Literacies in Early Childhood

Literacies in Early Childhood takes a deliberately eclectic approach to taking on new ideas about literacy teaching and learning in early childhood education, and challenges conventional thinking on new and returning debates about the 'best' way to teach early literacy. The book is made up of four sections. Section 1 provides a balanced foundation for thinking about how literacy can be understood. Readers are provided with insight into a broad range of issues relevant to being a literacy teacher, and are invited to engage with different dimensions of the range of literacy repertoires required in today's times. Section 2 considers notions of diversity by looking at issues including learning English as a second or additional language, early childhood programs for ATSI children, social justice in early childhood provision, and aspects of interculturalism. In Section 3 the collection focuses specifically on the engagement of young children with pedagogy and the curriculum offered to them. This section includes a diverse selection of extracts and examples from research and practice. In the final section, the authors call literacy teachers to take up a position on what it means to learn literacy and teach literacy in today's contexts. This collection is put forward not to provide definitive answers, but instead to open discussions in classrooms, lecture halls, and school staff rooms. Literacies in Early Childbood intends to be the impetus for much intellectual work toward providing quality and equity in literacy education across schools and early childhood education contexts.