Family Literacy: An Annotated
Bibliography
(August 2000)
Part A: Family Literacy
Section 3: Family Literacy Practices
Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1990). Literacy for empowerment: The
role of parents in children's education. London: Falmer Press.
This ethnographic study describes a Mexican Spanish-speaking community
in the United States and is intended for both researchers and school
personnel. The main research questions address how parents assist
their children in the education process, and how parents socialize
each other in dealing with the school. As part of the study, the
author followed 20 families with children participating in second-
and third-grade. To understand how parents helped their children,
the ethnography focused on the literacy practices in the classroom
and the home. The author also focused on parent involvement and
attended school events such as parent meetings, parent training
workshops, and informal interactions between families and school
personnel. The book concludes by discussing theoretical, practical
and policy implications
Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1996). Protean literacy: Extending the
discourse on empowerment. London: Falmer Press.
This book focuses on a discussion of empowerment related to the
author's earlier ethnography (Delgado-Gaitan, 1990). Emphasis is
placed on the researcher's role of facilitator and advocate in helping
families participate in the school community. Using critical ethnographic
techniques, Delgado-Gaitan helped parents to establish COPLA (Comite
de Padres Latinos), an organization to empower parents by representing
their interests with the school system. Because of the concern with
reading underachievement of Spanish-speaking children, one activity
initiated by COPLA was the Family Literacy Project. This project
intended to have children read at home with their parents and have
the family report to the teacher in order to monitor literacy performance.
Delgado-Gaitan argues that families were not empowered in their
children's education with the Family Literacy Project. She suggests
that claiming "cultural space and political voice and utopian
visions" through activities like those conducted by COPLA are
not enough to counter inequalities embedded in political and economic
structures, although these activities offer potential for transformation.
Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words. Cambridge, MA:
Cambridge University Press.
This book reports on an ethnographic study of the language of children
in communities in North Carolina. The two communities, "Roadville,"
a white working class community of textile mill workers, and "Trackton,"
a black working class community of older farmers and younger textile
mill workers, are only a few miles apart. Heath also investigates
a third group of individuals and calls them townspeople. Townspeople
are middle class individuals who live in "Trackton" and
"Roadville." There are deep cultural differences among
the groups of people in the communities. Heath describes how these
cultural differences affect language and literacy patterns (or "ways
with words"). This book serves as an excellent background for
people working with children from different cultures.
Purcell-Gates, V. (1995). Other people's words: The cycle
of low literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
The author presents a case-study of a family dealing with the consequences
of low literacy. A young urban Appalachian mother concerned with
her inability to read to her second grade child joins a university-based
literacy center designed for children. Purcell-Gates follows this
family for a 2-year period as mother and son learn to read and write
together. She describes the progress the pair makes toward literacy
and their eventual success in the context of social, cultural, and
cognitive factors, all of which must be taken into account when
understanding the learning process of individuals.
Taylor, D. (1983). Family literacy: Young children learning
to read and write. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
In this book, Taylor follows over 3 years six middle-class families
that each have a successful reader. This ethnographic work provides
insight into the ways in which children successfully learn to read
and write through their participation in the everyday experiences
of family life. The last chapter of the book explains the importance
of using ethnographic methodology in the study of child literacy
outcomes.
Taylor, D., & Dorsey-Gaines, C. (1988). Growing up literate:
Learning from inner-city families. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
In Taylor's second book, she and Dorsey-Gaines follow four inner-city
African-American families. In this qualitative study, the reader
learns that children from these families can be successful readers,
even in the face of overwhelming poverty and unfortunate circumstances.
Like the middle-class families Taylor studied previously, these
families provided literacy experiences for their children in their
everyday lives. However, they are distinguished from the middle-class
families in that they often used literacy activities as a means
to an end (e.g., applications for food stamps, AFDC, WIC, and student
financial aid forms). The authors of the book recommend their work
for educators, researchers, and policymakers.
Voss, M. M. (1996). Hidden literacies: Children learning
at home and at school. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Voss reports on a year spent systematically observing and talking
with a group of children in their home and school settings. In the
role of participant-observer, she used field notes and audiotape
recordings to collect samples of children's writing and reading.
In the process, she shares with the children's parents and teachers
her observations and consequently gains information not typically
available to other educators. Using this information, she discusses
a number of basic questions related to children's literacy. Throughout
her study, she shows that although words are important, there are
other forms of literacy (e.g., cultural and media literacy) and
these need to be taken into account in teaching children. One of
the most important topics she addresses is how schools and parents
can work together for the sake of their children's learning.
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