Journal of Educational Sciences

According to the European Declaration of the Right to Literacy (2016), literacy competence is fundamental to human development because it enables people to live rich and meaningful lives and to contribute towards the enrichment of the communities in which we live: "By Literacy we mean the ability to read and write at a level whereby individuals can effectively understand and use written communication in all media (print or electronic), including digital literacy".

The concept has been given increasing importance in recent years. Literacy is a key competence and meta-competence relevant to communication and networking, lifelong learning, reflective, critical, and creative thinking, debate, negotiation, and lifelong problem-solving, with an important social dimension (UNESCO, 2003; OECD, 2016; EU, 2019).

Today's society also relies heavily on digital literacy, which allows the use of information technologies to facilitate global communication.

Thus, the concern for improving literacy training and development practices and specializing in language disorder therapies is valid and focused on developing and recovering these literacy skills.

As key agents in promoting and guiding the early development of these competencies, teachers need a deep understanding of the impact of early literacy skills on children's later reading success. Research and background documents have highlighted that "Literacy is an essential prerequisite for all kinds of learning. In the knowledge-based societies of the 21st Century, the rapid spread of new technologies and a constantly changing work environment, literacy learning is no longer limited to childhood and adolescence but must be recognized as a lifelong need and requirement." (European Declaration of the Right to Literacy, 2016)

Also, the therapy of language disorders is a highly demanded specialization, starting from a solid theoretical and empirical basis and involving current advanced strategies and technologies, including alternative and augmentative methods of communication.

Given these trends, the special issue of 2/2024 invites researchers, doctoral students, and specialists in education and speech and language therapy to share their research. It aims to provide critical reflections, analysis, evidence-based solutions, and strategies focused on literacy relevance in learning and functioning across the lifespan.

There are welcomed topics dealing with (but not restricted to):

• -Initial and in-service teacher education in Literacy. Development and specialization
• -Literacy in the Early Years (0-12)
• -Speech and Language Therapy. Assistive and augmentative technologies
• -Effective Literacy Instruction
• -Digital Literacy
• -Disciplinary Literacy
• -Inclusive Practices in Literacy for Diverse Learners
• -Lifelong Development of Literacy Skills
• -Embedded Literacy