Literacy in American Lives
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
Literacy in American Lives traces the changing conditions of literacy learning over the past century as they were felt in the lives of ordinary Americans born between 1895 and 1985. The book demonstrates what sharply rising standards for literacy have meant to successive generations of Americans and how--as students, workers, parents, and citizens--they have responded to rapid changes in the meaning and methods of literacy learning in their society. Drawing on more than 80 life histories of Americans from all walks of life, the book addresses critical questions facing public education at the start of the twenty-first century.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0521003067
ISBN13:9780521003063
Release Date:May 2001
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Length:272 Pages
Weight:0.87 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
A teacher of writing
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
A masterpiece in the field of literacy studies. A must-read for anyone concerned with education in this country or abroad.
One of the essentials
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Literacy in American Lives is an astounding work that cuts across so many disciplines, you'll lose track. It's a remarkable social history, it's ethnography, biting social commentary, educational historiography, psychology, an essential resource for curriculum development. The book catches up with and defines that moving target: What is literacy? Certainly anybody who has anything to do with education, school boards, curriculum developing, funding for our schools, should read this book. Politicians, journalists, teachers, especially. The research is painstaking. Conclusions are vital and well-grounded. It reveals how the very institutions that are supposedly designed to foster literacy may actually be contributing to its uneven distribution by continuing historic patterns of discrimination, and how private interests continue to threaten to hijack our schools. And it reminds us, that's not the way it's supposed to be in our democracy.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
