Through data-based theory development, Literacy for Life examines the process through which life change happens, based on in-depth profiles of five participants in an adult literacy education program. The authors explore why some adults seem to experience change more positively and profoundly than others. They also address the nature and role of shame in inhibiting change, and the role of the environment and community. This book places learners at the center of their own learning and change, rather than the educator or educational program. Most importantly, this book will help educators understand the complex process through which adults use literacy to change their lives, not just their test scores.

The book provides a historical overview of adult literacy theory, policy, practice, and research from the mid-1980s to the present. The main focus is a descriptive analysis of three distinctive schools of literacy: the Freirean-based participatory literacy movement grounded in oppositional politics and grass-roots community activism; the British-based New Literacy Studies that focuses on the ways in which diverse students utilize various literacy practices in their daily lives; and the U.S. federal government's focus on functional literacy linked to a 45-year policy emphasis on workforce readiness. These three schools of thought lead to substantially different implications over such critical areas as curriculum, assessment and accountability, and the socio-cultural role of literacy, policy, and political culture, which are discussed throughout the chapters of the book. This discussion includes a chapter on research traditions that closely parallels these perspectives on literacy education. Demetrion argues that unless values grounded ultimately in political culture emerge, it is exceedingly unlikely that the adult literacy field will be able to move from its current marginalized status toward that of achieving the level of public and policy legitimacy many believe it needs for its long-term institutional flourishing. It is argued that any settlement of this issue must be accomplished in the field of practice rather than the ground of theory, even as theoretical insight can help to frame the issues. Conflicting Paradigms in Adult Literacy Education: In Quest of a U.S. Democratic Politics of Literacy speaks to a wide audience, including not only the adult literacy community, but anyone interested in educational theory, practice, policy, research traditions, or political culture, and more fundamentally, in their intersection. Given the breadth of the topics covered, as well as the broad scope of the argument, the book is also meant for those who would like to gain a useful perspective on contemporary U.S. culture, through the window of these conflicting tensions within the field of adult literacy education.

The policy of the World Bank has been to focus on universal primary education, rather than supporting adult literacy programmes. But slow progress in Sub-Saharan Africa has convinced the Bank that adult literacy, especially amongst women, is a key factor in promoting economic and social development. This study of programmes in Uganda shows that adult literacy programmes can be more effective than was previously thought; that government run programmes can be as effective as those run by non-governmental organisations and that there is a large, unsatisfied demand among Ugandan adults for more education.

The Review of Adult Learning and Literacy: Connecting Research Policy, and Practice, Volume 4 is the newest addition to a series of annual publications of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) that address major issues, the latest research, and the best practices in the field of adult literacy and learning. Volume 4 opens with an overview of significant recent developments in the field. Subsequent chapters cover a wide range of topics critical to the success of adult education and literacy services in the United States: *issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation; *the role of workplace education in building adults' basic skills; *the role of new learning technologies in adult education and literacy; *adult developmental theories and their implications for the teaching of adult basic education and English for speakers of other languages; and *traditional and contemporary adult learning theories, including an annotated bibliography of key resources. Intended for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners dedicated to improving the quality of adult basic education, adult English for speakers of other languages, and adult secondary education programs, Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, Volume 4 is an essential resource for the field.

Technology offers a promising alternative to the labor-intensive, tutorial-based teaching that makes up the bulk of today's literacy training. This technology, which includes multimedia (speech, video, and graphics), and telecommunications, offers new hope to those who have failed in paper-&-pencil educational activities. The report estimates that at least 35 million adults have difficulties with common literacy skills. Over 80 charts, tables and photos. Glossary.

This unique publication is written for practitioners in the field of adult learning and literacy. This third volume in the series from the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL). This is a collection of the best new knowledge and practice in the field, and includes an introduction by the editors and six articles by distinguished writers and practitioners, as well as reviews of the best books and key journal articles published in the past year.