Welcome!
The Northern Alberta Reading Specialists' Council (NARSC) is a Canadian Special Interest Group of the International Literacy Association. Founded in 1978 by Reading Specialists in the Edmonton, Alberta area, NARSC continues to serve as both a membership body for reading specialists and a professional network for all literacy educators.
Announcement Happy New Year! The U of A is receiving a distinguished scholar, Dr. Rachel Heydon, who has agreed to present in-person to NARSC. Please hold the date! Date: Wed. Feb. 25, 2026 Time: 5-6 pm Dinner. 6-7 pm Program. 7-8 - Business meeting. Location: University of Alberta - Education Building. Speaker Bio: Dr. Rachel Heydon Rachel Heydon, PhD, Professor, Western University, is a teacher and literacy education scholar whose work seeks to understand the literacy practices, curricula, and pedagogies that enable people and communities to flourish together. In the service of flourishing, Rachel has built programs for and studied literacies from early childhood to late adulthood in a variety of contexts including child care, intergenerational learning, schools, universities, and assisted living. One of her current major funded projects is the Reading Pedagogies of Equity Project, a digitally-mediated professional learning program for teacher educators to support critical academic reading. Rachel's books include the forthcoming 8th edition of Constructing meanings: Literacies of flourishing in pre-K-8 Language Arts (with Marianne McTavish and Harini Rajagopal), and Learning at the ends of life: Children, elders, and literacies in intergenerational curriculum. Among her appointments, Rachel has served as President of the Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada, President of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association, and is currently Executive Editor, Journal of Curriculum Studies. Rachel has been the recipient of awards such as the Ted T. Aoki Award for Distinguished Service within the Field of Canadian Curriculum Studies and the United Kingdom Literacy Association Wiley Research in Literacy Education Award. Presentation Title: A teacher-focused dialogue on reading, literacies, and pedagogy in an era of the Science of Reading Abstract: The term the Science of Reading has become "a dominant part of discourse in education" (Goodwin & Jiménez, 2020, p. S3), quickly and profoundly affecting literacy curriculum and policy across the globe. Arguments have been made to expand conceptualizations of the term so that diverse research and knowledge might be included in a pluralized "sciences of reading" (Graham, 2020, p. S35, emphasis added); however, the popularization and operationalization of the term have been "much narrower" (Goodwin & Jiménez, 2020, p. S8), resulting in a widening schism in literacy education and constriction of teacher agency (e.g., Nicholas Rawelle, & Skourdoumbis, 2025). These effects come at a time that demands interdisciplinary and interprofessional knowledge and collaboration to address the literacies necessary for democratic participation in pluralistic societies (e.g., Heydon, McTavish, & Rajagopal, under contract). Recently, invoking the discourse of the Science of Reading, the Ontario Human Rights Commission reported on its Right to Read Inquiry (2022), launched to address the concern that the province's public education system could be failing to meet the needs of students with reading disabilities. The recommendations include all students. This talk uses the case of the Inquiry to invite a teacher-focused dialogue on reading, literacies, and pedagogy in an era of the Science of Reading. The talk begins by introducing the Inquiry, its findings, recommendations, and the actions underway within Ontario, links the case with larger national and international trends, and follows with a contemplation of how literacy research and education might avoid polarizing discourses in favour of an ethics of literacy pedagogy that respects the complexity, diversity, and dynamism of literacies in the lives of young people and their teachers. References Goodwin, A.P., & Jiménez, R.T. (2020). The science of reading: Supports, critiques, and questions. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S7-S16. https://doi:10.1002/rrq.360 Graham, S. (2020). The sciences of reading and writing must become more fully integrated. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S35–S44. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.332 Heydon, R., McTavish, M., Rajagopal, H. (under contract). Constructing meanings: Literacies of flourishing in pre-K-8 Language Arts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Nicholas, M., Rawolle, S., & Skourdoumbis, A. (2025). Teacher agency and student diversity in reading education: What do Australian teachers think? Australian Educational Researcher, 52(5), 3263–3285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-025-00851-3 Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2022). Right to Read inquiry report. Ontario Human Rights Commission. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report Meeting Information We are looking forward to connecting with colleagues and friends once again for our winter NARSC Program and Business meeting. Embracing a bit of nostalgia, our meeting will be held at the University of Alberta Faculty Club – Saskatchewan Room. Please join us! Location: Faculty Club, 11435 Saskatchewan Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G9
Please RSVP Here Please forward this invitation to invite a guest (either in-person or online). Guests complete their own RSVP form. Meal Cost: $35. per person. Email transfer [email protected] (Note your name and the $35 for the meal in the notes box of email transfer.) |
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Territorial Acknowledgement
The Northern Alberta Reading Specialists' Council (NARSC) is primarily located on the traditional territory of Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, and Ojibway/Saulteaux/Anishinaabe nations: lands that are now known as part of Treaties 6, 7, and 8 and homeland of the Métis. NARSC respects the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems, and cultures of First Nations, Métis and Inuit nations.
The Northern Alberta Reading Specialists' Council (NARSC) is primarily located on the traditional territory of Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, and Ojibway/Saulteaux/Anishinaabe nations: lands that are now known as part of Treaties 6, 7, and 8 and homeland of the Métis. NARSC respects the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems, and cultures of First Nations, Métis and Inuit nations.
