It has long been orthodoxy among adult educators that those who teach adults need to take into account the existing knowledge, practices, perceptions and expectations of the learners. This is true at both central level where curricula and teaching-learning materials are developed and at local level where adult teacher/facilitator meets adult learners. The problem has been how to train adult educators in appropriate ways to discover the existing epistemologies and aspirations of the adult learners. This paper outlines such a training programme using ethnographic approaches to discovering the existing numeracy and literacy practices of "dalit" women learners in a rural part of India. The programme is aimed at a group of trainers working with the NGO Nirantar (India) and others from south Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh) with the support of ASPBAE (Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education) and a UK-based NGO, Uppingham Seminars in Development. We begin the paper by looking at the theoretical background to the project and then reporting on the workshops held so far, and finally linking it to the next stage of the project. (Contains 3 notes.)