Mission Statement:
UKLA seeks to advance literacy education which enables all learners, regardless of background or context, to thrive as literate individuals. Our view is that literacy encompasses spoken language, reading and writing, including digital and multimodal texts. We strive to facilitate a rich dialogue between educators and researchers, fostering a deep understanding of evolving pedagogies and innovative teaching and learning strategies. As a membership organisation, we are a community committed to fostering collaborative relationships with literacy educators, communities, and stakeholders; and as a subject association, we promote best practice in literacy education, informed by research evidence and the insight of literacy professionals.
Values:
We believe that every learner has the right to:
- a broad and balanced literacy curriculum which is critical, creative and affective;
- learning opportunities which respect the linguistic, social and cultural resources that learners bring to the classroom;
- teaching which addresses both cognitive, personal, affective and ethical development;
- access the best texts – in print, digital and multimodal forms – written for children and young people, reflecting diverse interests and cultures;
- inspired teaching which fosters a lifelong love of reading and writing;
- engage in a rich range of spoken language activities, including drama, discussion, presentations and collaborative work;
- opportunities to engage in personal writing to understand themselves and their world, and to write for broader academic purposes and audiences.
Membership:
While the Association’s principal mission is to those concerned with teaching and learning, UKLA membership is open to anyone sharing its beliefs. UKLA recognises the value of discussion and debate and welcomes a range and variety of viewpoints within a broad-based membership while avoiding obviously partisan approaches and extremes of opinion. UKLA’s funding is mainly from membership fees, publications, and conferences. UKLA accepts only limited sponsorship for very specific purposes and only where the Association retains ultimate control.