Research in the ethnography of literacy has led to a stronger focus on literacy as a social practice among researchers and educators. How literacy is ideological and how it is linked to issues of institutional structure and power needs more systematic focus, particularly in the contexts of rapid and unprecedented economic, cultural and…

Sociopolitical change occurs in conjunction with sustaining local literacies. In hierarchically organized societies, ruling elite perceive local literacies as threat to existing power structure. The Ambedkar Nagar project in India, a literacy drive that adopted a campaign-based approach (CBA), is described. A CBA uses mass participation, voluntary…

The shape and form of effective teacher-pupil talk has recently become the focus of attention within policy guidelines such as the National Numeracy and Literacy Strategies. Prior to this, research on classroom discourse has established that social context plays an important role in determining the quality of teacher-pupil talk since it directs…