Of cultural dissonance: the UK’s adult literacy policies and the creation of democratic learning spaces

Abstract

The broad aim of this paper is to track the evolution of adult literacy policy in the UK across three decades, highlighting convergences between policy phases and the promotion of democratic learning spaces. It is anchored onto the argument that, although it is generally accepted that democratic learning spaces are perceived as beneficial to adult literacy learners, policy has often deterred its promotion and, therefore, implementation. The paper identifies three block phases of adult literacy development: the seventies to mid-eighties, the mid-eighties to mid-nineties and the mid-nineties to the Moser Committees. The features of each of these phases are highlighted to map out convergences and divergences to the ethos of democratic learning spaces. The paper argues that, with the evolution of policy in adult literacy, the ethos of democratic learning space continuously diminished, such that as policy evolved year on year, the principle of democratic learning space found itself at counterpoint to policy. We draw on two theoretical frameworks, the NLS view of literacy and Bourdieu's capital framework to explain these divergences and conclude that the dominant perception of literacy and the prioritised capital in the context of policy appear to limit the vestiges of democratic learning spaces.

Becoming digitally literate: Reinstating an educational lens to digital skills policies for adults

“…As noted in the Introduction, this focus on learning specific skills, as opposed to a focus of providing a democratic education for adults, is not unique to digital skills policies and has been raised as a problematic focus for adult and lifelong learning policies more broadly (e.g. Biesta, 2006;Ade-Ojo & Duckworth, 2017). The people interviewed for this study similarly stressed the need for an educational framing in learning to use and indeed shape the Internet.…”

Adult literacies from the perspective of practitioners and their learners: a case study from the north of England

“…Although based on a relatively small sample of participants, and therefore, not an attempt to generalise, the data discussed here illustrate the variety of ways in which literacy is understood in practice, ranging from the ability to read and write in a 'basic' way, to creative writing, reading for pleasure and communicating with others in social or digital contexts. Although there are some subtle differences in perceptions held by learners and practitioners, on the whole, there is a shared understanding that literacy is about more than the human capital and employability model on which, it is argued, recent policymaking is based (Duckworth & Ade-Ojo, 2017;Hamilton, 2012;Hamilton & Pitt, 2011). Learners' and teachers' perspectives on literacy and literacy education reinforce the notion that literacy is not a fixed concept, rather that it has differing meanings, purposes and benefits according to context.…”

Transformative Learning in English Further Education

“…The discourse that supports and underpins this competitive economic environment is driven by a neoliberal approach to learning societies which privileges individual over collective learning. As part of this, the focus of education according to neoliberal discourse (Ade-Ojo and Duckworth, 2016) is to provide a flexible, adaptable and skilled workforce to make countries competitive in the globalised economy. Thus, education is positioned as a commodity that, within existing social conditions, is more accessible to some groups than others.…”