Compiled for use in the Open University MA course E825. The 15 articles sample the ideas over the past decade on the importance of social factors in language and literacy development. They include theoretical and ethnographic accounts, cross-cultural and historical perspectives, and explorations of the political aspects and the discourses within which language and literacy are discussed. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This book presents a comprehensive and detailed study of literacy practices and language use outside of the classroom by university students of Japanese. It investigates both tasks related to classes (e.g. homework and preparation for classes) and voluntary activities in the target language (e.g. watching TV and writing emails) and discusses how values, motivations and types of activities differ between the two contexts. It employs sociocultural perspectives to observe reading and writing activities within and under the influence of individual and social contexts, such as learner motives, peer networks and the language classroom, and contributes to the related research areas in the field of second language acquisition, such as motivation, autonomous language learning and language learning strategies. Crucially, the book not only documents out-of-class literacy activities, but also examines which teaching practices facilitate and promote such out-of-class language learning and use. It considers which literacy activities in the target language students undertake out-of-class, which factors encourage or discourage such out-of-class activity and how and with which tools they undertake these activities. As such the book provides guidance for classroom teaching and suggests that slight changes to teaching practices in the classroom may enhance autonomous learning outside the classroom.

Literacy educators are often unequipped to help young children contend with the world we inhabit, where linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism are not always valued or sustained. In fact, educators are routinely bombarded by programs that position literacy as a simple, one-size-fits-all practice. This resource will help pre-K–3 teachers create and interpret literacy teaching processes, practices, and spaces that honor and extend children’s fullness. It is coauthored by three New York City teachers from ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse schools who share vivid examples and everyday stories from their own classrooms. Grounded in an accessible discussion of the value of culturally sustaining pedagogy and its potential to promote equity in elementary teaching, this book can be used as a practical introduction to CSP practices for early childhood teachers and teacher candidates. Book Features: Focuses on the capabilities of young children and their families, rather than perceived deficits.

This is a comprehensive guide to integrating assessment, learning and practice, reflecting current concerns in health and social care. The authors - an academic, a training officer and a practitioner - present complementary perspectives to bring theory and practice closer together. Arguing that a holistic approach to learning can fit with a competency approach to assessment, the authors show how this promotes both efficiency and creativity in evidence-based professional practice. They also demonstrate how their combined assessment and learning tool, the 'signposted portfolio' can work in practice. This portfolio forms both a summary of what the social work student or health care practitioner has learnt and the foundation of an assessment document. This practical and thoughtful resource is essential reading for trainers, practitioners, managers and students in health and social care who are seeking to provide the best service to their clients.

This book provides comprehensive information about simulation in pharmacy education, practice and research. It serves as a source for guiding pharmacy academics, clinicians, researchers, supervisors, trainers, and students who wish to learn more about and introduce simulation in pharmacy education, practice and research. Furthermore, this book describes the current practice, the facilitators and barriers for implementing evidence-based simulation, and provides examples from real simulation practice in education, practice and research. Structured into three sections, the first delves into the different types of simulation and their applications within pharmacy curricula. From patient simulation to computer-based programs, this section highlights the diverse opportunities for experiential learning in pharmacy education. The next discusses the role of simulation in community and hospital pharmacy settings. This section emphasizes the importance of communication skills, patient care, and medication safety, demonstrating how simulation can contribute to improved practice and patient outcomes. The last section explores the use of simulation in drug development and research design. This section also examines the ethical considerations, data analysis, and reporting involved in simulation-based research. Comprehensive and practical, Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Pharmacy Education, Practice and Research is an essential resource for anyone interested in the expanding field of pharmacy simulation.

‘Transition’ has numerous everyday and conceptual meanings yet, while certain transitions are unsettling and difficult for some people, risk, challenge and even difficulty might also be important factors in successful transitions for others.

This Reader considers the complexity of literacy difficulties, showing how research into literacy difficulties has to be multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary and involve a range of research approaches and methods. The chapters show that this is necessary to accommodate the wide range of issues that can, potentially, explain literacy difficulties and suggest strategies and interventions to ease those difficulties. Starting from the point that literacy is a contested concept and that acquiring literacy is a complex process, this Reader goes on to consider literacy development in relation to: - Theoretical understandings, implications for practice - Assessing literacy difficulties - Pedagogy and planning - Interventions in different contexts This Reader is relevant to all postgraduate students of Literacy, as well as educators, professionals and policy makers.

This volume brings together conceptualizations and empirical studies that explore the socio-cultural dimension of new media and its implications on learning in the 21st century classroom. The authors articulate their vision of new-media-enhanced learning at a global level. The high-level concept is then re-examined for different degrees of contextualization and localization, for example how a specific form of new media (e-reader) changes specific activities in different cultures. In addition, studies based in Singapore classrooms provide insights as to how these concepts are being transformed and implemented by a co-constructive effort on the part of researchers, teachers and students. Singapore classrooms offer a unique environment to study the theory-practice nexus in that they are high achieving, implicitly grounded in the eastern cultural values and well-equipped with ICT infrastructure. While these studies are arguably the state-of-the-art exemplars that synergize socio-cultural and technological affordances of the current learning environments, they also serve as improvable ideas for further innovations. The interplay between theory and practice lends support to the reciprocal improvements for both. This book contributes to the continuing debate in the field, and will lead to better learning environments in the 21st century.

Over the past few decades there have been intense debates in education surrounding children’s literacy achievement and ways to promote reading, particularly that of boys. The Harry Potter book series has been received enthusiastically by very many children, boys and girls alike, but has also been constructed in popular and media discourses as a children’s, particularly a boys’, literacy saviour. Children’s Literacy Practices and Preferences: Harry Potter and Beyond provides empirical evidence of young people’s reported literacy practices and views on reading, and of how they see how the Harry Potter series as having impacted their own literacy. The volume explores and debunks some of the myths surrounding Harry Potter and literacy, and contextualizes these within children’s wider reading.

The Routledge International Handbook of Learning with Technology in Early Childhood focuses specifically on the most cutting-edge, innovative and international approaches in the study of children’s use of and learning with digital technologies. This edited volume is a comprehensive survey of methods in children’s technologies and contains a rich repertoire of studies from diverse fields and research, including both educational and developmental psychology, post-humanist literacy, applied linguistics, language and phenomenology and narrative approaches. For ease of reference, the Handbook's 28 chapters are divided into four thematic sections: introduction and opening reflections; studies answering ontological questions, which theorize how children take on original identities in becoming literate with technologies; studies answering epistemological questions, which focus on how children’s knowledge and learning are (co)constructed with a diverse range of technologies; studies answering practice-related questions, which explore the resources and conditions that create the most powerful learning opportunities for children. Expertly edited, this interdisciplinary and international compendium is an ideal introduction to such a diverse, multi-faceted field.