ERIC Number: EJ757012
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 21
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0741-7136
EISSN: N/A
Relieving Isolation, Avoiding Vices: The Social Purposes of Participation in a Salvadoran Literacy Program
Prins, Esther
Adult Education Quarterly: A Journal of Research and Theory, v57 n1 p5-25 2006
This article uses ethnographic research to examine how women and men in rural El Salvador used literacy classes to accomplish their own social purposes. Employing a sociocultural, feminist framework, the author argues that men and women valued classes as an opportunity for social interaction. Moreover, the classes were a gendered social space that helped women to relieve isolation and men to spend their time purposefully and "avoid vices" like drinking. These needs were rooted in gender relations (an inequitable gender division of labor, the restriction of female mobility, the sanctioning of drinking as masculine behavior) and socioeconomic conditions (unemployment, postwar social fragmentation). Attending classes allowed learners to construct identities that challenged dominant conceptions of gender. The article proposes that serving the human longing for affiliation is a legitimate, essential role of adult education. It concludes by suggesting ways to analyze and support social interaction in adult and literacy education.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Literacy Education, Interpersonal Relationship, Interaction, Literacy, Ethnography, Womens Education, Sociocultural Patterns, Social Isolation, Sex Role, Gender Differences, Role of Education, Adult Education
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://aeq.sagepub.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: El Salvador
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A