Reading Work: Literacies in the New Workplace explores changing understandings of literacy and its place in contemporary workplace settings. It points to new questions and dilemmas to consider in planning and teaching workplace education. By taking a social perspective on literacies in the workplace, this book challenges traditional thinking about workplace literacy as functional skills, and enables readers to see the complexity of literacy practices and their embeddedness in culture, knowledge, and action. A mixture of ethnographic studies, analysis, and personal reflections makes these ideas accessible and relevant to a wide range of readers in the fields of adult literacy and language education and helps to bridge the divide between theory and practice in the field of workplace education. Reading Work: Literacies in the New Workplace features: *four distinct but related ethnographies of literacy use in contemporary workplaces; *a social practice view of literacy brought to the workplace; *collaborative research undertaken by experienced workplace educators and academics working in the areas of adult literacy and second language learning; *implications chapters for both practice and theory--presented not as a series of steps but rather as reflections by seasoned educators on shared dilemmas; and *engaging, accessible writing that encourages workplace practitioners to read, learn from, and do their own research. This book is an important resource for practicing workplace educators, trainers, and instructors; academics who teach workplace educators; unionists, policymakers, human resource managers, supervisors, or quality coordinators who believe education can make a difference and are interested in seeing maximum results from workplace learning. Visit the In-Sites Research Group Web site: http://www.nald.ca/insites/.

Reading Work: Literacies in the New Workplace explores changing understandings of literacy and its place in contemporary workplace settings. It points to new questions and dilemmas to consider in planning and teaching workplace education. By taking a social perspective on literacies in the workplace, this book challenges traditional thinking about workplace literacy as functional skills, and enables readers to see the complexity of literacy practices and their embeddedness in culture, knowledge, and action. A mixture of ethnographic studies, analysis, and personal reflections makes these ideas accessible and relevant to a wide range of readers in the fields of adult literacy and language education and helps to bridge the divide between theory and practice in the field of workplace education. Reading Work: Literacies in the New Workplace features: *four distinct but related ethnographies of literacy use in contemporary workplaces; *a social practice view of literacy brought to the workplace; *collaborative research undertaken by experienced workplace educators and academics working in the areas of adult literacy and second language learning; *implications chapters for both practice and theory--presented not as a series of steps but rather as reflections by seasoned educators on shared dilemmas; and *engaging, accessible writing that encourages workplace practitioners to read, learn from, and do their own research. This book is an important resource for practicing workplace educators, trainers, and instructors; academics who teach workplace educators; unionists, policymakers, human resource managers, supervisors, or quality coordinators who believe education can make a difference and are interested in seeing maximum results from workplace learning. Visit the In-Sites Research Group Web site: http://www.nald.ca/insites/.

What if you were 13, had too much responsibility but loads of imagination...how would you change your life? As an only child, Lizzie selflessly cares for her ill and despondent mother. It's summer, school is out and she's stuck at home with no other kids in sight. Could life get any worse? Despite the bleakness of her days, Lizzie dares to hope for the sort of magic she finds in the fairytales she loves to read. She keeps looking toward the stars until one summer night, she spies one fall and makes a wish. In no time at all, she has three willing mentors wise to the ways of magic, a yard filled with enchantment, two new friends, and an adventure beyond her wildest dreams. It's actually dizzying, but how else to explain the rock that gives her advice, the oak tree that teaches her how to create miracles and a new friendship with Howard Humus, president of the magical land of Maginobion. When Howard allows her to cross over to where real magic lives, everything she thought she knew about anything is turned on its ear. As Lizzie makes her way through this unforgettable summer, she learns how to harness the power of her strength and imagination to craft the life she desires - and to realize that it's not always as easy as it looks.