English and Literacies Learning How to Make Meaning in Primary Classrooms

Children begin to make meaning from the moment they are born. Their emerging abilities to communicate are central to the development of their thinking and imaginations; expression of their feelings and emotions; access to their cultural heritage(s); and, growth of their own unique identities. Learning how to mean and becoming literate continues to be critically important in shaping children and young people’s life chances. Yet it does not follow the same pattern for all children and cannot be reduced to a simple, linear hierarchy of skills (Ewing, 2020) or a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching those skills. Perhaps, because of its centrality to our lives and learning, becoming literate remains a complex and challenging area in education, broadly, but particularly in the primary classroom, where it is riddled with controversy. This book is underpinned by research and practice and reflects our serious commitment to every child’s entitlement to a rich and creative English and literacies education in the primary classroom.