Theory and Practice in Adult Literacy, Learning and Social Change: Theoretical Insights and Case Studies from Around the World

Offering new theoretical, empirical and methodological perspectives on adult literacy, lifelong learning and social change, this book challenges traditional debates on adult literacy and development.

The volume brings together debates and research from the Global South and Global North and is original in moving beyond descriptive accounts of adult literacy programmes, classrooms and a focus on best practice. It provides both a historical perspective on this field as well as looking forward to future research and pedagogical directions.

By broadening from an international development to a social change perspective, this book offers an alternative starting point. Unlike development, social transformation does not set a specific agenda, nor assume a certain endpoint. The authors set out to investigate the ’why’ and ’how’ of the assumed connections between adult learning, literacy and social change, contributing a deeper understanding into the complex - and often unpredictable - processes involved.

As well as focusing on literacy learning in classrooms and educational programmes, the book explores literacy practices and adult learning in everyday spaces, including social movements, religious poetry and community initiatives. Case studies from different cultural contexts introduce alternative theoretical lenses, like the concept of the enacted body to explore a woman’s experience of learning and social change in Nepal; or investigating how religious poetry shared between generations in Iran could be working against social change.

Catherine Kell is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and was Director of the School of Education from 2017 to 2020. She has taught in the field of language and literacy studies for over three decades in South Africa and New Zealand, with a brief spell in Tanzania.
Anna Robinson-Pant is Professor of Education at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, UK. She holds the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation.