The National Conference on Future Directions in Literacy was held at the University of Sydney, Australia from 3rd to the 6th September 2007.
The papers in this book comprise the proceedings of the Future Directions in Literacy Conference: International Conversations. The proceedings include selected full research papers. All papers are original, peer-reviewed and based on the research originally disseminated at the meeting. Papers presented at this conference reflect the state of the art of global research and development in the area of literacy. The themes addressed were chosen to reflect key issues that face academics and teachers in their drive to improve the literacy outcomes for all groups.
The link between research and practice has never been more significant as global awareness about literacy pushes us to question the success of programs in schools. National reports on literacy were challenged during the conference. Grounded evidence was given of literacy programs that work to make a difference for groups with diverse needs. The collection of ideas in the conference represents a broad concept of literacy that includes the ability to communicate in multimodal, digital texts and values creativity alongside testing for skills. Classroom based research from the sum of these perspectives presents significant reason for change to practice and policy. To make a difference to future generations of students, we need to take the research out of the classroom and make it the centre of informed debate. This publication is a step towards achieving that goal.
The selection of scholarly papers for presentation and publication was based on the outcomes of a rigorous peer review process. Papers reflect the authors’ opinions and their inclusion in this publication does not necessarily constitute endorsement by the editor. The proceedings also include other selected conference materials: keynotes and feature speakers, which are not full scientific papers.
The papers which are marked with the symbol ® next to the author’s name are refereed papers. The full papers were blind reviewed by two referees who were independent of the author.