This longitudinal ethnographic study employs a New Literacy studies and a critical literacy view of literacy, as well as a feminist food justice perspective to explore how 32 former participants in the Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) Program in rural Uganda used learning from the program in their daily lives, the perceived outcomes of applying the practices learned in the program, and the meanings that literacy held for participants. Participants engaged in literacy practices such as reading contracts, signing names and calculating amounts of money during financial transactions, among others. Livelihood practices that participants engaged in included agriculture, environmental conservation, income generation, collective savings and spiritual growth among others. The findings indicate that to be more meaningful for poor populations, adult literacy programs must be rooted in peoples social realities. Participants access to resources including material, human and training shaped their application of literacy and livelihood practices, to realize instrumental, economic, cultural, and symbolic capital. However, participants contested the hegemonic influence of the Western sponsor, who determined the terms and conditions of operation for the savings and credit association, by establishing a parallel flexible savings and credit system, a social safety net that responded to their needs. Similarly, adherence to Christian teaching was challenged when participants sought recourse in traditional healers. Such experiences depict the fluidity of spirituality and melding of traditional and Christian practices.This research project contributes to scholarship on adult literacy education by demonstrating how the significance of literacy learning is linked to participants livelihoods and how literacy is used to manage spousal relationships. It also offers a cultural perspective of literacy in relation to the identities participants developed. The study adds to literature on longitudinal adult literacy by providing a nuanced view of hegemonic influences on local communities and the tension between cultural knowledge and Western knowledge about farming practices, health management, and local social safety nets.

This book will help those who plan and develop literacy initiatives; using case studies from literacy programmes in many countries including Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mali, Nigeria, the Philippines and Uganda, it demonstrates the importance of literacy, its power to improve lives, and the role literacy plays in social and economic development.

Today, nearly 1 billion adults are totally illiterate; the large majority are women. Varying and vague definitions of literacy abound in the literature and in practice. Literacy is only a potential tool that can be used for a variety of economic, social, political, and cultural purposes. Three principal state objectives for launching literacy programs may be sociopolitical, economic, and demand-meeting. National nongovernmental organizations often play an important role in the organization and teaching of adult literacy. Factors that explain low attendance and weak individual motivation are conditions of poverty in rural areas, lack of self-confidence, disillusionment, discouraging teaching methods, and lack of easy and useful reading material. Literacy strategies with major influence in developing countries are the following approaches: fundamental education, selective-intensive functional, conscientization, and mass campaign. Other literacy programs may differ from or borrow from the aforementioned approaches, and may focus on popular education, oneshot campaigns to eradicate illiteracy, eradication of illiteracy by a series of campaigns, general literacy programs, and/or selective small-scale programs. Post-literacy is important for motivation, for consolidating literacy, and for preventing relapse into illiteracy. A process of social change and mobilization is necessary to sustain women's participation. Crucial research areas include the impact and use of literacy, learning literacy in a second language, contents and methods, dropout, quality versus quantity, sponsorship, and organization of literacy. (127 references) (YLB)

Adult Literacy: A Handbook for Development Workers is written for agency staff with no formal training in adult education who have to respond - as planners, trainers, or teachers - to requests for literacy skills. It sets out to deepen their understanding of literacy and its importance in the process of development and change. Using examples from many countries, the authors give practical guidance, in clear language, for all stages of literacy action from planning to assessment. Besides reading, they cover the skills involved in writing, calculating, and interpreting visual images. They suggest ways of using materials that are already available, and how to develop new ones designed for specific situations.

Literacy education experience shows that literacy is not easily disseminated to adults and that the skills of newly literate people are notable. Dropout, mastery, and retention rates are about 50 percent at each stage, so the effectiveness rate of some projects may only be 12-15 percent. To find causes for the low effectiveness of literacy programs and possible methodological improvements that can increase the effectiveness, two literature reviews were conducted on the topic of literacy in general and on cognitive correlates of age and performance. Some of the findings were as follows: (1) illiterate adults face a combination of social, motivational, instructional, and cognitive obstacles that have not yet been researched adequately; (2) smaller-scale programs are more likely to be successful than larger programs; (3) adults can acquire basic literacy at any age, but functional literacy may become increasingly difficult to acquire with age; (4) if it is indeed harder for adults to acquire functional literacy, large programs should target out-of-school children and adolescents; and (5) methodological improvements can increase the effectiveness of literacy programs. The following improvements were recommended: increasing motivation, positive reinforcement early in the process, discussion of expectations with adults, development of in-class groups of different performance levels, application of reading and writing in context, increasing awareness of phonology, investment in teacher training, and division of tasks into manageable units. (Contains 176 references.) (KC).