Educators and policymakers find themselves confronted with how to address the issue of children "pre-disposed to failure." This paper contends that teachers and politicians are linked in a chain of responsibility that forces them to construct a common discourse through which they may share their views, and with which they may…

This paper draws on research undertaken during recent years, especially research involving students in classrooms in Australia. The paper focuses on some examples and issues of educational practice occurring in a context where "genre theory"--along with other theories and concepts concerning language and literacy--have been used as a…