National policies concerning the teaching of literacy in schools in Brazil and England offer interesting insights, both theoretical and practical. In England, the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) is rooted in what I have termed the 'autonomous' model of literacy, assuming a culture free, universal, skills-based approach. Even though this approach has been criticized, it continues to be largely used. In Brazil there has been an objection to this narrow view of literacy acquisition - represented by the term alfabetização. The term literacy, on the other hand, has facilitated the reference to processes that involve the social uses of reading and writing. I present the limitations of policies and strategies grounded on ethnocentric assumptions, contrasting them with policies and strategies based on critical theory, such as the literacy theory rooted on the cross cultural comparison of social uses of reading and writing, based on the ideological model of literacy.
New Literacy Studies (NLS); England; Brazil; National policies; Practices