A Place for Indigenous, Immigrant, and Refugee Cultural Contributions to Family Literacy

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

Existing policy and research advocates that family literacy programs prepare families to be economically self-sufficient and school-ready. The three research studies presented here provide a research basis for broadening this view. While the studies reveal common themes the research is drawn from three distinct communities that include Indigenous, immigrant and refugee families in western Canada. The studies offer evidence of how family literacy programs that value and include the cultural and linguistic contributions of diverse families strengthen family and community identities. The policy implications point to new opportunities for literacy learning and its uses in and out of schools.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Section 3: Social Context of Multiple Languages and Literacies

Chair

• Suzanne Kathleen Smythe, Simon Fraser University

Papers

• Using Family Literacy Cultures to Build Curriculum for Family Literacy Cultures - Victoria Purcell-Gates, The University of British Columbia; Kristy Younjung Jang, The University of British Columbia; Kimberly Lenters, University of Calgary; Marianne McTavish, The University of British Columbia

• Parents as Literacy Supporters: A Bilingual Family Literacy Program With Immigrant and Refugee Families - Jim Anderson, The University of British Columbia; Fiona Morrison, Decoda Literacy Solutions; Ji Eun Kim, The University of British Columbia

• Indigenous Knowledge Contributions to Family Literacy - Jan Hare, The University of British Columbia

Discussant

• Suzanne Kathleen Smythe, Simon Fraser University