Reflections on Teaching Literacy

The late Margaret J. Early was a nationally renowned educator in the field of English education and reading, a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, an author and an editor herself, and the recipient of many awards. The book Reflections on Teaching Literacy: Selected Speeches of Margaret J. Early, edited by Willa Wolcott, contains fifteen of her speeches given during the 1970s and 1980s, two important decades for the English profession. In each address Dr. Early probes, summarizes, and critiques the developments she sees occurring in the teaching of literacy. Her speeches are warm, chatty, and thought-provoking, providing both an historical overview of the issues involved and the immediacy of her perspective as she tackles possible solutions to these issues—many of which continue to be very relevant. The speeches are enhanced by an in-depth, thoughtful “Foreword” written by Ben Nelms, a former editor of The English Journal and a pre-eminent figure in English education, as he places Dr. Early’s speeches in the larger context of the changes within the profession itself. A two-part “Afterword” written by Jane Townsend and Barbara Pace, current faculty members at the University of Florida, explores the extent to which Dr. Early’s speeches are linked to practices in teaching literacy today.