Chapter 1: Home Literacy Practices and Mainstream Schooling: A Theoretical Understanding of the Field

Research in language acquisition and early literacy development has increasingly identified the family as a critical factor in school success or failure (T Rogers, Marshall, & Tyson, 2006). But while research has consistently shown that the family has an influence on later achievement in and out of school, explanations of the part played by families have varied greatly and often have been limited by the assumptions that underpin them. This chapter seeks to review research in this area and theorize this important topic while challenging some of these assumptions.

As part of an evaluation of Australian family literacy initiatives for the federal government detailed case studies of a range of different families were undertaken to help understand the forms of support that parents offer to their children’s literacy learning (Cairney, Ruge, Buchanan, Lowe, & Munsie, 1995). We were surprised to observe just how diverse families were, not just in relation to the literacy practices we observed, but in the way literacy was defined, supported and valued. Families were different, not just in literacy practices, but also in the relationships between members of the family where literacy and language learning was concerned, including what counted as literacy, how literacy was supported and how it was used as part of daily life. This was in stark contrast to the less varied nature of literacy in the classrooms they attended each day.