Conscientisation'', the development of critical consciousness through a process of reflection and action is the central concept of Paulo Freire's educational theory of radical social change expressed in a literacy training program. (Editor/PG)

Describes the program, initiated in 1980, to improve national literacy in Nicaragua by sending student volunteers to the countryside and adult volunteers to the urban slums as teachers. (Condensed from "Interracial Books for Children Bulletin," No. 2, 1981, p3-7.) (Editor/SJL)

This article describes the scope and content of the Nicaraguan National Literacy Crusade of 1980, its organization, workings, and outcomes. Special attention is given to those aspects of the crusade that relate to the goals of integrating previously excluded groups and transforming the political culture of the country. (Author)

The Tanzanian government has made a major commitment to its National Literacy Programme as a strategy for national development. Goals of the program are the eradication of illiteracy, self-reliance in solving economic and social problems, and lifelong education. To deal effectively with the problem of learner motivation, the program links literacy…

The author discusses factors inhibiting adult literacy in India, stating that institutional schooling has provided education for only a small percentage of the population. As an adult literacy curriculum depends on community needs, he suggests a core or minimum curriculum for adult basic education in the community. (MF)

Argues that discussion of the role of English in development fails to recognize the success of narrowly focused community-based projects, in which basic first language literacy rather than English education is the goal. (Author/VWL)

An overview of literacy education in West Africa between 1800-1959 precedes an exploration of developments occurring since its independence, focusing on such factors affecting the lack of progress in the battle against literacy as disarticulation between educational development objectives and educational systems, language policies, teaching…

Describes Australia's program of educational assistance to developing countries, indicating that over three-quarters of the assistance is for higher education. Suggests that the program's bias is driven by commercial considerations. Advocates increased assistance to basic education programs because of their greater relevance to developing…

Describes activities of the Advancement of Librarianship Program (ALP) sponsored by IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). Topics discussed include study grants awarded to librarians from the third world to study in Europe; model training programs; promotion of library services to rural areas; and literacy…

Presents a bibliography of materials published in English, French, Spanish, and German on literacy in developing countries. Highlights include orality and literacy; literacy and development; conceptual approaches to literacy; learners and dropouts; the role of primary education in literacy; and operational issues in implementing literacy programs.…

Women working in export processing zones in the Dominican Republic organized a union using a gendered approach and undertook organizational literacy strategies based on Freire's ideas. They developed community support services to combat oppression. (SK)

A research project examined the production of post-literacy materials through field visits to South Africa, India, Germany, and the Netherlands. In every country the many materials that could be used for the practice of literacy fell into two main groups: special materials (post-literacy and easy reading materials) and real materials (extension…

This brochure provides information on the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) core program for the Advancement of Librarianship in the Third World (ALP), which was launched in 1984 to further the library profession, library institutions, and library and information services in less developed countries. Program objectives are…

This paper reviews some of the issues in the new literacy studies and the questions, from an anthropological perspective, of self, person, and identity that affect literacy practices. It is suggested that in discussing literacy, it is better to start from a cultural viewpoint rather than an educational one. The traditional autonomous model of…

The development of biliteracy programs designed for adults involves a broad range of sociolinguistic questions that can be approached from a language planning perspective. As a problem-solving activity, language planning is the realization of language policy that a government adopts in respect to such issues as language diversity, minority…