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,…

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…

Literacy is considered an important instrument for sustainable development of any country. Pakistan during the past six decades has achieved steady increase in economic growth and development particularly in education, a key sector in social sphere. As the study was focused on, the initiatives for literacy efforts in Punjab (Pakistan) so it…

US public adult basic skills education, as adult education researcher Thomas Sticht has often pointed out, is on the margins of public education. By many measures, in the past decade it has experienced significant further decline. In the last decade and a half, according to Sticht's (2015) analysis, "enrollments in the Adult Education and…

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (2006-2015)--LIFE--to tackle the literacy challenge. This is a collaborative effort to accelerate literacy efforts in thirty five of the world's most challenged countries and thereby to unlock progress to reach all of the…

The paper analyses the status and characteristics of adult literacy campaigns and programmes since 2000. Global trends are analysed in terms of the ten key aspects of the suggested framework for successful literacy campaigns and programmes. Four case studies on major literacy campaigns in Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia are used to…

Australia appears to be in the grip of a "literacy crisis" in workplaces. Media reports and industry/skills organisations are decrying the low literacy and numeracy levels of workers and the negative effects these have on productivity. As a consequence, the Australian government has increased funding for workplace literacy and numeracy…

This Support Document reports in detail on two of three components of the methodology. The first part of this document features the literature review, focusing in particular on the three areas of health literacy, financial literacy and literacy in the justice sector. It also includes a background section on policy. The second part of the Support…

Background and Context: The context for this study is the American legislative landscape covering the past 35 years, which witnessed a shift in political philosophies concerning the role of government in ensuring the social welfare of its citizens--from a focus on a "safety net" to a focus on "individual responsibility." We frame these contrasting…

The three case studies featured in this publication need to be viewed in conjunction with the recent National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) report: "A New Social Capital Paradigm for Adult Literacy: Partnerships, Policy and Pedagogy" (Balatti, Black & Falk 2009). The case studies form an important research phase of…

The six EFA goals help to shape policies and priorities especially in developing countries; they can be seen as discrete targets or as a cohesive collection of complimentary developmental areas to improve learning for people of all ages and stages. The paper argues that the cohesion, success and impact of the EFA would be improved enormously if…

Innovative policies and practices in mainstreaming adult education on the basis of UNESCO's model of Education for All (EFA) among member states take different forms. In Nigeria, EFA has been conceptualised as the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme. UBE has dominated some of the major political options that governments have had to make in…

Current accountability policy that bases assessment on validity and reliability criteria in the positivist research tradition is counterproductive to serving adult learners and their communities. In this article, we outline a framework for accountability that allows for the emergence and demonstration of the full range of program outcomes and…

This discussion paper is part of a larger Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) project entitled "Linkages: Connecting Literacy and English as a Second Language" (ESL). The goal of the overall project is for MCL to work with national organizations that support the ESL/Settlement and literacy fields to identify common issues and concerns…

When Ethiopia launched its National Literacy Campaign (NLC) in July 1979, it was announced that illiteracy would be removed from the urban areas of the country by 1982 and from rural Ethiopia by 1987. By the end of the 12th round of the NLC in February 1985, 16.9 million youths and adults had been covered by the campaign, and 12 million (almost…