Alisa Belzer

“It’s Not Like Normal School”: The Role of Prior Learning Contexts in Adult Learning

This article explores the ways in which prior experiences in formal learning contexts influence adult learners’ views of their current context. Using interview data from five women participating in a General Educational Development program, this study suggests that these learners’ constructions of previous learning contexts function as “screens” between the learner and the learning. Contextual features of current learning contexts may pass easily through a learner’s screen, may be a misfit creating ambivalence and tension, or may exceed the boundary of the screen’s frame. The outcomes of each situation are discussed and an argument is made for conscious examination of the screen.

From Heroic Victims to Competent Comrades: Views of Adult Literacy Learners in the Research Literature

This research synthesis analyzed qualitative depictions of adult literacy learners and identified five ways in which they are typically characterized: the Heroic Victim, the Needy (Problem) Child, the Broken (but Repairable) Cog, the Pawn of Destiny, and the Capable Comrade. These types do not capture the diversity or complexity of all adult literacy learners, and we do not argue that they are comprehensive. Rather they are representative of the ways in which adult literacy learners are portrayed in the research literature. We argue that each type, like characters in a narrative, drive the “action” in research, policy, and practice arena. The ways in which they populate research may have very real consequences for how adult literacy learning opportunities are provided and the outcomes that can be expected.