(the only title!) ethnographic approaches to literacy in development contexts
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(the only title!) ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACHES TO
LITERACY IN DEVELOPMENT
CONTEXTS
Reminiscence
Working internationally What have I learned
– From my work?– From work of others?
THE CONTEXT
Large percentage of people have had no schooling or very inadequate schooling
‘Literacy’ is set as goal of development by international agencies
What does ‘[il]literacy’ mean in this context?
size of task machinery to deliver/ teaching personnel perceptions of literacy – ‘shame’
Adult Educator
Basic principle – ‘start where they are, with what they bring’
What do learners bring with them in literacy?
Looking at the field as it is, not as I assumed it to be
LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS
a) multiple literacies b) embedded/hidden literacies c) ‘Literates’ and ‘Illiterates’
a) which literacy do we teach? b) how do we train facilitators?
MULTIPLE LITERACIES
e.g. religious literacies shopkeepers carpenter/tailor bureaucratic
MULTIPLE LITERACIES
1. very different from classroom literacy (hotel literacies) 2. hierarchy of literacies Informal literacies not valued as ‘literacy’ (e.g. laundry book) - local(-global)/vernacular/etc
EMBEDDED LITERACIES no such thing as ‘reading’ or ‘writing’ – transitive verb always embedded in other activities (workplace, SMEs,
community, family etc)
HIDDEN LITERACIES
Many informal literacies are invisible (domestic servant) Mobile phone
Informal learning teaches us about unconscious or task-conscious learning, tacit funds of knowledge
HIDDEN LITERACIES
ILLITERATE-LITERATE
Great division of world into literate or illiterate doesn’t work in reality (despite statistics)
e.g. religious not secular Plumber and receipts
Power of discourse; and internalisation– e.g. illiterates– e.g. drop-outs– etc
SOME LESSONS
Everybody engages with literacy Mediation /proximal literacy We all position ourselves in relation to literacy in creating identities Perceptions of what ‘literacy’ means Internalisation of norms and needs Who decides? – the power to name
IDENTITIES
IMPLICATIONS Three key issues
teaching-learning programmes training of facilitators measures of success
TEACHING-LEARNING PROGRAMMES
Which literacy do you teach? formal school/local/embedded? Functional Literacy (Kenya goat!) Literacy comes second assumptions about transfer of skills value attached to schooled literacy (“literacy is the basis of all learning” UNESCO)
TRAINING OF TRAINERS
How do you train facilitators a) to find out what adult literacy learners bring with them?
including perceptions of ‘literacy’? b) to use what they find in their teaching programmes?
Ethnographic approaches The difficulties of only ‘asking’ (tacit FOK; invisible literacies – do
we just ignore these and go ahead with formal schooled literacy? what do they want and why? )
Observation/ engagement – i.e. ethnographic Avoiding ethno-centric approach Looking for everyday literacies, not special literacies
LETTER
Learning for Empowerment Through Training in Ethnographic Research
India: Ethiopia Uganda and beyond
a) ethnographic surveys by/with learners b) building teaching approaches
(e.g. calendars) proverbs; recipes; instruction booklets (water pumps)film notices; forms etc
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
Uses, not capabilities “Literacy for ...” [?] Comparability?
Ethnographic approaches to literacy
?Relevance to UK situations?[already being used?]
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