Given the narrow scope of primary teachers' knowledge and use of children's literature identified in Phase I of Teachers as Readers (2006Readers ( -2007, the core goal of the Phase II project was to improve teachers' knowledge and experience of such literature in order to help them increase children's motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy.The year-long Phase II project, Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers, which was undertaken in five Local Authorities (LAs) in England, also sought to build new relationships with parents and families and to explore the concept of a ''Reading Teacher (RT): a teacher who reads and a reader who teaches'' (Commeyras and colleagues). The research design was multilayered; involving data collection at individual, school and LA levels, and using a range of quantitative and qualitative data research methods and tools. This paper provides an overview of the Phase II research. It suggests that teachers need support if they are to develop children's reading for pleasure, and enhance their involvement as socially engaged and self-motivated readers.
This article reports one aspect of the findings from an assessment of the impact of national policies on children’s opportunities for play in England, which was commissioned and funded by the Children’s Play Council, London. Systematic analysis of policy documents and interviews with participants from local authorities and the voluntary sector revealed that the (Labour) Government does not promote a consistent conceptualisation of play in England. While some policy documents emphasise play’s instrumental value and potential contributions to the priorities of government departments, others refer to its intrinsic value. In both cases, however, such constructions of play form a discourse that controls where and how children may play. This inconsistency has led to gaps in the mechanisms for delivery of extensive, sustainable and equitable play opportunities across the country.
In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this article reports on a deliberately counter-cultural project that involved teachers in researching children's everyday literacy practices and 'funds of knowledge' (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) over a year. Eighteen primary teachers from 10 schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners' experiences. Drawing on a wide range of data, it is argued that the project challenged teachers' perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. However, creating responsive curricula that connected to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The article highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and argues that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children's and families' funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.