This paper highlights some of the enduring dichotomies that prevail in Australia regarding the most effective way to teach literacy. These contrastive positions are often used by policymakers and the media to construct the view that teachers are failing to teach literacy well. In uncovering some of the polemical positions taken on literacy education, the authors argue that rather than an either/or approach, effective literacy teaching for diverse learners involves teachers in crafting a pedagogy that embraces multiple forms of literate practice for complex texts and times. (Contains 3 tables.)