Ample evidence indicates that a person's human capital is important for success on the labor market in terms of both wages and employment prospects. However, unlike the efforts to identify the impact of school attainment on labor-market outcomes, the literature on returns to cognitive skills has not yet provided convincing evidence that the…

Taking a social practice view of literacy, this study examines and describes the everyday literacy practices of a recently arrived Syrian refugee to Aotearoa New Zealand. It highlights the individual, home and community literacy competencies that are often overlooked in adult literacy education. Data was collected from interviews with the…

Many Western governments are looking to workplace literacy, language, and numeracy programs to address general skill improvement with a longterm aim of improving labor productivity. Rigorous research on these programs' effectiveness for both of these agendas, however, remains sparse and limited in scope. This article reports the findings of an…

This compilation includes programmes which promote language and culture as resources and see them as an added value rather than a challenge for literacy teaching and learning. It also includes programmes designed to support migrants and refugees by equipping them for integration into mainstream society while strengthening their literacy skills in…

This article discusses the results of funded research that investigated how an industry training organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand embeds literacy in the workplace. Results confirm a "common-sense view" that there is not one right way to embed workplace literacy. They also reveal a number of findings about what works effectively when…

In this article, adult learner experiences of embedded literacy and numeracy within vocational programmes in New Zealand are explored and described to identify what these learners felt had contributed to their success as learners. The embedded approach is a distinctive feature of the adult literacy and numeracy education infrastructure in New…

This paper reports and reflects on a collaborative and multi-layered action enquiry project in the New Zealand polytechnic sector. In the context of widespread national professional development centred on adult literacy and numeracy teaching and learning in vocational educational institutions, an action enquiry methodology was piloted with…

This paper examines tensions between adult literacy policy in Aotearoa New Zealand and the philosophies and mission of one post-school institution, a Wananga, an institution focused on the education of Maori, Aotearoa New Zealand's indigenous people. It uses policy documents, interview data and complexity thinking to explore the tensions created…

Purpose: This study aims to examine how well print-literacy support being provided to New Zealand Modern Apprentices (MAs) is supporting their study and practical work. Design/methodology/approach: The authors undertook a qualitative analysis of a database of 191 MAs in the literacy programme, then in 14 case studies completed 46 interviews with…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges faced by tutors who were providing remedial literacy support to New Zealand apprentices. Design/methodology/approach: As part of a wider, triangulated study of employers, tutors, apprentices, and industry training coordinators, the author undertook a qualitative analysis of ten…

This "Pan-Canadian Snapshot" explores the competencies needed to work with adults participating in Literacy and/or Essential Skills (L/ES) programs in Canada. The purpose of the "Snapshot" is to: (1) lay a foundation from which to explore the topic of professionalism; (2) identify the types of supports that the L/ES workforce…

The training requirements of foreign-born workers may be different from those of native-born workers in similar jobs. Over recent decades Australian immigration policy has focused predominantly on accepting high-skilled migrants. Although this focus has resulted in the successful integration of foreign-born workers into the Australian labour…

Many adults need help with literacy learning. This is extremely challenging for the tertiary education sector and workplace-situated learning organisations. E-learning may be an effective and efficient way to improve the delivery of teaching of basic skills to learners. Our research study included five embedded case studies within one tertiary…

This paper and the four commissioned works on which it is based are guided by the important question: How can we start valuing practices and outcomes of teaching and learning that are difficult to reduce to numbers? As the process of developing indicators for the Post-2015 education targets unfolds, some of the targets are at risk of being dropped…

This report comes from a three-year program of research, "Securing Their Future: Older Workers and the Role of VET." Previous work from the program looked at how well workers were matched to their jobs, based on their literacy and numeracy skills and the use of these skills in the workplace. In a continuation of that work, the research…