grammar teaching and learning in primary education.