Family Literacy Programs as Intersubjective Spaces: Insights from Three Decades of Working in Culturally, Linguistically and Socially Diverse Communities

• Published in: Language and Literacy
• Main Authors: Anderson, Ann, Anderson, Jim, Gear, Alison
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada 2015
• Subjects: Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/langandlit/article/view/24378; https://doi.org/10.20360/G2N30D

In this article we draw on our three decades of work in culturally, linguistically, and socially diverse communities – an economically depressed, rural community in Eastern Canada, a culturally and linguistically diverse metropolitan area of western Canada and a First Nations community in north-western Canada – to document the development and evolution of a social-contextually responsive family literacy program. We propose that family literacy programs can build on the strengths that families bring and provide an intersubjective space where families and schools can share knowledge in a reciprocal, respectful manner.