Adolescent Literacies within the middle years of schooling: A case study of a year 8 home room

Authors

Valerie Faulkner, Edith Cowan University

Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

International Reading Association

Faculty

Faculty of Community Services, Education and Social Sciences

School

School of Education

RAS ID

3123

Comments

Faulkner, V. (2005). Adolescent literacies within the middle years of schooling: A case study of a year 8 homeroom. Journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 49(2), 108-117. Available here

Abstract

This article argues that issues surrounding adolescent literacies problematize the relationship between the acquisition of core skills, the need to connect with a more expansive repertoire of literate practices, and a middle school reform initiative that encourages greater connectedness to the world of the adolescent. The terms public literacy and private literacy are used to offer an expanded notion of the concept of adolescent literacy. A case study representing one teacher and one student's construction of literacy in a year 8 homeroom is presented to determine whether attention was paid to an expanded notion of what it means to be literate as young adolescents. It is argued that the private literacies of adolescents need to be teased out and embedded within middle school reform.

DOI

10.1598/JAAL.49.2.3