marilyn Mottram - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by marilyn Mottram

Literacy, 2009

Abstract In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditiona... more Abstract
In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this paper reports on a year-long project which was deliberately counter-cultural and involved teachers researching children’s everyday literacy practices and ‘funds of knowledge’ (Gonza´lez et al., 2005). The project sought to explore whether and in what ways teachers, positioned as researchers, developed new understandings which challenged their assumptions about children and families, and the extent to which any new understandings about the learners’ literacy lives had consequences with regard to the curriculum and home-school relations. Eighteen primary teachers from ten schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners’ experiences. Drawing on data from interviews, transcripts of their Learner Visits to homes, data analysis meetings with the teachers and the practitioners’ portfolios, it is argued that the project challenged teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. It also reveals that creating responsive curricula that connect to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The paper highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and suggests that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children’s and families’ funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.
Keywords: teachers as researchers, diversity, funds of knowledge, home-school relations; everyday literacy lives.

In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-wa... more In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this article reports on a deliberately counter-cultural project that involved teachers in researching children’s everyday literacy practices and ‘funds of knowledge’ (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) over a year. Eighteen primary teachers from 10 schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners’ experiences. Drawing on a wide range of data, it is argued that the project challenged teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. However, creating responsive curricula that connected to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The article highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and argues that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children’s and families’ funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.

English in Education, 2008

... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conferen... more ... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conference Report by Phil Jarrett, Ofsted Subject Conference, July 2004. Powling, C., Ashley, B., Pullman, P., Fine, A. and Gavin, J. (2003) Meetings with the minister. ...

This book invites readers to engage in a review of classroom practice in order to teach writing m... more This book invites readers to engage in a review of classroom practice in order to teach writing more effectively. Underpinned by research, it provides the potential for fundamental classroom development and brings together various studies and the work of those with extensive experience of working with teachers to improve classroom writing. Most particularly the book focuses on the role of the teacher as a writer and a teacher of writing, sharing experience and expertise with young writers while guiding them towards writing authentically and with their own voice.

Since the inception of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS)(DfEE,1998), concerns have been voiced... more Since the inception of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS)(DfEE,1998), concerns have been voiced about the ways in which children’s literature has been positioned and may be used in the classroom, in particular the practice of relying upon extracts, downloaded or purchased, has been heavily criticised (Dombey, 1998; Frater, 2000; Sedgwick, 2000; King, 2002). Writers too have articulated their concerns that their works are being subjected to inappropriate levels of analysis and that as comprehension and assessment are seen to dominate over reading and response, this may lead to reduced pleasure in the text and adversely influence children’s desire to read (Powling et al., 2003, 2005). There has also been a sense that teachers’ own creative uses of literature have been subjugated to a centralised system for teaching literacy (Goouch and Lambirth, 2005; Grainger et al., 2005; Marshall, 2001; Martin, 2003) and that their confidence in knowing and using children’s literature may be limi...

The project Building Communities: Researching Literacy Lives (BC: RLL) on which this book is base... more The project Building Communities: Researching Literacy Lives (BC: RLL) on which this book is based sought to enable teachers, positioned as researchers, to develop new knowledge about children’s everyday literacy practices and widen their own conceptions of literacy. It also sought to develop two-way traffic between homes and schools and new teacher-child and teacher-parent relationships. The UK based project was a collaborative university, Local Authority (LA) and school partnership study that sought to explore children’s everyday literacy practices in the 21st century. It was undertaken by a team comprised of five university-based researchers, five LA co-ordinators, and eighteen participatory teacher-researchers from ten schools (for children between 4-11 years). In an attempt to avoid the ‘cheery, unfailingly positive tone’ (Vincent, 1996:74) of some project reporting, this text explores the challenges which emerged during the course of the project; the dilemmas and difficulties ...

This book draws upon the UKLA Teachers as Readers Phase I (2006-7) research which comprised a sur... more This book draws upon the UKLA Teachers as Readers Phase I (2006-7) research which comprised a survey of 1200 teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s literature and their personal practices, preferences, and habits as readers; and the UKLA Phase II project Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers which responded to the Phase I findings. The latter involved 43 primary teachers from 27 schools in 5 Local Authorities in the research, supported by 5 local authority coordinators (LACs). The project aimed to improve teachers’ knowledge and use of literature in order to help them increase children's motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy (Cremin et al., 2008 c, 2008d, 2009) . In focusing on pleasure in reading literature and other texts, the project provided a potent alternative to the dominant discourse about literacy in primary education, namely the standards agenda. This agenda, prevalent in accountability cultures of most We...

Improving Schools, 2012

In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-wa... more In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this article reports on a deliberately counter-cultural project that involved teachers in researching children's everyday literacy practices and 'funds of knowledge' over a year. Eighteen primary teachers from 10 schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners' experiences. Drawing on a wide range of data, it is argued that the project challenged teachers' perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. However, creating responsive curricula that connected to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The article highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and argues that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children's and families' funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.

English in Education, 2009

This paper argues that the current commitment to personalised learning opens up real opportunitie... more This paper argues that the current commitment to personalised learning opens up real opportunities for changing the language and practice of literacy teaching as it currently operates in England. We argue that there is a need to seize the opportunities currently on offer, to educate teachers differently and to develop classroom practice and pedagogies that acknowledge the complexities of children's lives and literacies. We draw on evidence from a year-long ethnographic research study, conducted between 2006-2007, of fourteen children and their families. The children attended the same inner city primary school in an area of urban regeneration characterised by high levels of economic deprivation, high crime and many social problems. The resulting evidence suggests that personalising learning becomes a reality when teachers are given space and time to develop their understanding of the uses and meaning of literacy in the communities they serve.

English in Education, 2008

... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conferen... more ... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conference Report by Phil Jarrett, Ofsted Subject Conference, July 2004. Powling, C., Ashley, B., Pullman, P., Fine, A. and Gavin, J. (2003) Meetings with the minister. ...

Cambridge Journal of Education, 2008

Given the narrow scope of primary teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s literature identified... more Given the narrow scope of primary teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s literature identified in Phase I of Teachers as Readers (2006–2007), the core goal of the Phase II project was to improve teachers’ knowledge and experience of such literature in order to help them increase children’s motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy. The year-long Phase II project, Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers, which was undertaken
in five Local Authorities in England, also sought to build new relationships with parents and families and to explore the concept of a ‘‘Reading Teacher (RT):
a teacher who reads and a reader who teaches’ (Commeyras et al., 2003). The research design was multilayered; involving data collection at individual, school and LA levels, and using a range of quantitative and qualitative data research methods
and tools. This paper provides an overview of the Phase II research. It suggests that teachers need support if they are to develop children’s reading for pleasure, and enhance their involvement as socially engaged and self-motivated readers.

Literacy, 2009

Abstract In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditiona... more Abstract
In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this paper reports on a year-long project which was deliberately counter-cultural and involved teachers researching children’s everyday literacy practices and ‘funds of knowledge’ (Gonza´lez et al., 2005). The project sought to explore whether and in what ways teachers, positioned as researchers, developed new understandings which challenged their assumptions about children and families, and the extent to which any new understandings about the learners’ literacy lives had consequences with regard to the curriculum and home-school relations. Eighteen primary teachers from ten schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners’ experiences. Drawing on data from interviews, transcripts of their Learner Visits to homes, data analysis meetings with the teachers and the practitioners’ portfolios, it is argued that the project challenged teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. It also reveals that creating responsive curricula that connect to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The paper highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and suggests that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children’s and families’ funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.
Keywords: teachers as researchers, diversity, funds of knowledge, home-school relations; everyday literacy lives.

In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-wa... more In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this article reports on a deliberately counter-cultural project that involved teachers in researching children’s everyday literacy practices and ‘funds of knowledge’ (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) over a year. Eighteen primary teachers from 10 schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners’ experiences. Drawing on a wide range of data, it is argued that the project challenged teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. However, creating responsive curricula that connected to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The article highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and argues that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children’s and families’ funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.

English in Education, 2008

... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conferen... more ... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conference Report by Phil Jarrett, Ofsted Subject Conference, July 2004. Powling, C., Ashley, B., Pullman, P., Fine, A. and Gavin, J. (2003) Meetings with the minister. ...

This book invites readers to engage in a review of classroom practice in order to teach writing m... more This book invites readers to engage in a review of classroom practice in order to teach writing more effectively. Underpinned by research, it provides the potential for fundamental classroom development and brings together various studies and the work of those with extensive experience of working with teachers to improve classroom writing. Most particularly the book focuses on the role of the teacher as a writer and a teacher of writing, sharing experience and expertise with young writers while guiding them towards writing authentically and with their own voice.

Since the inception of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS)(DfEE,1998), concerns have been voiced... more Since the inception of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS)(DfEE,1998), concerns have been voiced about the ways in which children’s literature has been positioned and may be used in the classroom, in particular the practice of relying upon extracts, downloaded or purchased, has been heavily criticised (Dombey, 1998; Frater, 2000; Sedgwick, 2000; King, 2002). Writers too have articulated their concerns that their works are being subjected to inappropriate levels of analysis and that as comprehension and assessment are seen to dominate over reading and response, this may lead to reduced pleasure in the text and adversely influence children’s desire to read (Powling et al., 2003, 2005). There has also been a sense that teachers’ own creative uses of literature have been subjugated to a centralised system for teaching literacy (Goouch and Lambirth, 2005; Grainger et al., 2005; Marshall, 2001; Martin, 2003) and that their confidence in knowing and using children’s literature may be limi...

The project Building Communities: Researching Literacy Lives (BC: RLL) on which this book is base... more The project Building Communities: Researching Literacy Lives (BC: RLL) on which this book is based sought to enable teachers, positioned as researchers, to develop new knowledge about children’s everyday literacy practices and widen their own conceptions of literacy. It also sought to develop two-way traffic between homes and schools and new teacher-child and teacher-parent relationships. The UK based project was a collaborative university, Local Authority (LA) and school partnership study that sought to explore children’s everyday literacy practices in the 21st century. It was undertaken by a team comprised of five university-based researchers, five LA co-ordinators, and eighteen participatory teacher-researchers from ten schools (for children between 4-11 years). In an attempt to avoid the ‘cheery, unfailingly positive tone’ (Vincent, 1996:74) of some project reporting, this text explores the challenges which emerged during the course of the project; the dilemmas and difficulties ...

This book draws upon the UKLA Teachers as Readers Phase I (2006-7) research which comprised a sur... more This book draws upon the UKLA Teachers as Readers Phase I (2006-7) research which comprised a survey of 1200 teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s literature and their personal practices, preferences, and habits as readers; and the UKLA Phase II project Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers which responded to the Phase I findings. The latter involved 43 primary teachers from 27 schools in 5 Local Authorities in the research, supported by 5 local authority coordinators (LACs). The project aimed to improve teachers’ knowledge and use of literature in order to help them increase children's motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy (Cremin et al., 2008 c, 2008d, 2009) . In focusing on pleasure in reading literature and other texts, the project provided a potent alternative to the dominant discourse about literacy in primary education, namely the standards agenda. This agenda, prevalent in accountability cultures of most We...

Improving Schools, 2012

In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-wa... more In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this article reports on a deliberately counter-cultural project that involved teachers in researching children's everyday literacy practices and 'funds of knowledge' over a year. Eighteen primary teachers from 10 schools in five local authorities in England were involved; this article focuses on two of the practitioners' experiences. Drawing on a wide range of data, it is argued that the project challenged teachers' perceptions and beliefs about children and families, prompting dispositional shifts and new understandings of difference and diversity. However, creating responsive curricula that connected to the lived social realities of the children represented a considerable professional challenge. The article highlights the affordances of collaborative research partnerships, and argues that considerable time, space and support is needed in order for teachers to appreciate and understand children's and families' funds of knowledge and blur the boundaries between home and school.

English in Education, 2009

This paper argues that the current commitment to personalised learning opens up real opportunitie... more This paper argues that the current commitment to personalised learning opens up real opportunities for changing the language and practice of literacy teaching as it currently operates in England. We argue that there is a need to seize the opportunities currently on offer, to educate teachers differently and to develop classroom practice and pedagogies that acknowledge the complexities of children's lives and literacies. We draw on evidence from a year-long ethnographic research study, conducted between 2006-2007, of fourteen children and their families. The children attended the same inner city primary school in an area of urban regeneration characterised by high levels of economic deprivation, high crime and many social problems. The resulting evidence suggests that personalising learning becomes a reality when teachers are given space and time to develop their understanding of the uses and meaning of literacy in the communities they serve.

English in Education, 2008

... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conferen... more ... Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks, 16. ... Ofsted (2004) Conference Report by Phil Jarrett, Ofsted Subject Conference, July 2004. Powling, C., Ashley, B., Pullman, P., Fine, A. and Gavin, J. (2003) Meetings with the minister. ...

Cambridge Journal of Education, 2008

Given the narrow scope of primary teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s literature identified... more Given the narrow scope of primary teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s literature identified in Phase I of Teachers as Readers (2006–2007), the core goal of the Phase II project was to improve teachers’ knowledge and experience of such literature in order to help them increase children’s motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy. The year-long Phase II project, Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers, which was undertaken
in five Local Authorities in England, also sought to build new relationships with parents and families and to explore the concept of a ‘‘Reading Teacher (RT):
a teacher who reads and a reader who teaches’ (Commeyras et al., 2003). The research design was multilayered; involving data collection at individual, school and LA levels, and using a range of quantitative and qualitative data research methods
and tools. This paper provides an overview of the Phase II research. It suggests that teachers need support if they are to develop children’s reading for pleasure, and enhance their involvement as socially engaged and self-motivated readers.