Taking stock of family literacy: Some contemporary perspectives

The purpose of this article is to examine developments in the area of family literacy over the last decade. Acknowledging the bifurcation that has occurred in the field of family literacy, as well as changing conceptions of literacy and of families, we review naturalistic studies of literacy embedded and enacted in communities and families across different sociocultural context and also what we see as the evolving nature of family literacy programs. We conclude with an acknowledgement of some of the ongoing concerns, issues, and tensions in the field and a call for sensitivity on the part of all of us involved in family literacy research and programs.