Globally, literacy can be conceived of in different ways. Two perspectives that have influenced adult literacy policy internationally are the economic functionalist and the sociocultural. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Maori educators have repeatedly advanced a matauranga Maori perspective of literacy. This perspective has parallels with the embodied,…

In Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, current adult literacy and numeracy assessment is skills oriented; at the same time, there is a growing interest in more balanced understanding by also looking at the broad wellbeing-related outcomes of literacy education. In the research project reported below adult literacy learners in three community…

In Canada, various studies investigating literacy learning have contributed to our understanding of the lives of the adult student. Through a consolidation of empirical evidence, a portrait of the adult learner is sketched, drawing upon pluralistic interpretations of the important life changes that have resulted from their participation in…

This paper outlines the scale of the adult literacy and numeracy issue in New Zealand and describes a policy intervention designed to upskill employees in workplaces to help resolve the issue for them. This is the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (WLN) Fund, which enables around 7000 employees a year to complete a 25- to 80-hour learning programme,…

In this article, we make the case for the development of a numeracy practices measure in the light of a review of relevant research and extant measures. We argue that a numeracy practices measure would acknowledge and validate adult learners' practice gains and inform teaching geared to their circumstances, needs and interests.

Studies of the teaching practices used in adult reading programs suggest that these practices often reflect the personal perspectives of teachers on factors that contribute to less-skilled reading development. In this study, 19 adult reading teachers were interviewed to explore their perspectives on how adults become less-skilled readers and the…

This article reviews current research about three short focused literacy, language and numeracy programmes designed to assist New Zealand Maori (indigenous) adult students and their whanau. Whanau is a complex Maori concept that includes physical and metaphysical dimensions based on the Maori worldview of whakapapa (genealogy) and is at the heart…

Straddling conventional education system boundaries between adult learners and children, and between employment-related and social benefits, family literacy programmes are not well recognised or supported in New Zealand's policy and funding environment. In this article, I reflect on my personal experience of redesigning the Whanau Ara Mua…

Literacy holds very little positive meaning or experience for Maori and indigenous peoples. It has, instead, played a significant role in the breakdown of rich and cherished ancestral ways of life. This has resulted in a general, intergenerational resistance to literacy participation among adult Maori. Research findings reveal the nexus between…

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 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…