Dismissed as "brainless" at school, Alan Markland's one saving grace was his ability to read. It grew into a passion for books and reading which survived years of alcoholism and eventual homelessness. He was in his sixties when he began to realise his true vocation as a writer. Markland describes his early education as "perfunctory." An early…

The Campaign for Learning supported the lead-up to the "Learning Revolution" White Paper and is delighted to be part of the Learning Revolution Festival of Learning, which runs throughout October. It has been heartening to identify, alongside organisations from outside the learning sector and the departments that sponsor them, the value of…

Successful workplace literacy and numeracy programs are dependent on effective strategies to recruit and then retain course participants. This article reports on the recruitment strategies used in a large workplace literacy and numeracy project involving 535 workers in 18 courses. It provides an analysis of the strategies used, their rates of…

The purpose of this study was to examine participants' perspectives on how a volunteer-based adult literacy class supports the learning of adults with developmental/intellectual disabilities. Interviews were conducted with four tutors, three adult learners, and two coordinators and observations of the class occurred over a 6-month period…

In this article, the author talks about UK Government's informal learning consultation by considering the role of the workplace. As John Denham set out at the launch of this consultation process in January, trade unions have been at the heart of such learning throughout their history; campaigning for education for all and for public libraries,…

In this article, the author introduces Vox, Norwegian Institute for Adult Learning, an agency of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research that focuses mainly on improving basic skills in the adult population in the areas of literacy, numeracy and the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT). Vox is responsible for curriculum…

Linda Worden always loved books. She liked the way they felt in her hands and the way they smelled. The only problem was she could not read them--until she took part in Channel 4's "Can't Read, Can't Write". This article tells the story of Linda Worden and how learning to read changed her life. Her attempts to learn as an adult are a shocking…

Stoke-on-Trent is one of the most deprived areas of the UK. It has been described as an area with low aspirations. This is reflected in educational attainment levels among school leavers: GCSE results across the city, including English and Maths, remain significantly below the national average. Stoke-on-Trent College has a huge role to play in…

Since 2001 the Scottish Government has invested 65 million British pounds in helping adults improve their literacies, routing the money through local authorities to learning partnerships charged with developing local adult literacy action plans. For 2002-2003, the first year of the new funding, the Scottish Government set the Highland Adult…

The field of adult language, literacy and numeracy in Australia is a site of struggle as policy changes, new learner groups and new economic imperatives challenge teachers' expertise and beliefs about good teaching practice. This article examines the ways in which experienced adult language, literacy and numeracy teachers shape and reshape their…

This paper describes pedagogy in a series of "diabetes literacy" programs involving culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. The programs were jointly delivered in local community sites, including neighbourhood centres and public housing halls, by qualified nutritionists from a public health service and adult literacy teachers…

The Quicken Trust has been working in Kabubbu since 2000. In that time it has created a primary school, a health centre and laboratory, teachers' and nurses' housing, community housing, clean water supplies, farming and work initiatives, an adult literacy centre and library, and a secondary school. Over 400 orphaned children are being educated and…

Current reports of literacy rates in Australia indicate an ongoing gap in literacy skills between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults, at a time when the literacy demands of work and life are increasing. There are many perspectives on what are the literacy needs of Indigenous adults, from the perspectives of community members…

Funded by the Learning and Skills Council and the European Social Fund, the North East Worcestershire (NEW) Women project, based at the Multi-Resource Centre in Bromsgrove, offers family learning--in its broadest sense--for young mothers. It has in place all the requirements of good practice for providing learning opportunities to young mothers,…

The challenge of peace building in Nigeria is increasing as communities continue to show adversary tendencies. This is happening even after many third party conflict transformation efforts have been expended to resolve and set a conducive climate for stakeholders to sustain peace. Some peace building assessment projects have indicated that the…