"Gallego and Hollingsworth make a tremendous contribution to the often ignored multidimensional nature of literacy and its relationship to schooling and social justice. Moreover, they provide teachers with vital examples of critical praxis, as it engages the complexities linked to the everyday realities of personal, classroom and community experiences."

–Antonia Darder, Claremont Graduate University

"Through telling stories and critical analyses, innovative programs and practical insights, this must-have volume provides educational visions of reading and writing as inspired, hope-filled sources of connection and community."

–John Willinsky, University of British Columbia

This critical exploration of the theories and purposes of literacy challenges current assumptions about the discourse of schooling. Authors Margaret Anne Gallego and Sandra Hollingsworth, along with eminent scholars, delve into the lives and literacies that have traditionally been excluded from public classrooms and focus on the disenfranchisement that results from such politics. They propose an alternative set of literacies, helping non-mainstream students to learn the dominant language of power while preserving their community and personal identities. Through socio-political analyses, the contributors argue persuasively for expanding what "counts" as literacy to include visual media and technological literacy, multiple sign systems for special education students, community-based literacy and personal literacies. This practical and fresh collection is an essential resource for educators, theorists, and researchers who wish to expand the existing definitions of literacy to include multiple perspectives.

Margaret Anne Gallego is an Associate Professor at San Diego State University and Sandra Hollingsworth is the Director of the Reading and Language Arts Development Studies Center in Oakland, California.