Name Victoria Purcell-Gates | ||
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Books OTHER PEOPLE'S WORDS, Cultural Practices of Literacy, Print literacy development, Now We Read - We See - We | ||
Victoria Purcell-Gates is an internationally recognized researcher and professor in the field of literacy education. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, Dr. Purcell-Gates' research interests include the social and cultural literacy practices experienced by both children and adults.
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Education
Victoria Purcell-Gates earned a B.A. in English Education from Northern Arizona University and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Language and Literacy from the University of California, Berkeley.
Career
Dr. Purcell-Gates taught at Michigan State University, Harvard University, the University of Cincinnati, U.C. Berkeley, and the University of British Columbia. As professor and researcher at both Harvard and the University of Cincinnati, she was director of literacy centers in which both children and adults were provided with reading instruction. While in Ohio, in 1989, Dr. Purcell-Gates was approached by an urban Appalachian woman, Jenny who was concerned about her son. Donny, age seven was caught in a cycle of family illiteracy and his mother desired Dr. Purcell-Gates' assistance. This encounter acted as the impetus for an ethnographic study focusing on the cycle of low literacy. She also questioned how an individual's cultural literacy experiences influence print literacy development. This research led to the Grawemeyer Award winning book, "Other People's Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy" (1997). Dr. Purcell-Gates was the National Reading Conference (NRC) president for 2005-2006. [1] Later, Dr. Purcell-Gates accepted the position of Tier 1 Canada Research Chair for Early Childhood Literacy at the University of British Columbia. She is also the principal investigator for the Cultural Practices of Literacy Study (CPLS). [2] Within a socio-cultural framework, researchers question how schools address the needs of marginalized communities.
Publications
Victoria Purcell-Gates has authored or co-authored books including Other People's Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy (1997), Print Literacy Development: Uniting Cognitive and Social Practice Theories (2006), Now We Read, We See, We Speak: Portrait of Literacy Development in an Adult Freirean-Based Class (2000), Cultural Practices of Literacy: Case Studies of Language, Literacy, Social Practice, and Power (2007), and Creating Authentic Materials and Activities for the Adult Literacy Classroom: A Handbook for Practitioners (2003).
Additional publications include chapters within books and peer-reviewed journals. [3]