Desirable Literacies

Jackie Marsh is Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK, where she conducts research on young children′s play and digital literacy practices in homes, communities and early years settings and primary schools. Her most recent publications include Changing Play: Play, Media and Commercial Culture from the 1950s to the Present Day (with Bishop, 2014) and Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy (edited with Larson, 2013). Jackie is an editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy.Dr Elaine Hallet has been involved in educating children, practitioners, educators, teachers and students over a career of thirty-six years and during this time has developed an understanding of how to nurture, scaffold and support children’s and adults’ learning and professional practice through meaningful contexts. She has worked as an early years teacher, advisory teacher and leader in a range of schools and nurseries, as a lecturer and leader with students in further and higher education, teaching on a range of early years initial training, post-qualifying, undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral programmes and sector-endorsed professional awards in early years and integrated centre leadership. Elaine’s research includes, foundation degree graduates’ continuing professional development through work-based reflective learning, the development of professional identity, the role of graduate early years leaders in the leadership of learning. She is committed to continuing professional learning for development of professional practice and to supporting practitioners, educators and teachers on their reflective learning journeys of knowledge, understanding and discovery.  Elaine has recently retired from her role as Lecturer in Early Childhood at the Institute of Education: University College London. With a background in early years education and practice, Elaine is an established author, with a special interest in the education of young children and, practitioners, educators and teachers’ reflective continuing professional learning.

′[This book] is packed with information, examples and case studies which will make it very useful to both students and established practitioners′ - Early Years Update

• Introduction - Jackie Marsh and Elaine HalletLearning to talk, talking to learn - Jim McDonagh and Sue McDonaghLiving in two worlds: The language and literacy development of young bilinguals - Naomi Flynn White cars like mice with little legs: Poetry in the early years - Liz Stone and Julia GillenSigns and symbols: Environmental print - Elaine HalletEarly Reading Development - Guy MerchantDeveloping writing in the early years - Ann BrowneMultimodal Literacies - Rosie FlewittLooking with a different eye: Creativity and literacy in the early years - Kate PahlPlay, drama and literacy in the early years - Julie DunnICT and literacy - Tim WallerMedia iteracy in the early years - Jackie MarshFamily literacy - past and present - Viv BirdGoing fishing: observing, assessing and planning for literacy development in young children - Fran Paffard