‘To start talking phonics is crazy’: how parents understand ‘literacy’ in the lives of children with learning disabilities

Doak, Lauran

Abstract

Children and young people with learning disabilities may not acquire the independent reading and writing skills which are con-flated with ‘literacy’ in international educational policy, calling into question what ‘literacy’ means in the context of ‘special education’. Existing literature explores teacher perspectives, but less is known about parent views. This study conducts semi-structured interviews with two mothers of learning disabled children, drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis to trace inflections of policy, theory and practice- based discourses in their talk as they attempt to construct a mean-ingful version of ‘literacy’ in their children’s lives. It is argued that parents may align either with conventional discourses of autono-mous literacy currently favoured in policy – which may result in disappointment at the child’s ‘inability’ – or with more expansive notions of ‘inclusive literacy’ which challenge and subvert conven-tional understandings of literate practice. Parental positioning, sub-jectivity and practice are interwoven with underpinning discursive constructions of ‘literacy'.

Citation

Doak, L. (2024). ‘To start talking phonics is crazy’: how parents understand ‘literacy’ in the lives of children with learning disabilities. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 32(1), 41-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.2010121

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 15, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 27, 2021
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 2, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 5, 2023
• Print ISSN: 1468-1366
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-5104
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 41-59
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.2010121
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25684437
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681366.2021.2010121