I argue that local adult literacy programming involves consciousness and praxis that obscures and renders invisible the social relations of race and ethnicity, and a key mechanism that enacts these processes in Canada are the Essential Skills Framework. Race and ethnicity, as social relations, have both a muted and active presence in the…

This scoping review of research explores the use of educational technologies for adult literacy, specifically for those with low literacy skills. The sample explores research published since 2010 across four major databases, yielding 21 relevant peer-reviewed articles published through the end of 2020. Half of the final included studies were…

In Pakistan, adult literacy programs are offered to enable learners to function effectively to attain individual, family, and social sustainability, but these programs are continuously reporting low participation. This study aimed to explore the reasons behind low participation, employing a descriptive phenomenological design to examine the…

This study explores the impact of adult basic education programs aimed at enhancing social inclusion for immigrant learners in the Netherlands. Basic literacy skills are vital for performing everyday tasks and building human capital, which in turn facilitates employment and skill acquisition. Low adult literacy is often associated with social…

Based on research completed between 2018 and 2022 in the Republic of Ireland, this article examines how the distinctive ethos and relational pedagogy of adult literacy education have been impacted by broader changes in the field and wider society, with significant impact on its capacity to support learners. The learner-centred ethos, ways of…

This article reports on a pilot research project conducted in nine countries of Africa and Asia on some aspects of the impact that teaching literacy to adults has had on the lives of some adult literacy facilitators (ALFs). The small-scale enquiry was implemented by a team of twelve researchers in nine countries (Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia,…

Under UNESCOs global mission, fundamental education became an essential tool for development that was praised for promoting peace and improving the human condition. The Centro de Cooperación Regional para la Educación de Adultos en América Latina y el Caribe (CREFAL) hosted educators from throughout the Americas in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, to study…

Background: Political and economic upheavals in the current millennium globally have displaced millions of people, making cross-border and forced migration a reality. Many refugees are forced out of their countries and flee to other countries to find new languages with which they are not familiar. South Africa as a signatory to the 1954 UN…

This theoretical article reflects on a recent development in adult literacy studies: transnational adoptees relearning their heritage languages. Literacy and adoption scholars have studied the replacement of the heritage language with a second language and reported it as a permanent loss. Returning to the country of origin, return adoptees…

In the summer of 1978, at Church Teachers' College in Mandeville, Jamaica, a class of advanced students participating in the Jamaica Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL) wrote, cast, rehearsed, and performed a play that satirized several major institutions--the family, the church, and the business sector--as well as class and gender…

While the English literacy outcomes of Aboriginal children are constantly measured and debated, attention falls away once they leave school, leading to limited data on English literacy rates among Australia's Aboriginal adults. This paper reports on an investigation into the prevalence of low literacy in adults in eight Aboriginal communities in…

Adult literacy and literacy education have long been a global agenda. China's literacy education has been developing amid the backdrop of international commitments and goals of adult literacy. Since the founding of new China in 1949, adult literacy policy in China has been continuously evolved within the changing political, economic and social…

Australia's natural environment poses challenges for human inhabitants and will continue to pose novel challenges in an era of climate change. However, the resources that people can access to respond to climate change are diverse and unequally distributed. While this suggests a role for education, especially for those who are most socially and…

Access to lifelong learning opportunities has long been discussed in terms of the economic benefits conferred by access to and engagement in further education by members of the labor force, particularly within the global knowledge economy. However, equitable access to lifelong education opportunities, particularly for low-skilled adults in the…

This article draws on two studies of language diversity and adult literacy education in Timor-Leste that were conducted in different regions of the country between 2009 and 2013. Its central focus is on the day-to-day language practices and language values of local participants and the way in which these practices and values relate to national…