7.2 Guidelines for the implementation of family literacy programs based on multiple literacies

Brown (1998) recognizes multiple literacies as a relevant approach for family literacy programs. She suggest that rather than promoting only academic literacy, family literacy programs should take into account the family unit as a whole and design the curriculum to take into account factors such as the culture, gender and age of the participants, as well as the relational, professional and community parameters.

She recommends spending time looking at literacies that are passed on from one adult to another, between adults I and children, and between brothers and sisters, as well as literacies that one finds in the community, including those that are job related. Brown claims that it is important to promote various types of literacy-determined behaviour that require close cooperation between the members of a family, schools, communities and workplaces.

Literacies that are passed on between adults (e.g., through exchanges and discussions among parents on various subjects) and between childrer and adults have been acknowledged and promoted within the programs mentioned in the For My Child reports. The parents who participated in these programs said that they had greatly appreciated these exchanges.

Osterlilg et al. (1999)studied two Amercian models of family literacy that have been used with parents from ethnic minorities. They concluded that to be successful, the implementation of family literacies must include the following:

• teach the language, culture and traditions of parents and grandparents (community and personal literacies),
• improve reading, writing and mathematical skills (academic literacy),
• create a community founded on members who take responsibility for and support the values and culture ofthe families (personal and critical literacies), and
• establish collaboration between parents, community organizations and schools (community literacy).

In her research, Masny (2002) points out that the families targeted by family literacy programs are likelyto present differing profiles in relation to the acquisition of literacies. To appreciate and acknowledge the literacies of each family at different times, family literacy programs in the minority Francophone setting must gr beyond academic literacy to include multiple literacies.

It is especially important to include in family literacy programs the dimension of the Canadian French speaking context as well as activities that make it possible to live in French and that contribute to all of the literacies. Multiple literacies are a very recent concept in the area of family literacy in French in Canada. In Ontario, a family literacy program model that was used in this research, Des livres dans mon baluchon, integrates multiples literacies.