Cultural assumptions and early years’ pedagogy: The effect of the home culture on minority children's interpretation of reading in school

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Abstract
This paper examines the contrasting interpretations of reading brought by young children of Bangladeshi origin and their teachers into school and the implications of these differences for teaching and learning. The author begins by questioning the universal relevance of western school‐oriented paradigms on how reading is learned and the role of the caregiver as mediator and opposes these with a model of literacy drawn from non‐western and non‐school‐oriented families. In the project described an analysis is made of the reading practices participated in by young children of Bangladeshi origin outside school in terms of purpose, materials and participation structures. It shows how these reading practices contrast at every level with those upheld by the teacher in school. Finally, the possible results of these contrasting practices and interpretations for children's early school reading success are discussed. If learning is acknowledged as developing within shared conceptual frameworks, programmes will need to be designed which are culturally responsive to the different communities they serve. In‐Service education, where teachers question their own literacy assumptions in the light of information on their pupils’ reading practices, is proposed as the starting‐point for change.

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