The purpose of this symposium is to report on a three years work within a network – Network for research on literacy practices. The network assembly researchers from different disciplines, countries (Sweden, Norway and South Africa) and research traditions in order to shed light on the complexities in the teaching and learning of literacy within different subjects and different subcultures. An important part of the activities within the network has been workshops and seminars with invited international scholars in the research field of literacy.

In accordance with a view on learning as a communicative process connected to specific language games/discourse–practices the term literacy goes beyond the classical definition as being competent to read and write within a specific content area: literacy concerns also the ability to participate in a activity characterized by specific actions, habits and values. Moreover, literacy is a concern for all ages. The work within the network is guided by a conviction that it is through studying practices that crucial knowledge about teaching and learning of literacy can be gained.  Taken together the focus of the network can be described as functional and critical literacy. An important focus for the studies has been to clarify and problematize literacy through comparisons between for example: i) on the one hand the expectations within national standards, syllabuses, tests, etc. and on the other hand research results from different areas and disciplines ii) the actual practices within education and the life outside the classroom (at working place, within youth cultures, as citizen and consumer, etc.)  iii) subjects iv) modalities.

In this part (Part I) of the symposium the contributors do clarify and problematize institutional expectations. The question posed in the first paper is what is meant by good reading skills in early school years. In order to gain an answer, curricula for the school subjects of Swedish and Swedish as a second language are compared with frameworks and assessment manuals for the international reading test, PIRLS. The second paper also focuses on the subject Swedish as second language, but here the question posed is what function do the school subject have in terms of equity and social reproduction. The author makes an historical comparison between policy documents and statistical and evaluation reports. Media literacy is the focus of the third paper and the results from classroom analyses is related to national standards and research within the field of media literacy. The fourth paper deals with science education as a form of citizenship education and in order to shed light on the national syllabuses and commentary materials for the school subjects of natural sciences the writings about argumentation within these documents are related to educational philosophical work regarding consensus and agonism within educational discourses. The last paper focuses the same subjects as the previous paper and the purpose of the analyses is to compare the scientific literacy that is assessed in national test in chemistry, physics respectively biology.  The papers discuss didactical implications and consequences regarding the teaching or testing practices.