Developing Concepts About Print: A Social Justice Literacy Approach

It has been more than 50 years since Clay (1966) first introduced the concepts about print (CAP). Emergent readers, aged 4-5, must acquire an understanding of basic and hierarchical concepts of letters, words, and sentences; they must also learn basic knowledge about texts and books; they must develop an awareness of book orientation, directionality, and positions. CAP examines emergent readers' ability to recognize and understand the ways in which written language functions for the purpose of reading. However, we lovingly critique the elements of CAP (e.g., book orientation, directionality and print conventions) from the perspective of culturally sustaining pedagogies. Clay (1989) posited that "CAP as a test may be culturally inappropriate" (p. 71). We further argue that using this element marginalizes early young children of color who are learning ways of literacy practices that do not mirror the white monolingual middle-class approach to learning foundational reading. In some cultures, readers turn pages left to right, read pages right to left, and decode logographic words. Does it matter if young children do not fully understand directionality and orientation at that age? What we think matters in the practice of CAP is the sense-making process. Using social justice-oriented texts, we offer a pedagogical framework that centers on the concepts of text and book. Using literature that features characters of color in non-stereotype roles, we describe four principles for teaching CAP that advance social justice literacy: Relationship between written and oral language, print or pictures carry meaning, book orientation and directionality and conventions of print.