The effect of beliefs about literacy on teacher and student expectations: a Further Education perspective

Abstract

With reference to the Literacies for Learning in Further Education TLRP project, this article suggests that teachers’ views of their students’ literacy practices and capabilities can have an effect on their understanding and expectations of their students’ performance. The article revisits some of the literature on ‘teacher expectancy’, which has indicated that students’ experience of education is affected by their teachers’ expectations of them. We propose that these expectations are, in turn, often shaped by beliefs and attitudes about teaching, learning and literacy. We suggest that a recognition and respect of students’ everyday literacy practices will enhance teachers’ understanding of their students and increase potential for negotiating the borders between vernacular and curriculum literacies, thereby enhancing students’ experience of Further Education.