Transition and Continuity in School Literacy Development

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This book addresses a significant gap in the research literature on transitions across the school years: the continuities and discontinuities in school literacy education and their implications for practice. Across different curriculum domains, and using social semiotic, ethnographic, and conversation-analytic approaches, the contributors investigate key transition points for individual students literacy development, elements of literacy knowledge that are at stake at each of these points, and variability in students experiences. Grounding its discussion in classroom voices, experiences and texts, this book reveals literacy-specific curriculum demands and considers how teachers and students experience and account for these evolving demands. The contributors include a number of established names (such as Freebody, Derewianka, Myhill, Rowsell, Moje and Lefstein), as well as emerging scholars gaining increasing recognition in the field. They draw out implications for how literacy development is theorized in school curriculum and practice, teacher education, further research and policy formation. In addition, each section of the book features a summary from an international scholar who draws together key ideas from the section and relates these to their current thinking. They deploy a range of different theoretical and methodological approaches in order to bring rich yet complementary perspectives to bear on the issue of literacy transition.

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This volume makes an enormous contribution by theorizing, researching, and critiquing many assumptions we have about how students navigate the demands of transitioning from primary to secondary schools. Grounded in nuanced sociocultural conceptions of literacy, the authors analyze classroom observations, transcripts, student writing samples, and interviews with K-12 students and their teachers to provide new insights. * Meg Gebhard, Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA *

Author Bio

Pauline Jones is Associate Professor of Language in Education at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Erika Matruglio is Senior Lecturer in TESOL and Secondary Literacy at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Christine Edwards-Groves is Professor of Literacy and Professional Practice at the Australian Catholic University, Australia.