Illiteracy in Parents

2282 Words10 Pages
There are many different factors which contribute to the development of literacy. Identify one factor and examine how it relates to this process. One in five adults in the UK struggle with illiteracy (World Literacy Foundation, 2006). Literacy can be defined as the ‘ability to understand, evaluate, use and engage with written texts to participate in society, achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential’ (OECD, 2014, p. 3). There are many different factors that contribute and affect children’s development of literacy such as living within a low-income household, low attendance at school and having English as an additional language. For the purpose of this essay, the importance of parental involvement and parental literacy will be the focus of discussion. This essay will discuss theories such as Vygotsky, Wood, Bruner and Ross who present the importance of adult involvement within a child’s education. Research projects on parental involvement by Jeynes, Rutter and Dornbusch will also be analysed on how parental involvement positively influences attainment. In addition to discussing the effects of children’s literacy development, this essay will evaluate the reasons as to why parents with poor levels of literacy, struggle to support their child, looking beyond that they just cannot read or write. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) skills outlook report, children leaving school in the UK currently have one of the lowest literacy levels across the world with the UK falling behind, currently placed 22nd out of 24 countries (2013, p. 29). This is a strong indication of the importance in improving children’s literacy levels with parental literacy being a causing factor. Suitable strategies to tackle parental illiteracy will be evaluated for effectiveness as to whether they can benefit children’s development of
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