Kathy Maclachlan

Adult literacy, learning identities and pedagogic practice

This article discusses the relationship between persistence in adult literacy and numeracy programs, changes in the participants’ attitudes to engaging in learning and pedagogic practices using data from eight Scottish literacy education organizations. It argues that literacy learning can act as a resource that enables vulnerable adults to change their dispositions to learning, achieve their goals and make a transition towards their imagined futures. Pedagogic practices that operate from an approach that emphasized learners’ strengths, rather than their deficits, and critically interrogated learners’ experiences used as a resource for learning were the most successful in enabling this transition. Holistic provision that creates a supportive community of practice was found to be the most effective in bringing about the positive changes that learners identified they wished to make in their lives.

Learners, tutors and power in adult literacies research in Scotland

This paper explores the discourses of power in adult literacy and numeracy (ALN) teaching and learning that were highlighted through the processes of accessing and gaining the views of ALN learners for a research project on the quality of learning and teaching. It details the problems encountered in gaining access to this group of learners and discusses how they are rooted within the discourses of power and deficit that permeate ALN teaching and learning. It also argues that the pedagogical structures of 1:1 learning that characterise sections of ALN provision reinforce the suppression of collective voice by individualising the ‘problem’ and its solution. It suggests that whilst ALN learning aims to effect change in individuals and in society, the structures and power relationships within it militate against such change. The paper shows that in learning communities where power and meaning are mutually negotiated learners do begin to recognise their personal worth and power and its impact in the wider world. However, it argues that critical, radical adult learning extends beyond the parameters of individual change. It is a collective process whereby people who begin to see themselves differently as individuals also question together the asymmetrical power relationships that have marginalised them and their practices, and act to change them. The learners’ comments show that, although they had changed through participating in learning, the change process was essentially individualised, and almost entirely devoid of these critical elements.

Three dimensional change? the relationship between theory, policy and adults' understanding of literacies

Abstract Despite the essentially functional, technicist basis of both the International Adult Literacy Survey (1997), and the Moser report in England (1999), the past two decades have witnessed a radical shift in our understanding of the nature of literacy and numeracy, which should in turn have a marked effect on the way that provision is structured. This ‘new’ approach is embedded in a definitional shift from literacy and numeracy, to literacies. This article examines the impact that the new approach to literacies has had in three areas; (1) the nature of literacies provision in communities, (2) adults’ understanding of ‘being literate’, and (3) their perceptions of literacy learning. Drawing on an innovative research project in North Ayrshire, it asks whether this new vision of literacies is a shared one, or one that has not yet impacted on providers and learners. The authors suggest that the task of translating theoretical understandings into local praxis is a major one. In addition to the significant changes that it requires of providers, evidence from their research indicates the enormity of the task ahead in changing many adults’ perceptions both of self as learner and of literacies learning, and they consider the policy implications of this.

Lifelong learning, development, knowledge and identity

This Special Issue both complements and builds upon a previous volume of Compare (vol. 36, no. 3, 2006) that focused on different models and meanings of lifelong learning. In this earlier edition, Schuetze, Casey and other contributing authors explored various dimensions of lifelong and lifewide learning, a range of models and modes of learning, and the different agencies that have a stake in the lifelong learning agenda. They analysed policies and their implementation in predominantly developed countries in order to further our understanding of what a ‘learning society’ really means. This volume builds upon their work by continuing the exploration of various facets of lifelong learning, but in the context of developing countries where globalising and development agendas are precipitating radical re-thinking of who learns what, and how. As the forces of globalisation threaten to homogenise nations and cultures across the world, there is an urgent need to re-conceptualise our constructions and practices of lifelong and lifewide learning so that they may help to stem this trend and facilitate a form of development premised on notions of equal difference and social justice, not merely economic gain. By lifelong learning we mean structured, purposeful learning throughout the lifespan, from cradle to grave, and by lifewide, we include all the activities, formal and informal, through work and through leisure, that adults are involved in on a day-to-day basis. The term lifewide learning1 is a relatively new and underused one, but as the European Commission’s Memorandum on Lifelong Learning states, it

‘We can giggle about being thick together’: utilising the social dimensions of learning in the workplace

Abstract Whilst the economic agenda continues to dominate adult learning policy, evidence from national surveys indicates that vocational and other learning opportunities continue to be unevenly distributed according to social class. This article argues that the concept of social capital can usefully be employed to increase participation for adults who do not normally engage in learning activities in the workplace. Drawing from research with low-skilled workers in Glasgow, Scotland, the article explores the relationship between social networks and workplace learning. It contends that the normative nature of workplace networks can operate to inhibit participation where learning is not integral to the norms of the group. It suggests, however, that workplace networks could positively reinforce, rather than inhibit learning and that they could easily be capitalised upon in organisations. Doing so requires trust at different levels and the article also addresses how this trust can be built.

Educational Entrepreneurs? Practitioner-Led Action Research and the Formation of the Professional Adult Literacies Instructor.

Abstract The potential of practitioner-led action research (PLAR) to contribute to professional development in adult literacies work is considered from two perspectives. First, a recent initiative in Scotland is examined to illustrate PLAR implemented as professional development. The structural factors needing to be addressed for PLAR to contribute to practice are identified. These fall into three categories: time, funds and support from colleagues and line managers. Participants claimed to learn a great deal from their projects, would like to do more research and supported PLAR as professional development. They identified positive influences on practice and self-determination, while emphasising the importance of working conditions on these outcomes. Second, the broader picture of the role of PLAR in the formation of professional identity in the context of New Public Management is considered. This perspective emphasises PLARs contribution to positioning educators as entrepreneurs, taking responsibility for and building their own professional identity. The conclusion calls for caution in the widespread adoption of PLAR as a professional development strategy.