Why think about research mobilities in literacy education?

• Published in: Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education Vol. 1; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: Burnett, Cathy, Adams, Gill, Gillen, Julia, Thompson, Terrie Lynn, Cermakova, Anna, Shannon, David Ben, Shetty, Parinita
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Routledge 2025; Taylor & Francis Group
• Edition: 1
• ISBN: 9781032544106; 9781032550930; 1032544104; 1032550937
• DOI: 10.4324/9781003428985-1

This book is about how literacy research moves to, among and around teachers; the kinds of literacy research that teachers encounter and the kinds that pass them by. This introductory chapter makes the case for investigating research mobilities in primary literacy education. It explores how research mobilities intersect with diverse motivations and imperatives inflected by individual, commercial, political and ideological differences and mediated by a complex, dynamic communicative environment including multiple social media channels and other digital mediations. In the light of this, it is argued that research mobilities are an important area of focus across education and are particularly pertinent to literacy education in an age of evidence-based teaching. There is a need to know more about how literacy research moves 'in the wild' in ways that exceed planned dissemination strategies. This, as the chapter explores, requires a sociomaterial sensitivity to how literacy research moves through complex and intersecting networks generated by communications, digital technologies and a shifting educational landscape.