Reading families : the literate lives of urban children / Catherine Compton-Lilly ; foreword by Barbara Comber.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Compton-Lilly, Catherine.

Series:

Practitioner inquiry series

The practitioner inquiry series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

City children--Education--United States--Case studies.

City children--Books and reading--United States--Case studies.

City children--Books and reading.

Reading--Parent participation.

City children--Education.

City children.

United States.

Reading--Parent participation--United States--Case studies.

Education, Urban--United States--Case studies.

Education, Urban.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xii, 155 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Teachers College Press, [2003]

Summary:

This dynamic text offers a rare glimpse into the literacy development of urban children and their families' role in it. Based on the author's candid interviews with her first-grade students, their parents and grandparents, this book challenges the stereotypical view that urban parents don't care about their children's education. By listening closely to the voices of her students and their families, the author helps us to move beyond negative assumptions, revealing complexities that have been previously undocumented. -- A daring critique of racism and other societal factors that affect children's learning, this important volume: Explores the limits and potential of mainstream literacy practices to make a material difference in the lives of socio-economically struggling families. Challenges educators to view reading as a complex social process that incorporates the experiences of family members as well as school and individual experiences. Provides a literacy model that treats the process of learning to read as situated not only within local contexts but also within a larger social order. Offers recommendations to help educators to build on the literacy experiences students bring with them to schools in poor communities and to respect the particular difficulties that these children face when learning to read.

Contents:

Exploring the Discourses That Occupy Urban Schools 6

1. A Theoretical Framework 15

Mainstream Discourses About Reading 17

Mainstream Discourses About Urban Families 18

Discourses in Education 20

The Possession of Capital 28

2. Research Methodology 32

Site and Participants 33

Data Collection 35

Analysis of Data 39

Being a Teacher-Researcher 41

Being a White Teacher 42

3. The Role of Reading in the Lives of My Students and Their Families 45

Reading and Survival 46

Reading and "Getting Somewhere" 47

Not Knowing How to Read 52

4. Parents' and Teachers' Roles in Helping Children Learn to Read 60

Parents as Teachers 61

Staying on Children 64

5. The Role of Social Relationships in Learning to Read 77

Relationships in an Urban Community 79

6. The Construction of Urban Reading Identities 96

Parents' Reading Identities 97

7. Contradictions and Complexities 110

Challenging and Supporting Mainstream Discourses 112

"I Don't Know:" The Limits of Alternative Discourses 115

Alternative Discourses and Social Change 120

8. A Concluding Case Study 124

Bradford's Family and Reading: Application of a Contextualized Model 125

Bradford's Family and Capital 132.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-151) and index.

ISBN:

0807742767

0807742775

OCLC:

50149657