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This review has been accessed times since August 1, 2009

Christenbury, Leila, Bomer, Randy, & Smagorinsky, Peter (Eds.). (2009). Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research. NY: The Guilford Press Pp. v + 452         ISBN 978-1-59385-829-2

Reviewed by Ryan R. Kelly
Iowa State University

August 1, 2009

The editorial team of the Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research (2009) offers the field of adolescent literacy research and education an intriguing and insightful volume that effectively builds a framework for literacy research, situates it in schools, and broadens in scope to encompass community and culture.  Where some volumes treat current policy direction and current literacy trends as separate entities, this handbook makes a concerted attempt negotiation of that gulf.

With the understanding in mind that “adolescent identity emerges in the culture in which young people’s development takes place; literacy practices are afforded and constrained by what is available in their settings; and research is a cultural practice that reflects local goals an practices,” this volume launches into a concerted “attempt to contextualize” thinking in the field (p. 3-4).  The editors pitch the Handbook to scholars and researchers not as merely their impression of what knowledge is foundationally important, but as their current snapshot of both what is important and what is happening now—and in doing so, offer it to others as a direction in which to proceed.  Their concern over “a consistent gap between what we know and what we are doing” (p. 12) is a genuine one, and this handbook is ultimately their attempt, along with their call to others to assist, at mediating that gap.

With an overview section that swiftly grounds this volume in adolescents and their literacy practices, the editors turn to the core of this text: forms of literacy within schools and the means by which both researchers and policy makers engage with these forms of literacy.  From fostering an engagement with literacy practices, to digital Literacies and the fine arts, to second-language writing and learning, to curriculum, this section offers a great deal of what the editors promise in their Introduction regarding the here and now of adolescent literacy.  Where this section truly stands out is when it addresses a primary area of concern, assessment.  James Marshall makes one of this handbook’s most genuine attempts to bridge a policy driven direction for adolescent literacy and a version of adolescent literacy that is social constructed in the realm of new Literacies—a fusion of two often divergent areas.  He says that “our research in new literacy studies will continue to grow, of course, but we have to ask how such research will become relevant and useful to teachers working in environments where test-driven priorities are increasingly dominant” (p. 123).  Here again is what the editors promise, and a chapter in which scholars and researchers—even practicing teachers—can find a framework for attempting continued exploration of adolescent literacy practices that might seem to go against the grain of current educational policy.

Where this handbook could push further is its next section on out of school literacy, which explores literacy practices that are still a great deal separate from the classroom.  Though this section does cover interesting ground of virtual environments—an area with which this handbook could certainly expand its scope—and both college and workplace literacies, Bruce’s chapter on the richness of media literacy forms stands out most.  Bruce here makes a very substantial case for considering media driven literacy skills over those measured by current standardized testing, viewing such testing as a barrier to the use of media driven literacy skills and considering them as a competency within literacy skills.  Bruce further challenges us to consider these skills and the need to include them in the proficiencies we measure, noting that “because the research shows that media literacy is so important to adolescents, because it shows that society demands that students be knowledgeable and skillful about emergent technologies, and because research shows that multiple media provide means of expressing and extending knowledge, skill and ideas, teacher need to know about media literacy” (p. 301).  This may very well be one of this handbook’s most powerful calls for further work in the field—again, as promised by the editors.  Still, we must continue to ask ourselves which other out-of-school practices shaping literacy researchers should explore, drawing the community into the classroom in the process, and it would have benefitted this handbook to explore a few more possible venues.

A well-developed area, in which some might not anticipate such a handbook to deliver, is the final section that bridges literacy and culture.  As literacy is a constructed practice, research cannot ignore the identities shaped by such practice.  This section devotes equal attention to ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and nationality.  This section does more as called to by social justice than other comparable handbooks in the literacy field.  And this is the section that paints a greater picture of what literacy practices have done to shape the cultural identities of the learners to which we turn our attention in both educational research and practice.  It is both impressive and refreshing to see a volume that does not ignore race, does not ignore gender, and does not ignore sexual identity, but rather engages with each, making each a vital element in the identity-construction process, and an active factor in literacy practices.  Martino’s exploration of the literacy issues of GLBTQ youth, for example, challenges the pedagogical aims of forum theater to contextualize learning about homophobia and gender violence, noting that “the absence of reflection on such pedagogical conditions can lead to reinforcing rather than transgressing notions of sexual identity” (p. 397).  Essentially, he calls for the use of further literacy-shaping practices to offer the two-way dialectical engagement in the classroom, rather than let power-holding agency off the hook, or treat the oppressed as agents to be rehabilitated.  It is a bold call for greater constructive practices in learning that engage with turbulent issues on the road to social justice.  Ultimately, scholars will find additional perspective for academic review and researchers will find needed support for theoretical frameworks. 

If the purpose of a research handbook is to seek cohesion of an academic area then this volume certainly takes vital strides in an important direction.  For scholars and researchers this handbook offers promise and insight into how we currently conceptualize adolescent literacy research—and the likely directions in which scholars and researchers will be likely to proceed.  Additionally, for those scholars and researchers whose work and research will intersect with classrooms, this handbook will help inform both study design and models of analysis as researchers continue to examine literacy practices and culture.

References

Bruce, D. L. (2009). Reading and Writing Video: Media Literacy and Adolescents. In Christenbury, Leila; Bomer, Randy & Smagorinsky, Peter. (Eds.) Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research (pp. 187-303). NY: The Guilford Press.

Christenbury, L., Bomer, R., & Smagorinsky, P. (2009). Introduction. In Christenbury, Leila; Bomer, Randy & Smagorinsky, Peter. (Eds.) Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research (pp. 3-13). NYk: The Guilford Press.

Marshall, J. (2009). Divided against Ourselves: Standards, Assessments, and Adolescent Literacy. In Christenbury, Leila; Bomer, Randy & Smagorinsky, Peter. (Eds.) Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research (pp. 113-125). NY: The Guilford Press.

Martino, W. (2009). Literacy Issues and GLBTQ Youth: Queer Interventions in English Education. In Christenbury, Leila; Bomer, Randy & Smagorinsky, Peter. (Eds.) Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research (pp. 386-399). NY: The Guilford Press.

About the Reviewer

Ryan R. Kelly is a doctoral student and current Preparing Future Faculty Fellow in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Iowa State University’s College of Human Sciences.  With a background in high school language arts education from the University of Iowa, Kelly has taught in two Iowa high schools and completed his M.S. at Iowa State, continuing further in literacy studies.  His current research interests include New Literacies, the use of classroom discourse in research and teaching practice, critical pedagogy, and the teaching of writing to gifted learners.  Kelly will complete his doctorate in 2010 and further engage with this academic field.

Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.

Editors: Gene V Glass, Gustavo Fischman, Melissa Cast-Brede

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