Governments across Europe have been encouraged by the European Union (EU) to take measures to upskill their workforce to ensure growth and social inclusion. Low-skilled workers are particular targets and learning providers and employers are expected to provide learning opportunities for them. However, research shows that those with low skills…

This article discusses the relationship between persistence in adult literacy and numeracy programs, changes in the participants' attitudes to engaging in learning and pedagogic practices using data from eight Scottish literacy education organizations. It argues that literacy learning can act as a resource that enables vulnerable adults to change…

This paper explores the discourses of power in adult literacy and numeracy (ALN) teaching and learning that were highlighted through the processes of accessing and gaining the views of ALN learners for a research project on the quality of learning and teaching. It details the problems encountered in gaining access to this group of learners and…

In this paper Japanese and Scottish cultural and ideological expectations about the role of parents and communities in schools are examined. Findings from three case studies of a Japanese school, a Scottish school and a group of Japanese parents sending their children to a Scottish school show that there are clear policy differences between the…

Case studies of four Scottish schools with family literacy programs depicted collaboration among school staff, parents, and adult literacy educators. Programs that conceptualized parents as "people" rather than "problems" challenged the deficit perspective of family literacy and enabled parents' full participation in educational development.…

A project to improve access to higher education for working-class Scottish adults illustrates the need to address individual ability and attitude as well as institutional and situational barriers to participation. A balance of the structural and the individual is needed to challenge inequality and promote social inclusion. (SK)

Suggests that the competitive economy of education has led to particular ways of implementing family literacy and a view of families as education consumers rather than users. Notes literacy education thus is used for reproduction of school-based literacy usage and cultural norms. (SK)

The ideology of blaming people for their poverty prevails through a discourse of derision. Community educators can work in ways that emphasize either social control or liberation. They must critically analyze poverty initiatives in order to develop an alternative discourse that gives voice to communities labeled as the "underclass." (SK)