Preserving Integrative and Humanizing Literacies: A Commentary on the Current Literacy Debates and the Narrowing of Literacy Instruction

Abstract The present iteration of the “reading wars” has created intense debate about what constitutes rigorous and effective literacy instruction. Increasingly, politicized discourses have narrowed the field's definition of reading across education spaces (P‐20) and overemphasized foundational early literacy skills while minimizing the consequentiality of sociocultural influences on literacy learning. In this commentary, we engage and critique recent narratives about the nature of literacy learning among scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and in the popular media. We discuss what has been and will be silenced, erased, and sacrificed as a result of these debates. Further, we argue that literacy educators should not abandon the complexities of literacy learning and the social, political, and historical contexts in which students live and learn. To do this, we emphasize the importance of Black children and youth having opportunities to develop critical consciousness and learn through their lived experiences. Moreover, we take a developmental perspective and outline the implications of a more expansive approach to literacy instruction across elementary, secondary, and postsecondary contexts. Ultimately, we argue for a nuanced, integrative, and humanizing path forward that addresses Black children and other historically marginalized students' literacy needs; rejects deficit ideologies concerning what counts as reading; and cultivates children, adolescents, and adults' critical literacies.