This article considers the importance of in-depth case studies in research into young children’s language and literacy learning, and asks how the findings of such research can be utilized. Two case studies from a larger ethnography of home and school learning are offered as exemplars: one child is from an English, and the other from a Bangladeshi, background, but the two were born on the same day, and start school in the same classroom. Their home experiences of literacy and other forms of learning are compared: though neither child’s early literacy experience is ideally matched to the classroom they enter, the English child is enabled to ‘make up’ home disadvantages in ways which are not available to the Bangladeshi child. When differences in their experiences and outcomes are theorized, it is suggested that communication between home and school is the key to successful adaptation to school literacy learning.
Ball, S.
(1981) Beachside Comprehensive.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2.
Bernstein, B.
(1990) Class, Codes and Control, Volume 4: The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse. London: Routledge
3.
Bernstein, B.
(1996) Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity. London: Taylor and Francis.
4.
Bourdieu, P.
(1986/1997) ‘The Forms of Capital’, in A. H. Halsey, H. Lauder, P. Brown and A. S. Wells (eds) Education, Culture, Economy, and Society, pp. 46–58. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5.
Brooker, L.
(2002) Starting School: Young Children Learning Cultures.Buckingham: Open University Press.
6.
Campbell, R.
(1999) Literacy from Home to School:Reading with Alice.Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.
7.
Cochran-Smith, M.
(1984) The Making of a Reader.Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
8.
Department for Education and Science
(1967) Children and their Primary Schools (The Plowden Report). London: DES.
9.
Epstein, J.
and Dauber, S. (1991) ‘School Programs and Teacher Practices of Parent Involvement in Inner-City Elementary and Middle Schools’, The Elementary School Journal91(3): 289–305.
10.
Geertz, C.
(1973) The Interpretation of Cultures. London: Hutchinson.
11.
Gewirtz, S.
, Ball, S. and Bowe, R.(1994) ‘Parents, Privilege and the Education Marketplace’, Research Papers in Education9(1): 3–29.
12.
Greenough, P.
and Hughes, M. (1998) ‘Parents’ and Teachers’ Interventions in Children’s Reading’, British Educational Research Journal24(4): 383–398.
13.
Gregory, E.
(1998) ‘Siblings as Mediators of Literacy in Linguistic Minority Communities’, Language and Education12(1): 33–54.
14.
Gregory, E.
(2001) ‘Sisters and Brothers as Language and Literacy Teachers: Synergy between Siblings Playing and Working Together, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy1(3): 301–322.
15.
Gregory, E.
and Biarnes, J. (1994) ‘Tony and Jean-Francois: Looking for Sense in the Strangeness of School’, in H. Dombey and M. Spencer (eds) First Steps Together, pp. 15–29. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
16.
Gregory, E.
and Williams, A. (2000) City Literacies.London: Routledge.
17.
Hannon, P.
(1987) ‘A Study of the Effects of Parental Involvement in the Teaching of Reading on Children’s Reading Test Performance’, British Journal of Educational Psychology57: 56–72.
18.
Harste, J.
, Woodward, V. and Burke, C. (1984) Language Stories and Literacy Lessons. New York: Academic Press.
19.
Heath, S. B.
(1982) ‘What no Bedtime Story Means: Narrative Skills at Home and School’, Language and Society2(1): 49–76.
20.
Heath, S. B.
(1983) Ways With Words: Language, Life and Work in Communities and Classrooms.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
21.
Hewison, J.
(1988) ‘The Long Term Effectiveness of Parental Involvement in Reading: A Follow-up Study to the Haringey Reading Project’, British Journal of Educational Psychology58: 184–190.
22.
James, A.
, Jenks, C. and Prout, A. (1997) Theorising Childhood.Cambridge: Polity Press.
23.
Lareau, A.
(1987) ‘Social Class Differences in Family-School Relationships: The Importance of Cultural Capital’, Sociology of Education60(2): 73–85.
24.
Lareau, A.
(1989) Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education. London: Falmer Press.
25.
Lincoln, Y.
and Guba, G. (1984) Naturalistic Inquiry.Beverley Hills, CA: Sage.
26.
Newson, J.
and Newson, E. (1976) Seven Years Old in the Home Environment. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
27.
Purcell-Gates, V.
(1995) Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
Reay, D.
(1998) Class Work: Mothers’ Involvement in their Children’s Primary Schools. London: UCL Press.
29.
Rogoff, B.
(1990) Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
Sammons, P.
and Smees, R. (1996) Using Baseline Screening Information to Examine Pupil Progress across Years 1 and 2. London: University of London Institute of Education.
31.
Strand, S.
(1999a) ‘Pupil Background and Baseline Assessment Results at Age 4’, Journal of Research in Reading22(1): 14–26.
32.
Strand, S.
(1999b) ‘Ethnic Group, Sex and Economic Disadvantage: Associations with Pupils’ Educational Progress from Baseline to the End of Key Stage 1’, British Educational Research Journal25(2): 179–202.
33.
Street, B.
(1984) Literacy in Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34.
Stuart, M.
, Dixon, M. and Quinlan, P. (1998) ‘Learning to Read at Home and at School’, British Journal of Educational Psychology68: 3–14.
35.
Taylor, D.
and Dorsey-Gaines, C. (1990) Growing Up Literate: Learning from Inner-city Families.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
36.
Tizard, B.
, Blatchford, P., Burke, J., Farquhar, C. and Plewis, I. (1988) Young Children at School in the Inner City. London: Laurence Erlbaum.
37.
Tizard, B.
, Mortimore, J. and Burchell, B. (1981) Involving Parents in Nursery and Infant School: A Source Book for Teachers.London: Grant McIntyre.
38.
Tizard, J.
, Schofield, W. and Hewison, J. (1982) ‘Collaboration between Teachers and Parents in Assisting Children’s Reading’, British Journal of Educational Psychology52: 1–15.
39.
Topping, K.
(1992) ‘Short and Long Term Follow-up of Parental Involvement in Reading Projects’, British Educational Research Journal18(4): 369–379.
40.
Volk, D.
(1997) ‘Continuities and Discontinuities: Teaching and Learning in the Home and School of a Puerto Rican Five Year Old’, in E. Gregory (ed.) One Child,Many Worlds: Early Learning in Multicultural Communities. London: David Fulton.
41.
Volk, D.
(1998) ‘Siblings as Teachers: Co-constructing Activity Settings in a Puerto Rican Home’, Studies in Educational Ethnography1: 69–91.
42.
Wade, B.
and Moore, M. (1993) Bookstart in Birmingham. London: Book Trust.
43.
Weinberger, J.
(1996) Literacy Goes to School: The Parents’ Role in Young Children’s Literacy Learning. London: Paul Chapman.
44.
Wells, G.
(1986) The Meaning Makers. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
45.
Whalley, M.
and the Pen Green Team (2001) Involving Parents in their Children’s Learning. London: Paul Chapman.
