Toward a sociology of participation in adult education programmes

Membership in voluntary associations and participation in adult education programmes have long been recognized by researchers in the fields of adult education and sociology as closely related forms of participatory behaviour. This inquiry realizes the potential of this relationship for the study of participation in adult education programmes through the reformulation of a sociological construct called personal influence. It is argued that personal influence in the form of face‐to‐face contact with primary and secondary influentials is at the heart of recruitment strategies targeted at adults, is often an important component of an adult's decision to participate in formally organized learning activities, and may play a critical role in retention and instruction of the adult learner. Secondary analysis of research on voluntary associations, social movement organizations, and adult education programmes, together with data on two populations of adult learners from ar ongoing large scale study of Adult Basic Education participants, underscores the importance of personal influence for explaining the entire range of participatory action and interaction.     

Level 3: another single measure of adult literacy and numeracy

In reporting the Australian results of the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, Adult literacy and life skills survey, summary results, Australia, 2008a, p. 5) stated that of the five internationally identified levels of literacy and numeracy in the survey, Level 3 is regarded by the survey developers as the ‘minimum required for individuals to meet the complex demands of everyday life in the emerging knowledge-based economy’. In effect, this Level 3 criterion, in the wake of traditional functional literacy/illiteracy dichotomies, creates yet another ‘single measure’ through which to distinguish those who can from those who cannot function in society. The Level 3 criterion and the accompanying verbatim quote have since been cited extensively by powerful institutions, including government, industry and skills in their promotion of a crisis discourse in adult literacy and numeracy. This has led in turn to national policy responses on ‘foundation skills’ and nationally agreed performance targets (by the Council of Australian Governments) for skills and workforce development based on the ALLS Level 3. In this paper we question the validity, origin and significance of the Level 3 criterion and contend that highlighting this aspect in the reporting of the ALLS has resulted in a narrow and unbalanced perspective on the role of literacy and numeracy in society.     

Subgroups of adult basic education learners with different profiles of reading skills

The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups of adult basic education (ABE) learners with different profiles of skills in the core reading components of decoding, word recognition, spelling, fluency, and comprehension. The analysis uses factor scores of those 5 reading components from on a prior investigation of the reliability and construct validity of measures of reading component skills (MacArthur, Konold, Glutting, & Alamprese, 2010). In that investigation, confirmatory factor analysis found that a model with those 5 factors fit the data best and fit equally well for native and non-native English speakers. The study included 486 students, 334 born or educated in the United States (native) and 152 not born nor educated in the US (non-native) but who spoke English well enough to participate in English reading classes. The cluster analysis found an 8-cluster solution with good internal cohesion, external isolation, and replicability across subsamples. Of the 8 subgroups, 4 had relatively flat profiles (range of mean scores across factors <0.5 SD), 2 had higher comprehension than decoding, and 2 had higher decoding than comprehension. Profiles were consistent with expectations regarding demographic factors. Non-native speakers were overrepresented in subgroups with relatively higher decoding and underrepresented in subgroups with relatively higher comprehension. Adults with self-reported learning disabilities were overrepresented in the lowest performing subgroup. Older adults and men were overrepresented in subgroups with lower performance. The study adds to the limited research on the reading skills of ABE learners and, from the perspective of practice, supports the importance of assessing component skills to plan instruction.     

Longitudinal study of participation in adult education: a theoretical formulation and empirical investigation

Few studies and theoretical frameworks have treated participation in adult education (PAE) from a longitudinal perspective. This paper presents a theoretical framework which posits that PAE is embedded in the adult developmental process and is an interactive result of individual internal and external forces. These forces can be further explained by several variables that have been revealed to be significant to PAE in the literature. The proposed longitudinal model was supported in part by an empirical investigation. Based on the proposed theoretical framework, an empirical model of PAE was drawn and tested with a US national sampled data set. A structural equation modelling technique was used to assess the model and data. The results suggested that the empirical model established on one proposed conceptual framework had fitted the data reasonably well.     

Word reading and word spelling in French adult literacy students: the relationship with oral language skills

We analysed word reading and spelling in French adults with low levels of literacy (A‐IL). As well as examining phonological and lexical processes, we explored the relationship between literacy and oral language skills. Fifty‐two adult literacy students were compared with reading level‐matched pupils in Years 1–3 of primary school on reading tasks (pseudoword reading, word reading, text comprehension), spelling tasks (pseudoword spelling, text dictation) and oral language tasks. A‐IL scored the same as children on word reading and spelling but less well on pseudoword reading and spelling. They also produced fewer phonologically acceptable errors in the dictation. Regarding oral language skills, as a group A‐IL encountered greater difficulty in phonology than in morphosyntax and semantics, and correlations revealed strong relationships between literacy levels and oral skills, particularly in the domain of phonology. Within their group, however, A‐IL displayed several distinct language profiles. These could reflect different risk factors leading to functional illiteracy and are discussed regarding the cognitive and environmental causes of impaired reading acquisition.     

The effects of post-compulsory education and training systems on literacy and numeracy skills: A comparative analysis using PISA 2000 and the 2011 survey of adult skills

This article analyses the contribution of post-compulsory education and training systems to the development of literacy and numeracy skills across OECD countries. While there is extensive cross-country comparative research on the effects of primary and lower secondary education systems on aggregate skills levels, there has been little comparative analysis of system effects after the end of lower secondary education. This article uses a quasi-cohort analysis of the tested literacy and numeracy skills of 15-year-olds in PISA 2000 and 27-year-olds in the 2011 OECD Survey of Adult Skills (SAS) to estimate the gains in different countries in mean levels of competence in literacy and numeracy. We found that Nordic countries (Norway and Sweden) with comprehensive upper secondary education and training systems and German-speaking countries (Austria and Germany) with dual systems of apprenticeship were particular effective, whilst countries with mixed systems (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain) showed a relative decline in both literacy and numeracy. The education system characteristics that account for these differences are (a) the inclusiveness – as proxied by high rates of participation at 17/18 and low social gradients of level 3 completion; (b) the esteem of vocational programmes; and (c) curriculum standardisation with regard to the study of maths and the national language.     

Associations between motivation to learn,basic skills,and adult education and training participation among older adults in the USA

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to examine the associations between the motivation to learn, basic skills (i.e. literacy and numeracy), and organised adult education and training (AET) participation among the middle-aged and older adults in the USA. Rapid technological advancement and globalisation necessitate individuals to engage in lifelong learning to actively participate in society. However, little is known about the roles of motivation to learn and basic skills in the AET participation in the U.S. adult population. We obtained the data from the 2012/2014 Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies restricted-use file and adults aged 50 years and older (n = 2,580) are included. Structural equation models are used to examine (1) any AET, (2) formal AET and (3) non-formal AET participation as a function of the motivation to learn latent construct, literacy, numeracy, and other covariates. Results showed that the motivation to learn, literacy and numeracy are all positive predictors of non-formal AET participation. Only motivation to learn is associated with formal AET participation. Findings from this study may inform future interventions as well as policy changes to promote specific types of organised AET programmes among older adult population in the USA.     

Digital storytelling in adult education and family literacy: a case study from rural Ireland

Previous research on digital storytelling (DST) has focused chiefly on children and youth, but we know little about how it is used in non-formal adult education. This article analyzes a DST class in rural Ireland, which was organized by a family literacy program and offered for parents at an elementary school. Data sources included fieldnotes, interviews, and digital stories by the parents who finished the class (n?=?3). Janks's interdependence model of critical literacy is used to analyze how the class incorporated power, access, diversity, and design. The class did not engage in ideology critique or analyze the origins or consequences of dominant technologies, languages, and literacies (i.e., investigate power as domination). However, the class did provide access to technology knowledge and skills; affirm parents’ diverse knowledge, languages, life experiences, and identities; and equip participants to design and disseminate their digital stories. The study highlights possibilities for using multimodal composition in family learning and adult education.     

Theorising participation in urban regeneration partnerships: an adult education perspective

While the policy approach in Urban Regeneration Partnership tends to be viewed as participatory governance using an urban studies lens, this article posits an alternative theorisation that takes an adult education perspective. We draw from Lefebvre’s notion of space, Engeström’s Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Holand et al.’s concept of positionality and social identity to theorise Urban Regeneration Partnership as expansive participation that acknowledges discursive struggle and contradiction in authentic democratisation. We argue for a multiscalar understanding of citizenship that attends to sociocultural conditions, challenges hegemonic spatial modalities and inculcates conditions for transformative agency. Our theorising is illustrated using data from a doctoral study examining one Urban Regeneration Partnership in the Republic of Ireland. Three themes emerged from the study: market-led discourse of transformation versus a narrative of community; rhetoric of empowerment versus the unequal positioning of residents, and the dominant hegemony of official knowledge versus community-based experiential knowledge. The article examines whether the academy can make a difference in people’s lives through challenging the prevailing orthodoxy, revealing unexamined assumptions and offering alternative frameworks for deeper understanding of the policy cycle in Urban Regeneration Partnerships.     

Pupils’ attitudes towards foreign-language learning and the development of literacy skills in bilingual education

The study investigated the effects of bilingual teaching on the development of children's literacy skills and attitudes towards language learning. In the bilingual classes 20% of the instruction was given in English. Pupils’ literacy skills in the bilingual classes were significantly better than in the monolingual classes. When observing pupils who started first grade with either a poor or an excellent level of school readiness, there was no significant difference between bilingual and monolingual groups. In addition, the pupils in bilingual classes showed significantly more positive attitudes towards foreign-language learning than the pupils in monolingual classes.     

高职高专学前教育专业的学生钢琴弹奏技能的培养

钢琴课是高职高专学前教育专业音乐科目中的一门重要的技能课程。提高钢琴教学水平和重视钢琴教学,对于学前教育专业的学生将来发展至关重要。高职高专学前教育专业的钢琴教学的教学目的是让学生怎样利用这门技能来有效的投入到幼儿园的音乐教育和实际的教学工作中。因此,在学前教育专业的钢琴教学中,应该更多强调实用性和实践性。     

Theorizing literacy, politics and social process: Revisiting maktab literacy in Iran in search of a critical paradigm

Literacy as a social practice is integrally linked with social, economic and political institutions and processes. As such, it has a material base which is fundamentally constituted in power relations. Literacy is therefore interwoven with the text and context of everyday living in which multi-levelled meanings are organically produced at both individual and societal level. This paper argues that if language thus mediates social reality, then it follows that literacy defined as a social practice cannot really be addressed as a reified, neutral activity but that it should take account of the social, cultural and political processes in which literacy practices are embedded. Drawing on the work of key writers within the field, the paper foregrounds the primary role of the state in defining the forms and levels of literacy required and made available at particular moments within society. In a case-study of the social construction of literacy meanings in pre-revolutionary Iran, it explores the view that the discourse about societal literacy levels has historically constituted a key terrain in which the struggle for control over meaning has taken place. This struggle, it is argued, sets the interests of the state to maintain ideological and political control over the production of knowledge within the culture and society over and against the needs identified by the individual for personal development, empowerment and liberation. In an overall sense, the paper examines existing theoretical perspectives on societal literacy programmes in terms of the scope that they provide for analyses that encompass the multi-levelled power relations that shape and influence dominant discourses on the relative value of literacy for both the individual and society.     

The emergent literacy skills of four-year-old children receiving free kindergarten early childhood education in New Zealand

This study investigated the emergent literacy and language skills of four-year-old children in New Zealand during their kindergarten year prior to school-entry. A total of 92 four-year-old children from a range of socio-economic areas were seen individually at their local kindergarten and were assessed on code-related measures (letter name knowledge, initial phoneme awareness, emergent name writing) and meaning-related measures (story comprehension and retelling ability). Approximately, 60% of the parents completed a home literacy questionnaire. Regression analyses showed no effect for age on any of the code-related measures. In contrast, significant effects for age were found on story comprehension and retelling ability. There were no differences in performance based on gender with two exceptions: Girls performed better than boys on letter name knowledge and early name writing. Questionnaire results suggested literacy activities were valued in the home environment with most parents reporting reading to their child each night, and the majority of parents reported owning more than 60 children’s books. Results from the current study suggest more explicit teaching may be necessary within the kindergarten curriculum to facilitate the code-related skills linked to successful word recognition ability and early spelling development.     

成人高等教育机电一体化专业人才培养模式的改革与实践

本文主要介绍成人高等教育机电一体化专业＂宽口径、多方向＂的人才培养模式,既拓宽学生的基础知识,着眼于未来学生的可持续发展,又精专业培养学生,突出就业能力的提高。结合我校成人高等教育的办学优势与特色,对该人才培养模式进行了有益的探索与实践,并取得了良好的效果。     

Factors of success in a volunteer adult literacy program

Kavale and Lindsey concluded in 1977 that adult literacy programs from 1965 to 1977 failed to address successfully the problem of adult illiteracy. Ten years later, the average literacy program participant still fails to achieve a functional level of literacy. Even so, some students are extremely successful in these programs. What can we learn from these people about the factors that contribute to success and failure in adult literacy programs? This was the question addressed in the present study. Data from 194 students were selected from the 1982–86 records of a typical community-based, volunteer-oriented adult literacy program. Nine personal and program variables found to discriminate significantly between extremely “successful” and extremely “unsuccessful” students were factor analyzed to identify those factors fundamental to success and failure. Two factors accounted for 46.1% of the variance. First, in comparison to unsuccessful students, successful students had greater reason to expect their efforts to achieve literacy would be successful. Second, successful students saw greater relevance in literacy and literacy training than did unsuccessful students. These findings are consistent with expectancy-value theories of motivation and suggest some ways in which the effectiveness of literacy programs may be enhanced.     

Evaluation of adult literacy education in the United States: A review of methodological issues

This is a critical review of methodological issues in the evaluation of adult literacy education programs in the United States. It addresses the key research questions: What are the appropriate methods for evaluating these programs under given circumstances. It identifies 15 evaluation studies that are representative of a range of adult literacy contexts at various evaluation levels; and reviews each study regarding evaluation designs, data sources, learner assessment tools, and indicators of program effectiveness. It summarizes methodological lessons learned regarding the evaluation of adult literacy education and identifies areas for further research.     

Models of power and the deletion of participation in a classroom literacy event

This article uses the analytic lens of power relations and models of power to examine how the participation of two students in an urban US eighth‐grade English language arts class was symbolically and literally deleted. The researcher asks why do some students fail despite being placed in a technologically rich educational environment that ostensibly draws on best practices? Drawing on data collected during an academic year, the author uses a telling case of a dyad engaged in on‐line research and the creation of a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate how the students try to participate and complete the assignment but experience failure. The author raises questions about the context of the students' lives as well as the nature of the classroom instruction and assessment structure. It is argued that further research into the nature of participation is needed to address the lack of student success in urban schools.     

积极老龄化背景下老年人数字健康素养现况及对策研究

数字健康素养作为系列化获取、利用、传播、分享和创造数字健康资源的能力集,能够缓解老年人生理健康焦虑和数字技术使用焦虑。获取和使用健康信息、维持和提升健康认知、养成和强化健康行为可以优化老年人生活方式,为老年人拥有一个健康身体提供基础保障,减少老龄化带来的客观健康焦虑。同时,提升老年人健康科技产品和服务使用能力也是一种独立性和能动性的自我展示,可以打破“衰老”污名化标签带给他们的老化刻板印象,不仅有助于他们克服消极评价恐惧、缓解社会健康焦虑,还可以在社会资源循环和更新、社会参与获得和满足、社会网络稳固和延展等方面补充社会资本,助力老年人融入数字社会,享受智慧医养服务红利,弱化功能性的技术使用焦虑。