Many Families, Many Literacies: An International Declaration of Principles

by Denny Taylor (Editor)

At a time when family literacy policies and practices are confusingly fragmented and often deficit driven, Many Families, Many Literacies provides much-needed guidance on developing policies and practices that build on the strengths that families bring to any learning their diverse languages, literacies, and complex problem-solving capabilities. Many Families, Many Literacies reclaims family literacy from the family literacy movement and asserts that society constructs the conditions of poverty in which many minority families are forced to live. It represents the opinions of forty-nine leading education experts and family literacy practitioners, including Lucille Fandel, Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman, David Barton, Audrey N. Grant, Klaudia Rivera, Judith Kalman, Letta Matsiepe Mashishi, and many others. This edited collection is essential reading for any educator, researcher, or community-based practitioner concerned about the political implications of the family literacy movement.

244 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 1997

About the author

Denny Taylor is a researcher and novelist who regards art, literature, and science inseparable. She is a lifelong activist and scholar committed to nurturing the imagination and human spirit. She has received both national and international awards for her research and scholarship.

She has published thirteen books, is the recipient of the Modern Language of Association of America Mina P. Shaughnessy Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2004 she was inducted in the International Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame.

She is Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies at Hofstra University, and the founder of Garn Press.