UK Perspectives on Family Literacy: Past, Present, Future. The Edinburgh Family Literacy Symposium.

This paper delineates a family literacy symposium in which the five participants discussed their different perspectives which reflected their particular viewpoints and pathways through family literacy in the past 10-20 years. Peter Hannon's contribution concerned the development of family literacy practice and research in England, in which he suggested that family literacy practice had stemmed from two sources: early childhood education and adult and community education. Angela Jackson, who leads the Partnership Education Service in Rochdale Education Authority, addressed bilingualism and creativity in family literacy, describing the context for family literacy teaching in Rochdale, an industrial town in the northwest of England which has a significant ethnic minority population, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Carol Taylor, director of Read On--Write Away, a country-wide literacy initiative in Derbyshire and Derby City, spoke about family literacy in the context of community college. Greg Brooks, from the University of Sheffield and 'Associate Director of the National Research Development for Adult Literacy and Numeracy in England, addressed the implications of findings from national evaluations--he has directed several national evaluations of family literacy programs in England and Wales for the Basic Skills Agency. Viv Bird, a member of the Family Literacy Trust, provides an overview of family literacy and identifies some key issues facing policymakers, including what the dominant model for family literacy should be, how family literacy could be part of a holistic parenting program, and achieving greater coherence in the funding for family literacy. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. UK Perspectives on Family Literacy: Past, Present, Future. The Edinburgh Family Literacy Symposium