Reading and writing instruction require individuals--both students and teachers--to flexibly process many kinds of information, from a variety of sources. This is the first book to provide an in-depth examination of cognitive flexibility: how it develops across the lifespan; its role in specific literacy processes, such as phonemic awareness, word recognition, and comprehension; and implications for improving literacy instruction and teacher education. The contributors include leading researchers in literacy, psychology, and cognitive development, who summarize the current state of the science and offer practical suggestions for fostering cognitive flexibility in learners of all ages.
By integrating findings from developmental science and various areas of literacy research, this unique book transcends narrow disciplinary boundaries. Developmental scientists will benefit from the rich illustrations of how the basic cognitive process of cognitive flexibility applies to a real-world skill such as literacy. Given the recent interest in the relation between school readiness and executive function, the volume is particularly timely.--Ulrich Müller, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, CanadaThis volume highlights the importance of cognitive flexibility for several processes involved in literacy development. The contributors take the notion of lifespan development seriously, identifying both developmental advances and individual differences relevant for flexibility as well as their influences on literacy learning and teaching. This 'must-read' book is comprehensive, timely, and certain to inform our understanding of cognitive development and literacy development, both jointly and separately.--Sophie Jacques, PhD, Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaThis wide-ranging volume reminds us of the cognitive complexity of reading and the developmental challenges that children encounter as they learn to decode, represent, comprehend, monitor, and evaluate the meanings of text. The contributors examine cognitive flexibility in the ways children learn to read as well as in the ways that adults teach literacy. The book offers a rich variety of perspectives on reading skills across the lifespan, providing thought-provoking ideas for teachers and new avenues for researchers.--Scott Paris, PhD, Combined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan This well-crafted, thought-provoking volume draws on the concept of representational flexibility from cognitive developmental psychology and shows how it is relevant to literacy processes and instruction. I teach a course on reading and reading disabilities in an applied developmental psychology doctoral program. The unique approach taken in this book makes it wonderfully suited for this course. Students will see how research and theory in cognitive developmental psychology inform an innovative way of conceptualizing literacy processes and instructional practice.--Linda Baker, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County-
