Education is a major tool for development and equalizer. This somewhat accounts for the quest for education, at various levels, including adults who were unable to attain an education degree earlier in life. Thus, Adult Education and Training (AET) programmes are established in different community centres to promote adult literacy in different…

This handbook presents a wide range of research on adults who have low literacy skills. It looks at the cognitive, affective, and motivational factors underlying adult literacy; adult literacy in different countries; and the educational approaches being taken to help improve adults' literacy skills. It includes not only adults enrolled in adult…

This paper challenges constructions of the "gendered illiterate Indian villager" as a homogenous group of people who are empowered through acquiring literacy. I strive to displace homogeneous representations of gendered "illiterate" subjects through ethnographic accounts of diverse people's realities in different villages in…

Background/Context: In contrast to cultural constructs that equate education with cognitive development and formal schooling, the Latin American cultural model of educacion encompasses academic knowledge and social competence. Prior scholarship has mainly investigated parental notions of educacion vis-a-vis childrearing and schooling, primarily…

Background/Context: Educational researchers have long sought to understand the factors that enable or constrain persistence in non-formal family literacy and adult education programs. Scholars typically posit three sets of factors influencing persistence: situational (learners' life circumstances), institutional (programmatic factors), and…

Emphasizing the need to increase literacy among older people in rural areas in Kenya, the author points out that these people have already demonstrated their ability to learn in other skill areas and suggests approaching literacy by way of vocational skills or help in developing small businesses. (SA)

The article traces the development and current operations of the Central American Institute for Adult Education (ICECU) an organization established in 1963 to disseminate general culture to adults and adolescents, particularly in rural Costa Rican communities of low educational level. (MW)

Facing rapid economic and demographic changes, Barrow County (Georgia) has committed itself to improving adult literacy. The Barrow County Adult Learning Center provides various educational services, including a GED program, adult classes in English and math, English-as-a-Second-Language classes, and a basic computer program. Local businesses,…

This resource book provides materials and methods for a model Entrepreneurship Training Center (ETC) school-to-work program for rural out-of-school adults. Introductory materials include learning goals within ETC's four curriculum areas, instructional methods, and introduction to key concepts. The remainder of the book is divided into four…

The Viburnum Foundation, a family foundation based in New York, is currently in the fifth year of giving grants to rural library-sponsored family literacy programs in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The libraries involved in the Viburnum Family Literacy Project are in areas with high levels of poverty and illiteracy. The…

This document contains three parts: part 1 provides the framework of post-literacy; part 2 describes putting the learning strategies into action; and part 3 provides conclusions. In part 1, post-literacy is defined and learning strategies for post-literacy and continuing education are identified. In part 2, the following learning strategies are…

Operating under the philosophy that people can learn from each other, the Nonformal Education Project trained 24 Ecuadorian campesinos in seven rural mestizo villages to instruct their peers in basic litaracy skills, negotiating techniques, and the development of self-esteem. Within a year of operation some of the original "facilitators"…

The Harlan County Public Library Literacy Project (Kentucky) provided rural-oriented, basic literacy, and oral history programs to a community of 100,000-200,000. The goal of the project was to produce six booklets about local people and issues, to be used as literacy materials in programs with Appalachian students. Students wanted to produce…

A study examined the strategies and processes used by a sample of 33 Argentinean adults with little school experience to solve problems and acquire knowledge at work. A Piagetian methodological approach was used to observe adults in building, rural, and domestic work settings and to analyze empirical data regarding their behavior in task-oriented…

This book is a compilation of 12 articles and papers on topics of relevance to adult education in India. "Nonformal Education in the Learning Society" highlights the importance of this type of education. "Adult Education in India" presents one educator's views about this topic, the size and dimensions of the problems, and the…