This paper examines the notion of "carbon literacy practices" through reporting on a small research project aimed at understanding how children make sense of climate change, and their subsequent related practices at school, at home, and in the community. Drawing on a background in New Literacy Studies (e.g. Barton et al 2000;Satchwell &Ivanic 2009 and2010), the paper explores the relationships among children"s understanding of climate change, their literacy practices in relation to climate change, and their environmental social practices. Data is included from a project involving children and their families from three primary schools -with and without "eco-school" status, which asked: What and how do children learn about climate change at school? What and how do they learn at home and outside of school? How do these kinds of learning relate to each other, and how is what they learn put into practice? Put simply, how might children become "carbon literate" citizens? This article will report on the methodological challenges of the project and the use of some innovative methods to address these using mobile technologies. In addition, the paper interrogates the notion of children as agents of change. The concept of children influencing the behaviour of others sounds convincing, but is based on a straightforward model, described by Shove (2010) as the ABC model -which is considered an effective strategy in health care (stopping parents smoking) and in marketing (persuading parents to buy certain products), but is not necessarily transferable to other contexts. Further, it is clear from work in literacy studies and education (Ivanic et al 2009;Gee 2003; Reinking et al 1998; Tuomi-Grohn and Engestrom 2003) that the transfer of linguistic and semiotic signs is by no means equivalent to the transfer of knowledge, values or functions. In other words, a school lesson or a computer game about climate change and its effects does not automatically mean that a child will turn the lights off at home. The paper considers these issues with reference to qualitative data collected from observations, conversations on "Twitter", focus groups, and individual interviews.

No abstract

In this report, it is argued that the most salient factor in the contemporary communicative landscape is the sheer abundance and diversity of possibilities for literacy, and that the extent and nature of students' communicative resources is a central issue in education. The text outlines the conceptual underpinnings of the Literacies for Learning in Further Education project in a social view of literacy, and the associated research design, methodology and analytical framework. It elaborates on the notion of the abundance of literacies in students' everyday lives, and on the potential for harnessing these as resources for the enhancement of learning. It provides case studies of changes in practice that have been undertaken by further education staff in order to draw upon students' everyday literacy practices on Travel and Tourism and Multimedia courses. It ends with some of the broad implications for conceptualising learning that arise from researching through the lens of literacy practices.

Working in a participatory research project with young people who are disabled, careexperienced or otherwise disadvantaged, collaborative fiction writing was a core method of hearing and amplifying their voices. We discuss how meanings were made in this iterative process of capturing resonances in the different stages of the research, resulting in the creation of stories filtered through many different participants. Through individual and joint reflections on the complex processes of constructing the 48 short stories, we demonstrate how collective storytelling can address criticisms of fictional research outputs as (in)valid social science, and argue instead that the resulting stories can be considered rigorous and faithful research findings. We suggest that these research outputs preserve and proliferate the meanings of marginalised young people, and challenge the absence or distortion of existing narratives about their lives as experienced by themselves.

This study focussed on identifying the key concerns and information needs of young people with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) and their parents and examined what resources might help improve young people’s ‘participativeness’ and health literacy during clinic consultations. A qualitative participatory design underpinned the study. Workshops involving multiple methods were used to engage with young people with AIS and their parents, who were recruited through a regional children’s hospital. The study design was informed by patient and public consultation with eight young people and two parents. 10 young people (aged 14–16 years) and 11 of their parents participated in the study. Young people and their parents reported uncertainty and anxiety before coming to clinic and faced issues participating in the consultation, being involved in decision-making and understanding the information and language. These challenges resulted in unmet information needs. Young people’s health literacy relating to an AIS diagnosis and treatment is facilitated by them being prepared and informed before coming to clinic and be actively supported to be involved during the consultation. We collaboratively developed the ‘Coming to Spinal Clinic’ resource to help young people with AIS and parents prepare for and get the most out of their visit.