Technical Literacy versus Critical Literacy in Adult Basic Education

1988 ◽  
Vol 170 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Macdonald Fueyo
Keyword(s):  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Adult Basic Education ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Literacy Organization

The demands placed upon Adult Basic Education programs in the United States are more rigorous and involve more people than ever before in our history. Government-supported programs as well as private ones capture in microcosm the best and worst in American education. Literacy education is modeled along a continuum moving from a technical conception of literacy, wherein students mark progress by numbers of completed worksheets, to a conception of literacy as praxis, or critical literacy, wherein students construct meaning for themselves and effect change in their lives. These competing models are contrasted, and special emphasis is given to one adult basic literacy organization that is managing to humanize the process. In this program founded in 1973, the students' own words demonstrate the liberating nature of literacy learning that puts into practice the best of current understandings in the field. The challenge of the next decades demands a critical literacy that is consistent with participatory democracy. The convergence of social learning theories, process teaching, critical consciousness, and adult literacy offers constructive responses to the epidemic incidence of illiteracy in our society.

scholarly journals (I)literate Identities in Adult Basic Education: A Case Study of a Latino Woman in an ESOL and Computer Literacy Class

2011 ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Adult Basic Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literate Identities ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages

Adult Basic Education (ABE), namely English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in the United States has been understood and assessed as the mastering of skills increasingly aimed at meeting the demands of the workplace. This ethnographic case study examines how the literacy practices a Latino woman engages in through her participation in an ABE-ESOL class relate to her developing identities of mother, student and citizen. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the findings demonstrate the contextual nature of adult literacy, showing how learners appropriate available tools and texts and enact purposeful and meaningful literacy practices, which traditional ABE assessment dismiss or do not account for. Implications for adult literacy pedagogy and research are discussed.

Students on the Rise

2015 ◽  
pp. 195-213
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bishop
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Immigrant Rights ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Ethical Learning

This chapter discusses the recent findings of the Drop Knowledge Project in New York City (DKPNYC). The DKPNYC is a cultural studies research project designed to excavate the discourses of urban youth activism and organizing in relation to critical literacy learning. In this chapter, the authors look at the work of the DKPNYC youth activists around issues related to immigrant rights and educational justice in out-of-school spaces. Amongst the interconnected issues surrounding this work, the youth participants in the DKPNYC all organize around issues related to the struggle of undocumented youth to access quality education in the United States. Data collected from the study is decidedly cross-cultural, with participants articulating visions of themselves and their future in relation to their cultural heritage and their inter-subjective ethical learning. Implications from the study provide insight to educators, researchers, and community-based organizations about educating immigrant youth and others on pressing issues around immigrant learning.

Students on the Rise

2014 ◽  
pp. 217-235
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bishop
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Immigrant Rights ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Ethical Learning

This chapter discusses the recent findings of the Drop Knowledge Project in New York City (DKPNYC). The DKPNYC is a cultural studies research project designed to excavate the discourses of urban youth activism and organizing in relation to critical literacy learning. In this chapter, the authors look at the work of the DKPNYC youth activists around issues related to immigrant rights and educational justice in out-of-school spaces. Amongst the interconnected issues surrounding this work, the youth participants in the DKPNYC all organize around issues related to the struggle of undocumented youth to access quality education in the United States. Data collected from the study is decidedly cross-cultural, with participants articulating visions of themselves and their future in relation to their cultural heritage and their inter-subjective ethical learning. Implications from the study provide insight to educators, researchers, and community-based organizations about educating immigrant youth and others on pressing issues around immigrant learning.

Illiteracy: An Overview

1970 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Harman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Adult Basic Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grade School ◽  
Functional Illiteracy

Mr. Harman reviews current definitions of illiteracy and functional illiteracy and discusses their relationship both to estimates of the scope of the problem and, by implication, to efforts toward its solution. Applying functional standards according to the requisites of particular societies, it can be seen that even countries with high literacy rates, such as the United States, harbor large functionally illiterate populations. The author argues that adult basic education efforts here and abroad should be planned on a situation-specific basis, with goals, content, and evaluative components derived independently of the usual grade school equivalencies.

scholarly journals The CABES (Clare Adult Basic Education Service) framework as a tool for teaching and learning

2017 ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Moira Greene
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learning ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Adult Basic Education ◽  
Constructivist Learning ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Education Service ◽  
Social Constructivist Learning

This article describes a Framework that can be used to help bridge the gap between theory and practice in adult learning. The Framework promotes practice informed by three strands important to adult literacy work: social theories of literacy, social- constructivist learning theory and principles of adult learning. The Framework shows how ve key factors can be utilised to establish existing learner knowledge onto which new learning can be built, identify relevant and effective learning objectives, and provide a means of evaluating learning. Keywords: Assessment. Constructivist learning. Learning difference. Social practice.   O modelo CABES (Clare Adult Basic Education Service) como um instrumento para o ensino e a aprendizagem Resumo O artigo descreve um modelo que pode ser usado para ajudar a transpor a distância entre a teoria e a prática na educação de adultos. O modelo encoraja a prática, informada por três constituintes importantes no trabalho de letramento com o adulto: as teorias sociais do letramento, a teoria social-construtivista da aprendizagem e os princípios da aprendizagem do adulto. O modelo aponta como cinco fatores-chave podem ser empregados para estabelecer o conhecimento já existente do aprendente, a partir do qual novas aprendizagens podem ser construídas; a identificar objetivos de aprendizagem relevantes e efetivos, e como prover um meio de avaliar a aprendizagem. Palavras-chave: Avaliação. Aprendizagem construtivista. Aprendizagem da diferença. Prática social.   El marco CABES (Clare Adult Basic Education Service) como herramienta para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje Resumen Este artículo describe un marco que se puede utilizar para ayudar a cerrar la brecha entre la teoría y la práctica en el aprendizaje de adultos. El marco promueve la práctica informada por tres líneas importantes para el trabajo de alfabetización de adultos: las teorías sociales de la alfabetización, la teoría del aprendizaje social-constructivista y los principios del aprendizaje de adultos. El marco muestra cómo se pueden utilizar factores clave para establecer el conocimiento previo del alumno sobre el que se puede construir un nuevo aprendizaje, identificar objetivos de aprendizaje relevantes y efectivos, y proporcionar un medio para evaluar el aprendizaje. Palabras clave: Evaluación. Aprendizaje constructivista. Diferencia de aprendizaje. Práctica social.

Zoom: A Review of the Literature on Marginalized Adolescent Readers, Literacy Theory, and Policy Implications

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith K. Franzak
Keyword(s):  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Adolescent Literacy ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Naturalistic Inquiry ◽  
Strategic Reading ◽  
Adolescent Readers ◽  
Literacy Policy ◽  
Literacy Learners

The achievement of adolescent literacy learners has become a significant topic of research and policy. This review of literature links current literacy learning theories, research that addresses the individualized nature of adolescent readers, and the literature delineating adolescent literacy policy. Researchers using naturalistic inquiry have studied adolescent readers from a variety of perspectives; interview-based studies show adolescents having some commonalities in reading preferences. Current pedagogical models include reader response, strategic reading, and critical literacy; each model has benefits and drawbacks for marginalized readers. Adolescent literacy policy fosters the belief that we are in a crisis that calls for intervention. The article concludes with recommendations for policy and research that would better serve marginalized adolescent readers.

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