Teaching Reading and Literacy across International Boundries: History, Policy and Politics

The project draws upon newspaper, primary sources and archival based material from the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Consequently, the project will have considerable interdisciplinary and international impact. The findings will be of interest to those who work, not only with theories of literacy, but also to historians, sociologists, policymakers and teachers who engage with critical theory in its broadest sense, in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand as well as elsewhere. Moreover, given the introduction of the Literacy Hour in England, and recent attempts by politicians in the United States, Australia and New Zealand to restructure policies towards the teaching of reading, this is a topical and timely project with the potential to contribute to wider national and international policy debates in education.