Abstract of

Adolescent Literacies Within the Middle Years of Schooling: A Case Study of a Year 8 Homeroom

Val Faulkner

This article argues that issues surrounding adolescent literacies problematize the relationship between the acquisition of core skills, the need to connect with a more expansive repertoire of literate practices, and a middle school reform initiative that encourages greater connectedness to the world of the adolescent. The terms public literacy and private literacy are used to offer an expanded notion of the concept of adolescent literacy. A case study representing one teacher and one student's construction of literacy in a year 8 homeroom is presented to determine whether attention was paid to an expanded notion of what it means to be literate as young adolescents. It is argued that the private literacies of adolescents need to be teased out and embedded within middle school reform.

Abstract from Faulkner, V. (2005, October). Adolescent Literacies Within the Middle Years of Schooling: A Case Study of a Year 8 Homeroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(2), 108–117. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.2.3