Although not legally mandatory, England’s National Literacy Strategy (NLS) has been introduced into almost every primary school in England. Interactive pedagogy and a broad conception of the reading process are claimed to permeate the various parts of the Strategy. This article examines the interactions between teachers, children and text during a Literacy Hour shared book session in three different Year 1 classrooms with five- and six-year-old children. The first transcript is taken from early demonstration video material produced by the NLS; the other two are of teachers implementing the strategy. A close examination of these transcript extracts shows very different patterns of interaction and implicit conceptions of the reading process. Paradoxically, the teacher chosen to demonstrate the Literacy Hour in action presents the most limited kind of interaction and the narrowest view of the process of reading. It is the teachers taking a more independent line who establish and support the interactive style and focus on meaning claimed by the NLS. These teachers encourage their children to develop relationships of both engagement and detachment with the texts that are the focus of attention, and thus, it is suggested, lay an important foundation for the development of complex acts of comprehension.

Note A fuller version of this paper, entitled Words and Worlds: Reading in the early years of school is published in booklet form jointly by the National Association of Advisors in English and the National Association for the Teaching of English, and is available from NATE at 50 Broadfield Road, Sheffield S8 OXJ for £3.50 to non members and £2.95 to members.

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