Becoming School Literate Parents: An ESL Perspective

Framed by literacy as social practice and social theory of learning, this paper provides a preliminary exploration of how an ESL parent developed a sense of school literate identity as her three children successively entered formal schooling. This case study is the beginning of a larger investigation in which we shall more fully explore the dynamic of literacy relationships between parents of ESL children and the schools their children attend. We take the opportunity in this paper to explore some emerging issues that, while preliminary, are worthy of teachers' and schools' consideration and point to the need for further research into the question of ESL parents' literate identities at their children's schools.