Description
Teaching Literacy has been written to support the new specialist qualification in teaching adult literacy that was introduced in England in 2001. Adult literacy has been a key area of lifelong learning since the 1970s. However, much experience and expertise that has been developed by adult literacy teachers has not been recorded. There is also much published research on literacy – both on how it is acquired and its role in society. This research is published in different fields – anthropology, psychology, education and linguistics for example – and in many different countries. It’s hard for those working in adult literacy to find their way through, or even access, all this material. The book pulls together research and practice in a coherent and accessible way.
The writers have all worked in adult literacy for many years, as teachers or researchers, and, in many cases, both. The two key writers, Irene Schwab and Nora Hughes, run highly regarded courses for literacy teachers at the Institute of Education, University of London. Much of the book is based on their experience as teacher educators and their, and other writers’, long experience of adult literacy teaching. We have drawn on research from many places but particularly that carried out for the National Research and Development Centre for Literacy and Numeracy, and the Literacy Research Centre at the University of Lancaster. The book owes most of all to the sharing of practice by committed adult literacy teachers over many years, many of whose ideas will be here, but not credited.
Who is the book for?
The book is intended to support both teacher trainers and people studying for a teacher training qualification. It is not designed for you if you are an absolute beginner adult literacy teacher – though you may still find it useful – you will find it of more use if you have some experience of working in adult literacy already. In England, you might be completing your first year of training or entering your second year. Or you may be a fully qualified teacher who has become interested in teaching adult literacy and are doing an additional ‘specialist’ qualification. The book will also be of use to practitioners who want to update themselves and develop their practice.
For international readers, it should be made clear that the book has been written in England, and the government Skills for Life strategy has introduced many common policies, practices and organizations. These are a feature of a particular time and place, so we have tried, where possible, to keep references to these to a minimum.
However, we have to refer to them in places. You will find a glossary at the end of the book which will give you some information about English organizations and terms. The book has a partner volume – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). We do include strategies for teaching literacy to multilingual students. However, we do not discuss in depth how to work with learners who are still in the early stages of learning to speak and understand English. (In the UK, multilingual students in adult literacy classes are generally relatively confident in their spoken English.) You may want to refer to Teaching ESOL if you are working with students who are newer to the language.
Those of us who have worked as adult literacy teachers regard it as one of the most privileged roles in education. Our learners are often seen as a social ‘problem’ and are described in terms of their deficits, but we find learners in our groups who don’t at all match this picture: learners who have rich resources, knowledge and skills in many areas of their lives. Often we ourselves are undervalued: many people believe ‘basic’ literacy must be ‘basic’ to teach. In fact it is one of the most complex areas of education, needing high levels of empathy, knowledge and skill to do well.