The triangle positioned on the individual's habitus and intersecting the sociocultural context represents family literacy. As previously discussed, literacy may be viewed as a form of cultural capital. Much of the knowledge that one acquires in life involves interactive learning. The child may gain knowledge from an adult's modeling, through direct instruction in an educational setting, or a combination of these. Thus, the child may be enculturated into family literacy practices through any of these means. The child learns socioculturally determined ways of using the oral mode of his or her native language in routine conversations with whomever he or she spends time, such as family members. This is a form of primary socialization within a given cultural context. Families teach children how to make sense of their experience within their unique cultural context, with variability noted between families depending on their unique situations. Children then use the values, beliefs and skills attained, which comprise their habitus, to give shape and give meaning to their experiences.

Institutions outside the family which have regular contact with the children, such as schools and churches, build upon what children have learned and thereby socialize them to literate ways. However, schools typically exclude or minimize the role of the family. When there is compatibility between what is done at home and the learning promoted at school, it becomes easier for the child to become socialized in school ways. However, this process may be much more difficult with low income children, since the values and perspectives of home and school may conflict. When the learning that is acquired in the home informs literacy teaching that occurs in school, it may be possible to build on skills that children already have in their repertoire. It is hoped that this model will lead to practical suggestions and directions for future research and intervention. The following section outlines contributions to theory.

Contributions to Theory

The interactive model for family literacy presented in Figure 4 highlights not only the ongoing nature of literacy throughout the lifetime of the individual but indicates that literacy does not simply happen in one particular place or situation. What I mean by this is that individual literacy is a process that occurs on at least three levels: the personal habitus or lived reality of the individual child, the sociocultural context or external environment into which the child is raised, and the family literacy of the child's home situation. The model offers an important and original scholarly contribution to the field of family literacy. It can serve as an effective framework for those who will be designing, doing research on, or implementing family literacy programs. To date the field of family literacy has not been guided by a solid framework and this research will help fill the void.