TY - JOUR

T1 - Hymns, prayers and Bible stories

T2 - the role of religious literacy practices in children's literacy learning

AU - Papen, Uta

N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethnography and Education on 11/01/2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17457823.2016.1277773

PY - 2018/1

Y1 - 2018/1

N2 - This paper examines the role of religious literacy practices such as hymns, prayers and Bible stories in the context of literacy teaching in primary schools in England. Drawing on data collected through a classroom ethnography of a year 1 class (five and six-year-olds) conducted in a Catholic primary school in 2013 and 2014, I suggest that religious literacy practices contribute to children’s literacy learning in various ways. They focus children’s attention on a text’s meaning, not on decoding, as other literacy lessons do. They do not privilege rational thinking but afford more emotional and bodily experiences of meaning-making. These practices also offer opportunities for collaborative engagements with literacy, supporting learning through participation. My findings suggest that educators, researchers and policy-makers should pay greater attention to the range of literacy practices children engage with and how they contribute to their literacy learning.

AB - This paper examines the role of religious literacy practices such as hymns, prayers and Bible stories in the context of literacy teaching in primary schools in England. Drawing on data collected through a classroom ethnography of a year 1 class (five and six-year-olds) conducted in a Catholic primary school in 2013 and 2014, I suggest that religious literacy practices contribute to children’s literacy learning in various ways. They focus children’s attention on a text’s meaning, not on decoding, as other literacy lessons do. They do not privilege rational thinking but afford more emotional and bodily experiences of meaning-making. These practices also offer opportunities for collaborative engagements with literacy, supporting learning through participation. My findings suggest that educators, researchers and policy-makers should pay greater attention to the range of literacy practices children engage with and how they contribute to their literacy learning.

KW - Literacy practices

KW - classroom ethnography

KW - Catholic religion

KW - religious literacies

KW - literacy learning primary school

U2 - 10.1080/17457823.2016.1277773

DO - 10.1080/17457823.2016.1277773

M3 - Journal article

VL - 13

SP - 119

EP - 134

JO - Ethnography and Education

JF - Ethnography and Education

SN - 1745-7823

IS - 1

ER -