This paper reports on a longitudinal study that examines how a national reform introduced in England in the field of adult literacy, language, and numeracy is affecting teachers. The paper focuses on the use of a mixed methodology to explore teachers' attitudes to the reform and how these change over time. The quantitative strand includes the…

Contemporary studies of literacy can be divided into two sorts: those approaches which treat it as a psychological phenomenon and those which treat it as a social practice. This practice view of literacy can be sketched out by reporting the continuation and changing focus of a study conducted on adult learners' perceptions of literacy and…

This report describes the processes and findings of a north east Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) research project. This was a collaborative research study, which followed from a similar, much larger project in the north west, which looked into how learners view their own progress and achievement in the acquisition of literacy and…

This publication contains a series of sessions developed and used by Newcastle City Council Family Learning Service and now published to share practice. The sessions were developed specifically to support "Skills for Life" tutors to deliver the adult literacy and numeracy curricula but can also be used by other practitioners. There are…

Nationally approved adult numeracy teacher training programmes were started in September 2002 following the introduction of subject specifications by the Department for Education and Skills and the Further National Training Organisation in England. These programmes delivered by higher education institutions and further education colleges were…

The last five years have seen a radical transformation in adult education in England with a concentrated emphasis on national basic skills provision. This was prompted initially by a government response to low levels of literacy in the British adult population, identified by an influential international survey, showing unfavourable comparisons…

The directory seeks to list all active Adult Literacy Instruction Programs run by local education authorities in England and Wales. It includes the following information regarding the programs: goals of individual programs, addresses, telephone numbers, responsible persons, a brief program description, and the date of the commencement of the…

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is leading a national strategy to improve the United Kingdom's financial capability (FSA, 2006). The strategy recognises that there is a need for Financial Literacy education across all areas of society, from children in school to mature adults in all walks of life. In order to meet this need and to be…

The place of formal grammar teaching is of secondary importance to developing a personally relevant context for students to practice the language and explore their personal experience. Grammar is essential for mastery of a language. However, the few materials available are not user friendly. Therefore, British tutors developed a bank of resources…

This book describes a study of the uses of reading and writing in Lancaster, England, in the 1990s. It offers a detailed, specific description of literacy practices in one local community at one point in time. The book is designed to contribute to the theoretical understanding of literacy by linking literacy to a more general understanding of…

A volunteer scheme in Bradford, England was set up to serve the needs of illiterates and semi-literates who couldn't attend a class. The service provided a confidential, free of charge, one-to-one, tutorial relationship in either the tutor's or client's home. (MW)

This document is intended to help groups raise their level of awareness about what it feels like to have difficulty with reading or math, look at how varying levels of literacy and numeracy can affect the quality of their group's activities, and look at ways in which they can overcome literacy- and numeracy-related problems. The beginning of the…

This article suggests the following ways of making material easier for adults to read: using layout and print size to make meaning clear; making audio recordings and simplified versions of printed matter; and increasing the relevance of the content to the reader. Intended for teachers of adults in reading programs, the study also contains a…

The first book about adult education, reprinted here in a limited edition, was published in 1816 in Bristol, England. It marked the beginning of the modern era in education by acknowledging the importance of adult education in the total educational scheme of a society. The author, Thomas Pole, was born in Philadelphia in 1753 and was brought up as…

Stressing to remedial educators the danger of complacency once a learner has acquired the basic skills of reading and numeracy, the authors advocate cooperation and coordination between secondary remedial education and adult literacy programs and call for a real commitment by teachers toward fostering basic skills in the disadvantaged. (SJL)