Teaching and Learning about Family Literacy and Family Literacy Programs

This book provides a systematic exploration of family literacy, including its historic origins, theoretical expansion, practical applications within the field, and focused topics within family literacy. Grounded in sociocultural approaches to learning and literacy, the book covers research on how families use literacy in their daily lives as well as different models of family literacy programs and interventions that provide opportunities for parent-child literacy interactions and that support the needs of children and parents as adult learners. Chapters discuss key topics, including the roles of race, ethnicity, culture, and social class in family literacy; digital family literacies; family-school relationships and parental engagement in schools; fathers’ involvement in family literacy; accountability and employment; and more. Throughout the book, Lynch and Prins share evidence-based literacy practices and highlight examples of successful family literacy programs. Acknowledging lingering concerns, challenges, and critiques of family literacy, the book also offers recommendations for research, policy, and practice.Accessible and thorough, this book comprehensively addresses family literacies and is relevant for researchers, scholars, graduate students, and instructors and practitioners in language and literacy programs.

"This scholarly work offers critical review of what family literacy looks like and the many programs designed to promote it. A panoptic work spanning the history of family literacy in a manner which is accessible and erudite, it traces family literacy from early studies in the 1980s to present day, opening up new avenues to explore."-- Cathy Nutbrown, University of Sheffield, UK"This book is important, relevant, and purposeful. It represents an engaging plethora of groundbreaking work about and with all families across various spheres of influence. The authors force us to question how the changing ways and roles of family literacy, its programs, and practices have not only changed the dynamics of how we "do," "talk about," and "study" family literacy, but also how family literacy can equip families to flourish in research, practice, and policy across schools, communities, programs, even during a pandemic."--Tisha Lewis Ellison, University of Georgia, 2022 Divergent Award for Excellence in Literacy in a Digital Age Research, "This scholarly work offers critical review of what family literacy looks like and the many programs designed to promote it. A panoptic work spanning the history of family literacy in a manner which is accessible and erudite, it traces family literacy from early studies in the 1980s to present day, opening up new avenues to explore."-- Cathy Nutbrown, University of Sheffield, UK"This book is important, relevant, and purposeful. It represents an engaging plethora of groundbreaking work about and with all families across various spheres of influence. The authors force us to question how the changing ways and roles of family literacy, its programs, and practices have not only changed the dynamics of how we "do," "talk about," and "study" family literacy, but also how family literacy can equip families to flourish in research, practice, and policy across schools, communities, programs, even during a pandemic."--Tisha Lewis Ellison, University of Georgia, 2022 Divergent Award for Excellence in Literacy in a Digital Age Research"In this book, Lynch and Prins braid together historical and contemporary research, theory, and practice in early childhood, adult education, and intergenerational literacy. The authors shine a light on elements of successful family literacy initiatives such as digital and critical literacies, an expanded understanding of family structures, and a much-needed equity lens. This is an important read for those seeking to build bridges between families and schools to strengthen literacy achievement."-Rebecca Rogers, E. Des Lee Endowed Professor of Tutorial Education and Curators’ Distinguished Research Professor, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA"Jacqueline Lynch and Esther Prins have combined a rigorous review of the substantial literature on family literacy with a passionate analysis of the ways in which curriculum materials, programming and accountability systems too often reinforce inequity and marginalisation on the basis of class, poverty, race, language and ethnicity….Overall, the authors have created an invaluable developmental resource for practitioners and researchers in the field of family literacy, whilst at the same time providing a powerful and persuasive case for inclusive family education, alive to diversity and difference, and to making an education fit for a world worth living in."-Alan Tuckett, International Journal of Lifelong Education, March 2022

Jacqueline Lynch is Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the School of Education and Human Development at Florida International University, USA.Esther Prins is Professor of Lifelong Larning and Adult Education and Co-Director of the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University, USA.