Does the Model of Language in the National Literacy Strategy Create Failure for Pupils from Differing Language Backgrounds?

The National Literacy Strategy (NLS) was introduced by the government in the wake of the hotly debated issue of falling educational standards in the UK. All schools were required to adopt the NLS Literacy Hour unless they could show their preferred programme would result in raised levels of achievement. My experience of delivering the Literacy Hour has been a process of adaptation to the needs of my pupils, who are drawn mainly from groups whose language backgrounds differ from that which is dominant in school. I have found that the requirements of NLS, together with many of the commercial resources used to teach it, are not appropriate for pupils from these groups and a question arose: is it the pupils who are in some way deficient or is it the approach and the resources being used? This article takes a case study of the use of a commercially produced resource to explore the model of language implicit in NLS, the kinds of resources it generates and the ways in which this creates failure in pupils from different language backgrounds. It then considers the New Literacy Studies and their implications for an alteration in our approach.     

Artifacts,Identity and Youth: A Cultural Intervention with Pacific Islander Young People Who Offend in Western Sydney,Australia

This article provides information on the evaluation of a project between the Australian Museum and the Juvenile Justice department in New South Wales, Australia, where young people who offend of Pacific Islander heritage were introduced to an extensive range of Pacific Islander cultural materials. The key assumption of the project was that young Pacific Islander people who offend struggled with cultural identity issues, and that a meaningful connection with their heritage would improve cultural knowledge and pride—thereby reducing their involvement in crime. However, this assumption was not borne out by the study's results. Firstly, the twenty‐two Pacific Islander young offender study participants were already proud of their heritage, and comfortable in their cultural identities. Secondly, though they enjoyed their visit to the museum, most did not want to visit again, so there was no sustained engagement. Thirdly, the Museum program was not designed as part of a holistic approach with multiple strategies which addressed the complex reasons for youth offending. Despite eight out of the twenty‐two participants reoffending after the Museum visit, there was enough potential for the rehabilitative intervention that the Museum was granted funding to take its program to the community and make it more user‐centered. This, it is hoped, will set it on a path towards more sustained engagement, and the potential for a greater influence on Pacific Islander youth.     

The future is not what it used to be: Changing views on contemporary color photography

Attitudes and approaches toward the collection, use, and care of color photographs have evolved enormously since the official arrival of commercially viable color photographic processes in the early twentieth century. This article traces the evolution of collection, exhibition, and preservation practices for works of art in color photography over the last few decades, as represented by one institution, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.     

Comics and the Modern Library Catalog: New Rules for Breaking the Rules

Scholarly and curricular uses of comics extend to many disciplines in higher education, resulting in increased demand for institutional access to such materials. Despite nearly twenty years of justification in the literature for inclusion of such materials in libraries, there are not widely adopted conventions or models for engaging in the business of a comics collection. At San Diego State University, this presented an opportunity to pioneer new modes of access, from cataloging and organization to storage and retrieval. This article explores the process of making a collection of floppy comics accessible alongside a theoretical discussion of cataloging shortcomings and opportunities.