This volume brings together researchers and participants from diverse groups, reflecting the different ways in which the field of multicultural literacies has been interpreted. A common theme across the chapters is attention to the ways in which elements of difference--race, ethnicity, gender, class, and language--create dynamic tensions that influence students' literacy experiences and achievement. The hope of the editors is that readers will build on the experiences and findings presented so that the field of multicultural literacies will have a greater impact of literacy research, policy, and practice.

Brings together current research that addresses multicultural issues in literacy theory, research, & practice. Included are a range of methodologies (naturalistic, ethnographic, &

This book is a sequel to the author's earlier volume entitled, Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings. In addition to extensive updating of earlier material, this book extends the content coverage to include issues of power, attitudes, and systemic change through the application of discourse theory and critical theory. In doing so, however, the author has tried to maintain the brevity, stylistic clarity, and classroom focus of the earlier volume. Key features of this important new book include: *Teaching Flexibility. Although written with the classroom needs of pre-service teachers in mind, theory and research are treated in sufficient depth to make the book suitable for graduate courses and for teacher study groups. *Issues Organization. Each chapter is organized around familiar issues that characterize schools and classrooms with diverse student populations and explores these issues through new lenses that most teachers have not previously encountered. *Social Constructivist Perspective. Critical theory, discourse theory, and historical perspective are introduced in order to sensitize readers to the need to recognize negative, socially sustained patterns that hamper literacy achievement and replace them with positive patterns. To this end each chapter asks students to maintain a running list of negative patterns along with alternative positive patterns.

Grounded in classroom experiences, this volume opens new territory on a critical but rarely addressed topic, the intersection of race with literacy research and practice.

Within a clear conceptual framework, this book explores ways that teachers, reading specialists, administrators, and teacher educators can provide more effective literacy instruction to K-9 students from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Cutting-edge theory and research is interwoven with detailed case studies that bring to life the complexities of teaching in today's multicultural and multilingual classroom. Topics covered include: *How and why culture matters in literacy instruction *Drawing on students' multiple literacies in the classroom *Motivating and engaging English-language learners *Steps that teachers can take to heighten their cultural awareness and skills *Tapping into family and community resources for literacy learning

This provocative new title in the NCRLL Collection is a call to action for new and experienced scholars to examine their bias and adopt a more critically conscious stance in their work. Balancing an historical grounding with contemporary research, this book focuses on how critical theories are manifested in language and literacy research. The authors discuss critical consciousnesses in various places, at various times in the world, and at varying levels in language and literacy research. They examine some overlooked roots and routes to present-day critical thinking and predict how branches of theorizing may emerge, evolve, and transform research in a democratic society.

This edited volume highlights recent research related to how issues of diversity are addressed within literacy instruction for K-12 learners.