Book Review: Literacy Practices as Social Acts: Power, Status, and Cultural Norms in the Classroom

In his introduction to this book, James Gee explains that, in order to become an active participant in a specific so-cial activity, access to that activity must be granted to newcomers by those who currently hold ownership of or control over the practice. In connecting this concept to literacy engagement, Gee asserts that participation in literacy practices is linked to the social conditions of access, affiliation, and values in which those literacy practices are embedded. A year-long ethnographic study, Literacy Practices as Social Acts: Power, Status, and Cultural Norms in the Classroom focuses on social events in a multiage fifth/sixth grade classroom as they relate to four specific literacy practices: read-alouds, peer-led literature discussions, teacher-led discussions, and in-dependent reading. As a participant-observer, the researcher sought to examine the relationship between classroom literacy rituals and the social codes and cultural norms beyond the classroom. Five students, representative of the classroom population and who provided contrasting characteristics in terms of grade level, socioeconomic status, and reading ability were selected and served as focal students for the study. Audio taped literature dis-cussions; interviews with students, parents, administra-tors, and the classroom teacher; field notes maintained throughout the study; and students ’ written responses to literature were included in the researcher’s data set