In this article, we argue that adult literacy as part of international development is an issue of both human rights and women's rights. We explore this by presenting a case study of the effects of one innovative adult literacy program in Afghanistan that places men and women, as well as various ethnicities, together in the same classroom as…

There is a highly compelling case for using technology on a large scale to increase access to and improve America's adult education and workforce skills enterprise. By the reckoning of the National Commission on Adult Literacy and others, the nation must reach many more millions of adults with effective college- and job-readiness skills programs…

This article draws on three Canadian research studies to question conventional understandings that access to adult literacy education is a simple matter of providing programs. In the face of women's experiences of violence, commonly overlooked barriers limit ''access.'' Different forms of violence, their frequency, and the prevalence of…

This paper examines the relationship between literacy, equality and creativity and the relevance for adult literacy practices. It looks in particular at how literacy tutors can use creative non-text methods to promote an understanding of equality in learners' lives. Through an examination of the findings from the Literacy and Equality in Irish…

During the fall of 2007, Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) conducted an environmental scan of the Anglophone literacy field in Canada. Data was gathered through the use of key informant interviews (19) and a literature review. A cross-national working group guided the development of the scan. Interviews with key informants for the scan revealed…

This ethnographic study employs a gender perspective to understand the motivations of eight women literacy learners participating in a village-based functional literacy programme in rural North-eastern Thailand. Field research took place over six months of periodic residence in a North-eastern Thai village, and involved participant observation,…

Family literacy programs are a unique component of the adult education system. They work by bringing parents with low literacy skills together with their children to learn and receive instruction, reaching a cohort of people who might not be served by other adult education programs. As parents see their children's learning increase, they are…

Family literacy programmes have become increasingly popular with policy-makers as a means of addressing low levels of adult literacy. It is believed that such initiatives will help to address social exclusion and aid greater economic participation by those in deprived communities or from disadvantaged sectors of society. The growing interest in…

This article presents a review of seven national governments' online collections of adult literacy-related research. This study explored the type of learning associated with official web spaces by asking the following research questions: (1) What kind of research do these governments present on their websites? (2) How is the presentation…

The field of adult literacy is complex. This complexity poses many challenges for literacy programs. This paper addresses the challenges of collaboration, diversity, attendance, assessment and professional development as they apply to adult literacy programs. Recommendations for increasing the success of literacy programs are provided.

After decades of neglect adult literacy and numeracy (ALN) learning in Scotland has been accorded the prominence that it has always merited but seldom received. Understandings of the concept of literacies and what it means to be literate have similarly undergone significant change in the last few decades. This shift has entailed a recognition of…

Focusing on students' responses to an 1876 writing assignment at Illinois Industrial University (which would ultimately become the University of Illinois), the author analyzes ideological tensions that occurred as the United States found itself revising the pastoral image of the farmer in an increasingly industrial age. (Contains 9 notes.)

Participatory literacy programmes in developing countries are often seen as an important tool for women's empowerment and equality. This article problematises the way in which evaluation of progress towards these goals is couched in a linear trajectory, and often fails to uncover the messy reality of women's negotiations to achieve their own aims.…

The paper reports on a multi-country review of formative assessment in adult education settings with specific reference to basic literacy and numeracy. It reports many examples of emergent innovative practice in Europe and elsewhere but concludes that there is a real need to develop a stronger conceptual base for formative assessment, as well as…

This study investigated the types of informal learning activities that adults with low literacy skills engage in outside of formal literacy programs and how these activities relate to their literacy practices. Key informants for the study included 10 adults identified at International Adult Literacy Survey levels 1 and 2. Using ethnographic…