Why care about history? I care because I love stories. And, there are many in the field of adult literacy who feel the same way, including many learners. My experience suggests literacy classrooms depend on story telling. Stories are almost as important to a good literacy class as food is to the body. So history can be a great teaching source. But history can be a great learning source too.
While our history cannot give us all the answers to many of the questions that face us today, it can show us trends. It is in the trends that we can see
- where we have been
- why we do the things we do
- what has gone well and what has not
- where we seem to be headed
You do not need to look very far back in time to see that three groups have the greatest interest in our field. The “Triangle of Decision-Making” for our field, or, the three stakeholder groups that have shaped literacy education as we know it today include Literacy Sponsors, Literacy Educators, and Literacy Learners.
The influence of each of these groups has changed over time.
In our early history, those who organized the classes decided what was taught. The Bristol School Movement, started by the Methodists, taught adults to learn to read the Bible. Having adults read the Bible was the formula for filling readers with Christian values, behaviors and morals. Nothing more was needed according to the beliefs at that time.
How could writing increase values and morality? Reading and writing then was not about education as we know it today. It was about salvation.
The Sabbath day was when many adult Bible classes were held. Work was not to be done on the Sabbath Day. Writing was thought to be work (not reading though) so writing was not taught in the Bristol School Movement in the early years.
Certainly neither the Port Royalists nor those who organized the Moonlight Schools wanted learners to decide what they would learn. The Learner voice is new to literacy. Lessons were filled with moral ideas on how important it was to have an orderly home and how one must learn the value of hard work and clean living.
The late 19th and into the 20th century, saw a power shift. The educator had decision-making power over much of the content and teaching methods. Adult educators set and influenced the lessons. They also gave rise to adult education as social policy. Cora Wilson Stewart was hired as the literacy expert for the US army and wrote many of the reading texts used through World War One by the American military. She was chosen to lead the first major US literacy campaign. Adult teachers began to get recognition nation-wide.
They were asked to decide what and how adults were taught. The Bible was dropped from the mainstream literacy program. Although, there are some faith-based literacy programs across North America that still use the Bible. The values, ethics and morals of society continue to be found in many mainstream reading materials.
It is interesting to see how the needs of the learner take on greater importance for Jane Addam’s Hull House movement and Alfred Fitzpatrick’s Frontier College movement. In the Antigonish Movement, the learner needs decided what was taught rather than the Catholic Church.
The power-shift has been towards an increase in the learner and community voice. So we see the move from the voice of the sponsor, to educator, to learner over the past 200 years. But where is this pointing us?
Adult literacy policy is in a constant tug-of-war among the three decision-making groups. Today, some believe that faith, morality and mainstream values are the real purpose of adult literacy. Others argue that literacy needs to be about education so learners will have the workplace skills they need.
Still others argue for stronger learner voice in the field of adult literacy and basic education. Is there “one best way” for the future?
If the balance of power has shifted, so has literacy programming. The literature tells us that there are but three approaches to learning:
1) formal
2) informal
3) non-formal
Adult literacy began standing on the single pillar of formal classroom courses in 1812. Formal means a teacher-student approach. Knowledge is passed from the teacher; received by the student. This approach is still used today across North America in many adult literacy courses. It works for some learners, but not for all.
The Antigonish Movement had thousands in informal literacy learning. Here learning activities were largely defined by and run by families and communities. No credit, no diplomas, no certificates. For some adults, being able to learn with other adult learners around them was the very best way to develop their skills.
Today, Saskatchewan’s community-based SaskSmart program and the new literacy Community Planning Tables in British Columbia are examples of what is becoming the second pillar of literacy. Here are province-wide, sponsored, informal, community-based learning programs. A whole new delivery system is appearing. But it is not really new. Our history tells us this. Many numbers of developing nations have used informal community literacy as the best way for literacy–from Cuba to Nepal.
We have informal choices to learn from, both in Canada and in many other nations as well. But we could go much farther and do much more in adult literacy.
If we look at the three ways available to learning and consider how both adult learning and society itself is changing, there should be a third pillar for this field. The fact is, most of the learning we do occurs on our own. According to Livingstone, some 1500 hours per year are spent by the majority of adults in learning outside formal classrooms. This is about 15 hours per week, which more time than Canadian adults are spending in classrooms.
If “non-formal” learning, which is learning on your own, was available we would reach the 42% who are in levels 1 and 2 of the International Adult Literacy Survey. This could be done through …
- personal computer programs,
- televised and radio-broadcast literacy series,
- self-study home-material learning materials, and
- correspondence-style programs from our adult education institutions, agencies, and governmental ministries,
- other delivery possibilities,
Done well, with real learner input, such non-formal learning programs could be advertised and made available through
- family literacy
- school children-to-parents
- religious institutions
- the workplace
- community-based informal and institutional formal programs
Millions of adults learn on computers every day. Those who want to improve their literacy skills on their own time could be helped where they are and when they are ready to learn. Why is this so hard to do in Canada?
Saskatchewan and British Columbia are finding ways to build community-based informal literacy. Why is technology not more accessible as a learning tool? Greater gaps in knowledge will happen if technology is not made available to those who need it. This will result in a larger portion of the population living with literacy challenges.
We know that most adults who leave school early do not return to formal literacy and basic education programs. It is thought that fewer than 10% of those able to return to adult education courses do so.
Our history shows that up to now, classroom teaching was always involved. But what if there were no classrooms? Would literacy teaching and learning still be possible? The Antigonish Movement shows us what is possible with informal learning. Today’s growth of technology shows us possibilities for non-formal learning.
Will anything change in this century? We have a history of politicians and the media rediscovering adult literacy issues every 10 years or so. Then comes the media and public outcry followed by recycled literacy and adult basic education (ABE) programs. All the while practitioners and researchers wait and (politely) lobby for more funding. I believe the triangle of decision-making needs to move towards a fuller balance of voices and delivery opportunities–formal, informal and non-formal.
In closing, it is time for more
- learner voice and independence
- community and family based informal learning
- self-directed learning in the non-formal education format
This is where I believe history points us–to three pillars in literacy education. Let us build on our strengths–including recognizing that current and potential learners play a major role in our history of adult education programming. We need all voices involved for a better 21st century.
For more information about the SaskSmart program go to (www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/sasksmart)
For more information about literacy Community Planning Tables in BC go to www2.literacy.bc.ca/resourcs/newresc/resspr08.htm
