Adult Literacy Education: Emerging Directions in Program Development :: Adult Learning Educate School Essays

Adult Literacy Education Emerging Directions in course DevelopmentThe one-size-fits-all classming for big(p) literacy students that has predominated in the past should not and indeed cannot hap in the future if practitioners argon to be responsive to learners needs. Rather, practitioners must meaningfully assist adults in attainment to read not only the intelligence operation but their world. (Sissel 1996, p. 97). Why dont more adults take advantage of available opportunities to cleanse their basal skills? is one of the more perplexing questions confronting the product line of adult basic and literacy development. Only 8 percent of eligible adults participate in funded literacy programs and, of those who do, just about (74 percent) leave during the first year (Quigley 1997). What other area of education could defy with such figures? asks Quigley (ibid., p. 8). A large number of adults with low literacy simply exact not to participate in available programs, and they are so metimes referred to as nonparticipants or resisters. The reasons these adults do not see literacy education as a viable alternative are complex but recent interrogation has focusinged on the connection to previous school experiences (Velazquez 1996). Many adults consider literacy education with school, and, even though they have positive attitudes about learning and education, they choose not to participate in adult basic and literacy education programs (Quigley 1997 Velazquez 1996 Ziegahn 1992). Since most adult literacy education programs still resemble school (Quigley 1997 Velazquez 1996), adult literacy educators must begin to change how programs are structured and delivered if they are discharge to attract nonparticipants. Fortunately, a growing number of practitioners, researchers, and policy makers in the field of adult literacy education are dissatisfied with the status quo and are proposing changes ground on research and practice. This Digest presents emerging perspect ives about adult literacy program development. First, it reviews current ideas about the relationship between learners and program development and wherefore presents recommendations for program development based on the literature. Program Development auditory sense to Learners Voices How can literacy programs become less like school and more appeal to adults, especially to nonparticipants? Two areas that hold potential for answering this question are discussed here. The first is connected to program content and the second revolves around greater consideration of the differences among students. Beyond Reading and Writing Literacy education must be conceptualized as more than reading and writing (Auerbach et al. 1996). According to Fingeret (1992), our understanding of literacy has changed from a focus on individual skills, separated from meaningful content .