This paper introduces two different approaches to literacy. Through a literature review, the author attempts to show the inadequacy of the long standing tradition of the “autonomous model of literacy”, which views literacy as a set of technical skills that are transferable to any context once acquired; and to demonstrate the new insights into literacy provided by the “ideological model of literacy”. The paper also illustrates the influence of the “ideological model of literacy”on literacy education in the US by a discussion of the 57th annual conference of the International Reading Association. In so doing, the author intends to draw the attention of scholars and literacy teachers’ to learn about and take advantage of the “ideological model of literacy”.