Teaching Early Reading and Phonics

Kathy Goouch is Professor of Early Education in the Research Centre for Children, Families and Communities at Canterbury Christ Church University.  Kathy′s career in education began in the 1970s as a teacher in London schools, later focusing on teaching very young children in school and kindergarten.  She now enjoys teaching, researching and writing about babies and young children, their literacy and learning and the people who care for them and help them to learn.  She has contributed to conferences across the world and is developing research collaborations to contribute to understandings of international discourses of care.  Kathy′s research and publications are particularly focused on very early communication and interactions between adults and infants and her current research projects are attempting to understand the nature of relationships in baby rooms in nurseries.Andrew Lambirth is Professor of Education in The Faculty of Education and Health at The University of Greenwich. Before joining Higher Education, he was a Primary School teacher in Peckham and Bermondsey in South East London. Andrew has published widely in the field of the teaching of Literacy and English including: Primary English (2005, Learning Matters), Creativity and Writing: Developing Voice and Verve in the Classroom (2005, Routledge) with Grainger and Goouch. Understanding Reading and the Teaching of Phonics: Critical Perspectives (2007, Open University) Literacy on the Left: Reform and Revolution (2007 Bloomsbury); Making Poetry Matter (2013 Bloomsbury) with Dymoke and Wilson. Andrew is currently President of the United Kingdom Literacy Association

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Sensible Approaches to Teaching and ReadingChapter 2: Beginning with BabiesChapter3: Critical contextsChapter 4: The role of the teacherChapter 5: Knowledge for readingChapter 6: Environments for readingChapter 7: Resources for readingChapter 7: Resources for reading Chapter 8: Reading routinesChapter 9: Talk, reading and writingChapter 10: Assessment of readingChapter 11: Conclusions: Principles and Practice

I think these authors have done a splendid job and have managed to produce a book that speaks persuasively, directly and clearly to fellow researchers/academics and teachers. It is a fabulous up-to-date critical analysis of current literature on which excellent ideas for practice and policy are grounded. Personally, I think the emphasis these authors place on the learning and care of the very youngest children is particularly fresh – not enough analysis or conceptualising is happening in this area and these authors, especially Kathy Goouch, have been pioneering in this regard. This book will therefore encourage that line of inquiry and support developments in practice. I also think it will be an invaluable resource for fellow researchers, doctoral students and those tasked with shaping policy on literacy, especially in England where new thinking is overdue in the policy field. I hope it proves to be required reading for diverse groups: academics (especially those in childhood studies and teacher education) practitioners and policy makers. I will certainly be recommending it to my colleagues and students.