Diverse Literacies in Early Childhood : A Social Justice Approach

Recent teaching research highlights the significant role that educators play in children's literacy learning. Diverse Literacies in Early Childhood provides the blueprint for early childhood educators and pre-service tertiary students to understand, assess and explore the vast range of literacy-rich experiences to which young children might be exposed. The editors and contributors to this important volume discuss the range of circumstances that impact a child's literacy learning. With a focus on the first five years, chapters address issues of equity-from bilingualism and cultural background to disability, socioeconomic disadvantage and family and community support. Each chapter also includes direct links to the Early Years Learning Framework, the Australian Curriculum, the National Goals for Schooling and the National Quality Standard. Diverse Literacies in Early Childhood closely examines the ways that educators plan for and scaffold children's literacies from birth and advocates for continuity of learning from homes to early childhood settings and into school. The book illustrates the complexity of literacy learning with findings from current research in the area and examines how these principles are being implemented in a range of early childhood settings.