Esta publicación recoge las ponencias plenarias y las comunicaciones presentadas y leídas en el VII Simposio Internacional de la SEDLL, que con el título Canon, literatura infantil y juvenil y otras literaturas, fue asumido por la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha y se celebró en Ciudad Real, en diciembre de 2001. Aparecen aquí recogidas también las actividades relacionadas con los estudios mencionadas arriba: talleres y seminarios que suscitaron provechosas discusiones, sugerencias y debates. Como dice Alfredo Rodríguez López-Vázquez en la Presentación: La celebración del VII Simposio con su doble concreción en el título, del objeto de estudio, y de su relación con el canon, ha venido a representar un hito importante. Este Simposio pretendía, ya desde su diseño por parte del Comité Científico, un nuevo planteamiento de orientaciones críticas y metodológicas en el ámbito de la educación y de la investigación en torno a la literatura que leen los niños y los jóvenes de hoy en día en el contexto de la sociedad tecnológica moderna. Creemos que esta publicación permite afirmar que se ha cumplido con los objetivos previstos para cada una de las áreas temáticas.

This edited volume extends our field of studies by highlighting novel 21st century curricular designs and pedagogical practices in the preparation of future bilingual teachers and their relevance for advancing curriculum, instruction, and educational achievement across bilingual school contexts. In particular, the volume provides a much-needed overview of innovative bilingual teacher preparation practices designed and implemented to develop bilingual teacher professionals equipped to effect curricular and pedagogical changes in bilingual settings. As such, two main questions guiding the orchestration of the volume are: (a) What innovative curricular and pedagogical designs characterize the field of bilingual teacher education in 21st century? and (b) How do or could these innovative curricular and pedagogical approaches for educating future bilingual teachers influence teacher practices in bilingual contexts for advancing curriculum, pedagogy and the achievement of bilingual learners? ENDORSEMENTS: "This collection of chapters in English and Spanish offers readers novel place-based ways of transforming bilingual/biliterate teacher education programs to ensure that new teachers gain pedagogical language, literacy, and content practices that expand language and literacy in heretofore unimagined ways. All bilingual/biliterate teacher educators should read this extraordinary book." — Christian J. Faltis, Texas A&M International University "This volume deftly addresses a topic of great currency on the bilingual education agenda: how to orchestrate curricular and pedagogical innovation in teacher development and how to enact change at the grassroots level through its impact on teaching practices. A must-read tour de force for anyone interested in the development, implementation, or research of quality bilingual teacher education." — María Luisa Pérez Cañado, Universidad de Jaén "Enduring critiques of teacher education, once the sole province of conservative policymakers, now includes many thinkers we formally considered allies. This excellent collection, which includes a host of new and powerful voices, forces all sides to sit up and pay attention." — Kip Téllez, University of California, Santa Cruz

Contemporary societies have been advancing gradually towards the construction of a model of a literate population. Significant efforts have been made so that most citizens can access various sources today, using their reading and writing abilities, but are we really prepared to face the information age? Is information literacy being promoted from schools? Are individual capabilities being considered? Do we have a true critical literacy? This article collection aims to show an overview of the most recent research; ranging from the individual to the collective, from the subject's competencies and their beliefs, to the way to develop them from school. There is room in this Research Topic for investigations belonging to the linguistic, psychological, and didactic field. This Research Topic aims to address a pressing problem in contemporary world societies. It is proposed to offer various contributions related to critical literacy, in general, and reading and writing. In this sense, research that addresses analog and digital reading, writing processes, academic literacy, and the use of resources such as non-fiction illustrated books to develop critical thinking, will be welcome. But also, and in a very important way, the cognitive processes of the subject will be considered, not only to deal with access to information, but also in the construction of their mental lexicon, an issue that offers the vision of the world of those who are immersed in literacy and in the post-truth era.

In the chapters that follow, the history and current status of early childhood education in selected countries, along with a review of current research that is being conducted in these countries will be presented. In essence this will provide a glimpse of the intellectual base of early childhood education in many parts of the world.

This volume focuses on research in education in the Basque Country where Basque, a minority language, is used as the language of instruction. It focuses on academic and linguistic results and the challenges the Basque educational system is currently facing. This volume can be useful for other bilingual and multilingual contexts involving different language combinations.