Literacy as Liberation: A film screening and Q&A workshop

Abstract: Literacy as Liberation, which premiered at the UKLA 61st International Conference, captures innovative classroom practice, teacher reflections and thought-provoking interviews with people positioned as ‘struggling readers’ at school. Co-directed by Jay Gearing (Red7Productions) and based on eight years of research by Dr Jess Anderson into children’s reading, the documentary reimagines the debate around poverty-related attainment gaps by foregrounding literacies as, at times joyful, agentic communication. Inclusion, belonging, equity and fairness thrum within the film’s themes of multimodal, mixed-attainment, multilingual, decolonial and self-expressive literacy pedagogies. The documentary is multi-voiced, a collaboration of primary teachers, researcher, gardeners, artists, professional and community groups. How, we ask, can abstract ideas of socially just and liberating education be explored and practically applied in the primary classroom?

Dr Jess Anderson is an ESRC Post-doctoral Fellow in the department of Sociology at the University of Stirling, and mentored by Dr Sarah Wilson. With over 30 years experience in education, as a primary teacher, teacher educator and literacy researcher, Jess brings together theory and practice in exploring ways to make literacy teaching and learning more equitable and inclusive.