Literacy beyond the home and the classroom: public environmental print and children’s literacy

ABSTRACT

It is well established that environmental print, or text that is present in children’s environments, plays an important role in children’s literacy development. However, few studies have looked at the role of environmental print in children’s literacy development beyond the classroom and how this might shape children’s experiences of place more broadly. In this paper, we draw on work inspired by the social and spatial literacy turns to call for a renewal of environmental print research. We reimagine environmental print as being more than learning to read, but about children relating to place. We propose child-centred public art as purposefully installed environmental print. We argue that arts-based projects offer potential for exploring children’s literacy engagement and sense of belonging in urban places.

KEYWORDS:

• Literacy
• environmental print
• spatiality
• community
• public art

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Thank you to the University of Wollongong Global Challenges Program for awarding us the grant which lead to developing the ideas explored in this paper.