Conclusion

In this free course, Literacy, social justice and inclusive practice, you have explored some of the tensions that have emerged from the shifting understandings of literacy and from the international drives to achieve literacy for all. You have considered how the technical aspects of literacy are frequently foregrounded, when it may actually be more appropriate to view literacy as contextualised practice, enabling people to interact and engage in complex social situations. How we understand both the form and function of literacy will have a profound impact not only on the way in which we view the teaching and learning of reading and writing, but also on how we view it across the whole curriculum. Such understandings both define how we ask questions about education and how we design research into key educational issues.