1 The family and literacy

It is important that we acknowledge the relationship between family and literacy in our teaching practices and in the school context. We would now like to examine two issues related to this theme. First we focus on how families and schools can work together to establish home–school links to support the learning of students who experience difficulties in literacy development in ways which take account of:

• a diversity of family and cultural backgrounds;

• broad notions of what constitutes literacy;

• a clear understanding of the models of reading reflected in different approaches.

We then look at ways in which educational institutions can respond to the diversity of needs of students from a wide range of family and cultural backgrounds in order to take an inclusive approach to meeting the needs of all students, in particular those who experience difficulties in literacy development.