Promoting an Equality Agenda in Adult Literacy Practice Using Non-Text/Creative Methodologies

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between literacy, equality and creativity and the relevance for adult literacy practices. It looks in particular at how literacy tutors can use creative non-text methods to promote an understanding of equality in learners' lives. Through an examination of the findings from the Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) Project (2004–2006), the paper shows how individuals from different fields of research and practice came together to create new insights into how literacy practices might be enacted in different learning contexts. To support this work, the project researched, designed and developed a resource guide (Lamb et al, 2006), which provides support for literacy tutors to explore equality issues using creative non-text methods of learning.

Findings show that with appropriate support, tutors and learners can engage in a collaborative research process that has the potential to influence the ongoing development of literacy learning in new and creative ways. They also show that literacy is more than a set of basic skills to be acquired and that literacy, equality and creativity can be understood through the everyday lives and social practices of learners.